Progress Report

Mark's illness takes yet another turn. The fluid collections in his abdomen have been persistent and keep him from progressing. Meanwhile, his Oncologists are getting nervous that they cannot keep the Leukemia at bay forever, and a relapse would be catastrophic. On a CT scan today, the radiologists and surgeons saw some signs on the description of the fluid masses that gave them concern--concern enough to decide to take him back to surgery tomorrow to try to excise the cysts and clean out the abdomen with the hopes that the healing process will be jump-started and he can at last get his bowel function, nutritional status and general health back on track in order to be a recipient of a bone marrow transplant. During the last few weeks as the specialists have been chasing his various signs of infection, it appears one of the antibiotics gave his kidneys a small insult causing his Renal Function tests to rise, which is an early sign of kidney dysfunction. This needs to resolve, his abdominal process needs to stabilize and he needs to get a lot stronger before he'll be ready to go to transplant. All we can do is hope and pray that the doctors provide the best chance for Mark's body to make it's best effort to overcome this illness and it's complications. We're still praying for miracles.