Day 343--Changing of the Guard

We had a good meeting with Torger's new doctor, Peter McSweeney, this morning, and Torger thinks they'll get along just fine. We'll have to go down to his clinic at Presbyterian-St. Luke's in Denver in the next week or so to meet with his team and get a full patient work-up, but after that, Dr. McSweeney will be able to see Torger when he's in Fort Collins for his monthly rounds. In the meantime, he wants to take the catheter out of Torger's chest as soon as possible (HOORAY!!). After being in for a year, it could be doing more harm than good at this point. He also wants to start scaling back Torger's drug regimen and said he can immediately stop the Ursodiol (which he's been taking 3x a day) and the Nexium (which he's been taking once a day). He's also leaning toward stopping the antifungal medication, Vfend, in the next few weeks, which our insurance company will love--this is the pill that costs $3,500 for a monthly supply. He does want Torg to start taking some medication for the GVHD in his eyes, which creates granular crystals that seem like a more intense, sharp and glassy version of the "sandman" crud that we all wake up with in our eyes once in awhile--and he wants him to see an eye doctor in the near future. Last but not least, he ordered him to take extra Vitamin D and calcium and to get a flu shot. This was a surprise because we didn't think he could do that until he gets all his other vaccines, but Dr. McSweeney says "Now." (I got mine weeks ago because of concerns about infecting Torger. Since I work on a college campus where H1N1 is expected to spread pretty broadly this fall, I'm also eagerly awaiting the arrival of that vaccine.) Overall, he seemed impressed with Torger's progress, and we feel he'll handle this next year of care in a very straightforward, no-nonsense manner, which works well for us. I sent Dr. Tse an e-mail to let him know the appointment went well, and he seemed pleased to be able to transfer Torger to a doctor whom he knows and respects. It really feels like we're nearing the end of Part I (first year after transplant) and heading on to Part II (second year and beyond).

Day 342--Nothing New

"I haven't read your blog in awhile...how's it going?"

Several times when I've run into friends lately, they've said the same thing. And I have to confess to them that they haven't missed much, since I haven't updated the blog in a long time. There just hasn't been much to report. Torger continues to do well, despite ongoing issues with GVHD and dry mouth, and we're just clicking off the days until his one-year anniversary in October.

But tomorrow is actually a big deal because we're meeting Torger's new doctor. For a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with how much we love Dr. Tse, we're going to be switching to Dr. McSweeney, a nationally known transplantation expert who's affiliated with Presbyterian-St. Luke's and its Rocky Mountain Blood and Marrow Transplant Program in Denver. Both Dr. Tse and our local oncologist, Dr. Romero, want us to make this switch--and it will be easier on us because Dr. McSweeney comes up to Fort Collins once a month to see patients like Torger who are in recovery.

We first discussed this switch with Dr. Tse several months ago, and initially, the idea of changing doctors was kind of traumatic--even more so because it also means changing hospitals, and we're pretty attached to the nurses and staff at CU Health Sciences. But now that we've adjusted to the idea, it seems like a good move. Most of Torger's care is being managed here in Fort Collins now anyway , and we're primarily just communicating with Dr. Tse by e-mail...which we'll continue to do. (Once these docs save your life, your theirs forever.) Not having to go down to Denver for appointments unless there's an emergency will be a real blessing. And it's all part of getting back to normal life. So we'll see how it goes!