Still Waiting and Wondering.......

Today was a lot less hectic than yesterday.  We saw the rounding melanoma team this morning.  They decided to cancel (unless the need presents itself) the disc biopsy.  From the disc biopsy they would be checking for cancer cells in the bone and they do not think that that is what is going on.  The rounding Dr. did want to do a biopsy on one of Steve's swollen lymph nodes in his groin area.  He had 4 lymph nodes that lit up on the PET scan.  We must have missed this somehow, or were not given this information until today.  When we got the original PET scan results in, not all of the slides were back yet, so I don't think we ever knew this until today.  Regardless, the Dr. still does not believe the lymph nodes are melanoma.  He still believes that Steve has some sort of unidentified virus. 

So, around noon Steve had a biopsy of one of the groin lymph nodes.  This will check for melanoma and/or lymphoma. 

We still do not have any results back from the spinal tap.  Some results may start trickling in tomorrow, but many of them will take much longer.

The hematology team came around and also cancelled their bone marrow biopsy.  Again, it is always still an option if needed, but they really feel this is a virus and the back pain is just some unrelated back problem.  The hematologist feels that the enlarged spleen is the cause of the low white blood cell and low platelet counts.  Once the spleen becomes enlarged, it acts as a sponge and holds on to the white blood cells and platelets.  This is what they think is dropping the platelet count daily.  We have to watch his platelets, because obviously low platelets is dangerous.  We have to watch the spleen, because if you rupture your spleen, it is NOT good.  Worse case scenario, Steve could possibly have to have his spleen removed.   The problem is your spleen is responsible for helping to fight a lot of infection.  So, if it was removed he would have an even weaker immune system than he already has.  He would need to stay on top of all vaccinations for flu, pneumonia, etc...

He has had no fever today and his rash is looking better.  The infectious disease team came around.  They are waiting on cultures to come back but are looking at mono as a possible cause.  Mono can cause an enlarged spleen.  (They didn't mention this to us at any point yesterday, I think someone went home and googled last night....haha).  I've looked at mono symptoms and though Steve does have some of the symptoms, he does not have all or even half of the symptoms.  The infectious disease team took him off of the bacterial antibiotic and started him on an anti viral medication. 

Hopefully tomorrow Steve will have no more procedures and it will be a day of rest and possibly a day of answers, or at least a day of getting closer to answers.