At 3:30 AM Alan was still critically stable. His vital signs and oxygenation were looking good (blood saturation of 97-99%. His lungs were still sounding like they were yesterday and he is still not bleeding. He was still only on one BP medication and they were able to remove some liquid and looked better, but there is still a lot of fluid.
The posters and cards are up in his room and he is surrounded with love and faith.
At 9:00 AM the doctors approached us with a new strategy in treating Alan. Specialists at UCSF Fresno, UCSF San Francisco and Stanford have all been in collaboration reviewing Alan’s case. They feel that instead of a fungal infection (ie Valley Fever) they think he has an autoimmune disorder called Wegner’s granulomatosis (Go here for more information). It is basically a form of vasculitis, which is inflammation of the blood vessels that causes less blood to go to vital organs. The basis for their diagnosis is that the only positive test that has come back twice is anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies or ANCAs. ANCAs are basically like little commandos that have gone rogue and have started to attack the body instead of defend it. Alan also had blood in his urine when he was first admitted to the hospital in Selma, which makes the physicians much more confident that this is what he has. Wegener’s is not genetic, nor is it communicable. If it was something else, like Valley Fever, Alan should have responded by now to the medications he has been on since he has been on them since July 10. While they are not sure how one can get Wegener’s it may have been caused by any type of infection. The treatment is a chemotherapy drug called Remicade (Go here for more information). Like other chemotherapy treatments, it is designed to prevent the immune system from attacking the body. The treatment takes about a week and we should begin to see its effect in around three days or so. Since he will be on this chemotherapy, Alan will most likely be on a very stringent isolation protocol due to the severe consequences should he get an infection of any type. Visitation will be limited to immediate family.
We have setup an account for Alan with the Central California Blood Center. For those who are able to, we are asking for people to donate blood in his name. To do so, you can go to any Central California Blood Center and mention that you wish to donate blood in Alan’s name. You just need his first and last name. Since this blog is public, and to keep confidentiality for Alan, if you wish to donate but do not know his last name please contact a friend or family member for that information. Also on Friday, July 29, through the month of August the blood center will be doing their annual “Pint for Pint” promotion. The blood center will give you a voucher for a pint of ice cream to Baskin Robbins. For those who do not live in the San Joaquin Valley, we are asking that you still donate to your local blood bank or Red Cross.
Please continue to keep Alan in your thoughts and prayers.Thank you all for all of your continued support to Alan and his family.
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