{"id":2046,"date":"2008-05-08T18:12:36","date_gmt":"2008-05-08T22:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=2046"},"modified":"2008-05-08T18:12:36","modified_gmt":"2008-05-08T22:12:36","slug":"blood-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/blood-club","title":{"rendered":"Blood club"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s an update to last week’s call for blood and\/or platelet donation<\/a> for Nathanael Sandstrom, a young (well, my age) man suffering from lymphoma at Sloan-Kettering in NYC. It’s from his wife, and was passed to me via my pal Elayne, who first sent out the call to all VM friends:<\/em><\/p>\n

A bit of good news: it seems that the doctors have a dignosis and treatment that they feel confident about. Last week, a new doctor came on the case and suggested histiocytosis as the bone marrow disease that has been keeping Nathanael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blood counts so low and making him so sick for so long. Histiocytosis is an extremely rare condition, usually found in children, in which histiocytes attack white blood cells and platelets. There have only been 2 cases at MSK in the last 10+ years that our doctor is aware of, and so she consults with the authority who is based in Houston. Apparently (in Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case) the disease results somehow from the original lymphoma.<\/p>\n

The 8-week treatment for it (combination of steroids, antibiotics, and a new chemotherapy) has been working, albeit slowly, and so Nathanael has been feeling and seeming much better. In the last few months he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lost a huge amount of weight and most of his muscle mass, so he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now focused on rehabing his body. If the trend of the treatment stays positive, he may be able to leave the hospital within the next couple of weeks for an outpatient period. After that, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll need to go back in for a bone marrow transplant to replace his immune system. That transplant will be used to ultimately defeat the histiocytosis but also to consolidate the treatment for the original cancer.<\/p>\n

This sounds like a lot and it is, and so Nate is just looking forward to getting strong enough to be out of the hospital for a little while.<\/p>\n

We are deeply thankful to everyone who has donated blood or platelets here in NY; friends, family, colleagues, and people we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never even met but who make the trip and the effort on Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behalf. We are deeply moved.<\/p>\n

And thanks to everyone for notes, calls, thoughts and prayers, which sustain us on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

Onward. xoxo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s an update to last week’s call for blood and\/or platelet donation for Nathanael Sandstrom, a young (well, my age) man suffering from lymphoma at Sloan-Kettering in NYC. It’s from his wife, and was passed to me via my pal Elayne, who first sent out the call to all VM friends: A bit of good … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Blood club”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[136],"class_list":["post-2046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-nathanael-sandstrom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-x0","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2595,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/spinning-platelets","url_meta":{"origin":2046,"position":0},"title":"Spinning Plate(let)s","author":"Gil","date":"October 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Time for another round of blood-lust! Last May, Official VM pal Elayne asked me to get the word out about the need for blood and platelet donations for her friend Nathanael Sandstrom, who was suffering from histiocytosis. I gave, as did some of my friends, for which Nathanael's family is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Nathanael Sandstrom\"","block_context":{"text":"Nathanael Sandstrom","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/tag\/nathanael-sandstrom"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2028,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/there-better-be-blood","url_meta":{"origin":2046,"position":1},"title":"There Better be Blood","author":"Gil","date":"May 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"It's your opportunity for a mitzvah, dear readers! My pal Elayne has asked me to put out word for any of you who are in the NYC\/NJ area to help out her friend who's battling lymphoma. He needs blood and\/or platelets, so I hope you'll help out, if you're able.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Nathanael Sandstrom\"","block_context":{"text":"Nathanael Sandstrom","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/tag\/nathanael-sandstrom"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3495,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/a-very-special-episode-of-house","url_meta":{"origin":2046,"position":2},"title":"A Very Special Episode of House","author":"Gil","date":"February 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"It doesn't give his name (medical privacy) and all, but there's a great article in the NYTimes Magazine this weekend about Nathanael Sandstrom, the guy I asked you to donate platelets for. I use \"great\" because it's all about how his doctors finally figured out what he was suffering from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Nathanael Sandstrom\"","block_context":{"text":"Nathanael Sandstrom","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/tag\/nathanael-sandstrom"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3935,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/0-fer-20th-century-edition","url_meta":{"origin":2046,"position":3},"title":"0-fer 20th century edition","author":"Gil","date":"June 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Because I'm not some commie pinko, I don't listen to NPR. So I don't know if Dick Meyer has worthwhile literary opinions or not. What I do know is that he posted this list of his top English-language novels written last century. He organized the list in terms of \"how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "0-fer"","block_context":{"text":"0-fer","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/0-fer"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1629,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/physical-humor","url_meta":{"origin":2046,"position":4},"title":"Physical Humor","author":"Gil","date":"August 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm in my mid-30s and have a family history of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, so I figure it's best that I start getting some expert opinion on my health. 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