Celebrate The Good

Mike had a very good day, fever free.  He is having some shoulder weakness, which is new.

He was super excited to receive some good looking hats from his friends at the Carolina Hurricanes!

Feeling Good

Mike had a great night!  He feels so much better this morning. We are waiting on the results from the bone marrow biopsy.  At this time we are not sure if it's the cancer or a bacterial infection that is not being picked up.

Free Bird

After having a really long continuous fever Mike was starting to feel like a caged bird.  Our team of doctors spoke with a team at UNC and came to know conclusion.  Mike's nurses and doctors have been amazing, truly amazing.  One special nurse, who helped Mike through the night, even called on her day off to see how he was doing.  I know he has angels looking over him and God's hands keeping him at peace.  

Oncology hopes that the fevers will go away, but to be prepared for the long haul with the mention of having a stem cell discussion in the future.  I know all Mike heard was stem cells.

Around 2pm yesterday a nurse gave him some prednisone.  It only took 15 minutes to totally change the way he was feeling.  What does this mean, only time will tell.  When he felt well enough we took him outside for some sunshine!  Mike's first time outside in 12 days.

 Mike looks too good!  The bone marrow biopsy should come back on Monday.

Saturday Morning

Mike received a small transfusion yesterday evening.  He had a rough night of chills accompanied with fever. As you can imagine he is worn out this morning. Still no answers, but we are praying that his fevers will subside.

Long Hospital Stay

Mike continues to fight!  He was diagnosed with Marginal Cell Non Hodgkin Lymphoma last year with a good prognosis.  He had his initial 6 months of chemotherapy, which finished in March 2016.  Shortly after the last successful round of chemo more lymph nodes popped up. The cancer was growing faster than the doctors expected.

This August, Mike started a new fight with his cancer transforming into B Cell Lymphoma and stronger chemotherapy began.  He was great for the first 3 rounds.  He felt so good that we even housed our beloved friends when they evacuated Hilton Head from Hurricane Matthew and had the grandchildren over to spend the night.  

On October 19th, he started to run a fever.  We carefully brought him into the ER where they gave him antibiotics and sent him home 10 hours later.  Fevers continued and increased to 102 degrees, which was our sign to admit him to Rex hospital in Raleigh, NC.  

Mike has been in the hospital with fever as high as 104.4 since Friday the 21st.  The fevers are sometimes mixed with chills.  The Pet Scan showed that the chemo reduced his cancer dramatically, but his spleen is enlarged with a few spots showing on the bone.

He has the Oncology, Infectious Disease, and the Internal Medicine Doctors puzzled. If you know Mike, it's no surprise!  Each test they run comes back negative.  They will have a conference call with UNC this week. His body is exhausted from the fevers, but he still has his sense of humor.

Today, October 28th, he received a bone marrow biopsy and will receive blood as soon as his fever decreases. Through it all, Mike continues to fight.  Bonnie has stayed by his side and he falls asleep listening to the Motown sounds that he loves to sing! 

Please keep him in your prayers as we continue to update you.