What Next??? Update...Change Of Plans

Last night Reid suspected that he might be coming down with a cold.  He had a slight sore throat...the kind you get when a cold is approaching.  We hoped it was just caused by extra dryness in the house from running the darn heater so much lately.  We've had winters where we only ran it a few days all winter, but lately it's been running day and night for a couple of weeks.

This morning it was official.  He's got a cold and that's bad news right because of the scheduled stem cell transplant.  He spoke to his doctor's nurse down at MD Anderson and was told to get down there right away.  We jumped in the car and were there within a hour.

They drew blood and sent him for a chest X-ray.  He saw the PA and she did a test for flu, but we're 99.9% it's only a cold.  However, he noticed a slight rash yesterday and mentioned it to her because it had spread and encompassed a larger area on his shoulder and chest today.  Much to our surprise we learned that it's shingles.  It hasn't really been painful which she told him was unusual, but it's still shingles.  Hopefully, it won't bother him too much.  He's now taking Valtrex and something else that's for a bacterial infection.  I think that one is being prescribed as a prophylactic.

The stem cell transplant is on hold.  He will not be getting the pre-admission shots and he will not be admitted on Sunday.  On Monday he has to go back to MD Anderson.  I guess then we'll know more. 

I know patients with depressed immune systems from chemo sometimes get shingles.  We are so careful about using hand sanitizer and avoiding crowds, but he finally caught a cold.  This is the first cold he's had since this cancer journey began almost 16 months ago.  It's just the timing for all of this is so bad.

I know they don't want to delay the transplant, but right now there's no choice.  I just wish once he'd get a break.  He's certainly earned it.

Thanks for your support and prayers.