Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Not Going Anywhere Soon
We got the results from Jacob's last round of immune function tests on tuesday.
The good news is that he had "normal response" on half of them*. There are only three possible results" "no response", "reduced response" and "normal response", so normal is good and he passed those. The bad news is, there weren't enough lymphocytes to even perform the other half of the test, which means that overall he didn't pass.
Jacob was pretty cast down. He'd really hoped to pass this time and go back to school soon. They drew a whole new set of labs - tube after tube after tube - and we'll get the results eventually. I'm not calculating a "due date" anymore. We'll just take it as it comes.
He also still needs to get his absolute CD4 and CD3 numbers up before he will be released from isolation. Even once he reaches the goal numbers, they are only 50% of the low end of normal, so he'll still need to be protected from exposure to infection for quite a while.
Today Jacob has an MRI scheduled for 6 pm, so we'll get another glimpse at what's happening with the residual tumor. I'm not as worried about the results as I've been in the past but it's always a little nerve wracking, and Jacob hates having to hold so still for so long. He told me recently that he would rather have a lumbar puncture than an MRI any day.
Anyway, here's a Halloween picture from monday night. The haul of candy was truly horrifying. Young was reduced to buying it from Jacob to get it out of the house!
Guess which one is Jacob.
* for anyone wondering exactly which tests, the the immune functions he passed were the mitogen subset:
PHA (phytogenhemagglutinin) - "predominately a T cell mitogen. PHA induced cell proliferation is non-specific and does not unidcate immunity to a specific antigen"
CON (conavalin A) "predominately a T cell mitogen, in particular, T suppressor cells. CON-A induced cell proliferation is non-specific and does not indicate immunity to a specific antigen"
PWM (Pokeweed mitogen - yes, that is really what it is called. I don't know why) "predominately a B cell mitogen which requires T cells to induce cell proliferation."
The tests they weren't able to complete were the Lymphocyte Antigen Stimulation Screens: unstimulated, Candida, PPD, and tetnus at three dilutions each.
I found a pretty good book, How the Immune System Works by Lauren Sompayrac 1999, Blackwell Science, with which I am trying to understand the above, though things may have changed since 1999, when, I guess, the existence of suppressor T cells was somewhat controversial.
The good news is that he had "normal response" on half of them*. There are only three possible results" "no response", "reduced response" and "normal response", so normal is good and he passed those. The bad news is, there weren't enough lymphocytes to even perform the other half of the test, which means that overall he didn't pass.
Jacob was pretty cast down. He'd really hoped to pass this time and go back to school soon. They drew a whole new set of labs - tube after tube after tube - and we'll get the results eventually. I'm not calculating a "due date" anymore. We'll just take it as it comes.
He also still needs to get his absolute CD4 and CD3 numbers up before he will be released from isolation. Even once he reaches the goal numbers, they are only 50% of the low end of normal, so he'll still need to be protected from exposure to infection for quite a while.
Today Jacob has an MRI scheduled for 6 pm, so we'll get another glimpse at what's happening with the residual tumor. I'm not as worried about the results as I've been in the past but it's always a little nerve wracking, and Jacob hates having to hold so still for so long. He told me recently that he would rather have a lumbar puncture than an MRI any day.
Anyway, here's a Halloween picture from monday night. The haul of candy was truly horrifying. Young was reduced to buying it from Jacob to get it out of the house!
Guess which one is Jacob.
* for anyone wondering exactly which tests, the the immune functions he passed were the mitogen subset:
PHA (phytogenhemagglutinin) - "predominately a T cell mitogen. PHA induced cell proliferation is non-specific and does not unidcate immunity to a specific antigen"
CON (conavalin A) "predominately a T cell mitogen, in particular, T suppressor cells. CON-A induced cell proliferation is non-specific and does not indicate immunity to a specific antigen"
PWM (Pokeweed mitogen - yes, that is really what it is called. I don't know why) "predominately a B cell mitogen which requires T cells to induce cell proliferation."
The tests they weren't able to complete were the Lymphocyte Antigen Stimulation Screens: unstimulated, Candida, PPD, and tetnus at three dilutions each.
I found a pretty good book, How the Immune System Works by Lauren Sompayrac 1999, Blackwell Science, with which I am trying to understand the above, though things may have changed since 1999, when, I guess, the existence of suppressor T cells was somewhat controversial.
# posted by Ann @ 9:19 AM 
