Info from the docs, and a night out

Hi everyone:

Patty is doing well today after a busy night yesterday. She awakened with some nausea, but her meds pushed these symptoms back by late morning.

We heard back from University of Chicago Hospital late yesterday. One of Patty's doctors gave her blessing for our patient to discontinue the Rituxan/Cytoxan treatments, at least for the time being. As you might imagine, Patty was pretty happy to hear this, because it means she'll likely dodge some major nausea.

The doctor also confirmed that she is receiving specific PRA antigen specificity information each month. If I understand correctly, this means that she is looking deeper than the 59%/99% number into the specific antibody types that are problematic. As she explained, she is trying to see if certain antigens have decreased, either in number or in strength. She feels encouraged by the fact Patty has fared well without the milrinone (the continuous IV she used to lug around,) and by the fact she seems "clinically stable" for now. She seems optimistic that if Patty can continue as she is presently, she has some time to wait for an appropriate donor heart. I keep worrying that we'll have another downturn like last year, and the timetable will become much more tense. Still, I guess the doctor's take is good news, so we'll focus on the positive.

Last night, Patty, the kids and I were the guests of the organizers of The Color Purple at the Cadillac Theatre (thank you, Jennifer.) Everything about the show--the sets, the music, the humor, everything--was amazing. By some strange coincidence, we attended on the same night as a group of teachers and students from Oswego High School, so Patty was able to catch up with a couple of former colleagues.

Before attending the show, we stopped at Parky's in Oak Park, which Patty insists has the best french fries in existence. While I will agree that the fries are good--the massive oil stain seeping through each paper bag will attest to that--I won't go so far as to say they are the best I've ever had. I will say, though, that their burger is pretty noteworthy.

More soon...

Love,
Brian