Leukemia

It's been a while since I last wrote and much has happened.  My brother now has leukemia

It was first noticeable when he started losing a lot of weight, almost two years ago.  He had a bout in the hospital from pneumonia, and just never really got his health back.  He lost about 30 lbs, and was diagnosed with leukemia in the summer of 2017.

But medication has helped. His red blood cells and hemoglobin are low and he is getting shots that were seeming to help.  His white blood cells started going up and he is taking medication that seems to help that as well.  His spirits were good and he was still engaged in the world, my husband and I could talk to him about politics and current events.

In the last few months however, things look like they are getting worse.  My guess is that he weighs under 100 lbs, and frankly, he looks like a concentration camp victim, like a skeleton.  He still manages to use a walker, but barely.  He can no longer walk from the elevator to the car waiting outside without resting when we take him out.  He has developed ulcers on his legs and feet, which I think causes him some pain.

In the last two weeks he has lost that zest for life and seems rather drawn in, only only emerges a few times as we spend time with him. 

The staff wanted instructions on whether he should be sent to hospital if an emergency develops. After intensive discussion with our palliative (not hospice) doctor, we are recommending to him that he not go to the hospital because he will get deconditioned and they are not going to be able to cure him.  The idea is to give him oral antibiotics and latex at the nursing home if he should need medical attention. 

This was a very hard decision, and I still need to run it by him.  I am not looking forward to that.  This is so hard a decision to make for yourself, let alone for another person, who you love.