I understand this is traumatic for a woman.
Just by way of clarification, this is the first time since before the transplant that Beth was able to get up and wash herself. If you’ve seen other photographs of her, you can see that her blond hair always has been simply a magnificent crown upon her head. But during the last several days, the hair on the back of her head had become twisted and matted, and knowing that she will be losing it to the chemo anyway, she decided just to cut it out.
What a sweet photo of Beth, John! I would like to thank you for writing this blog about what Beth…and you and your family…are going through. I actually stumbled upon it after doing an internet search for ” bone marrow biopsy, done under ‘twilight’.” The hematologist for my 89 1/2 year old stepmother is saying the next step for her is bone marrow biopsy to find out “what” she has…might even be multiple myeloma. Her bloodwork is all out of whack…started with regular bloodwork showing low hemoglobin & hematocrit. She’s had two transfusions of 2 units each in Oct. and just last week, so the anemia has been getting worse. It will be her decision to do the biopsy, but we’re just very concerned about her ability to handle that. We don’t even know if she could do it with sedative as she has COPD and is on oxygen. Even if she had it done, I can’t imagine a frail woman like her handling steroids and/or chemo treatments, frankly. Anyway, I know you have your own reasons for doing this blog, but I’ve read all your posts with great interest and empathy. I’ll continue to follow it now. I hope you and Beth and your kids can find enjoyment in this holiday season. I hope Beth’s infection resolves and she can recover fully! God Bless!
Hi Stephanie, thank you for stopping by. I wouldn’t know what to tell you about your stepmother, but the biopsy has been the doctors’ primary way of knowing what’s going on inside of Beth. Of course, Beth has hated getting these done. They have to insert a very large needle into the hip bone to extract the marrow. Under the “twilight” or “conscious sedation”, the procedure is much easier on her than those with the local anesthetic. Yet, she still complains about the soreness in her hips.
The alternative is just to let the leukemia (or whatever) to continue to do its damage, and we are, of course, at the stopping point for that. Beth has probably had several dozen transfusions at this point (we have stopped counting). That seems to be the only way to deal with the anemia.
At your stepmother’s age, I’m certain she wouldn’t be a candidate for this bone marrow transplant, or stem cell transplant procedure. It’s a very rough thing to go through. Please keep in touch and let me know how you all are doing.