In the waiting room

Hello! I hope you are all having a good day. Here’s a quick update:

Things are going fine here at UCLA Medical Center. I was admitted on last Monday evening and received my re-engineered CAR-T Cells on Tuesday morning. There were seven doctors, nurses and staff in the room at the time. Turns out that this clinical trial (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04007029) is a big deal for them.

Later that evening, several staff members presented me with a “second birthday” piece of cake, a song, and a lovely poster that all had signed. I was surprised and touched by their love and support. For the staff, this job is a calling. I can tell. The staff is phenomenal.

Since the infusion, I have been hanging out in wing 6 East and feeling fine. I’ve been taking walks around and around the wing and doing some light exercises. The food here is good. This is quite the gilded cage.

I hope to get out of here tomorrow. The doctor told me that there are some criteria for me to be released from the hospital back into polite society: no signs of neurotoxicity effects, good liver function, stable vital signs, and a Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) above 0.5. The ANC was doing fine until this morning when it was measured just above this value. Low ANC means I am becoming more susceptible to infection, that is, neutropenic. This condition was anticipated and should not last long. If it goes too low, I may have to stay in the hospital until it goes up again. Not a huge deal, though I’m looking forward to getting out of here soon. I’m feeling great otherwise, and I have decent energy.

Best wishes to you and yours. Thanks for the prayers and support.

UPDATE: I probably will not get out of the hospital tomorrow. The doctors and I agree that the trending curve of my ANC numbers indicate that the numbers are likely to go lower before recovering. That’s only a problem if I catch something or get an infection. This hospital wing is specifically set up for vulnerable people, so I feel safe here.

UPDATE 2: I was released from the hospital after all. My blood count numbers rebounded enough for me to get out. Whoo-hoo! 🎉