Round Four

According to Marie Minner, last week Jon had “a bit of a set back, Jon's platelets are too low to start this round of chemo so they are sending him home until Monday. His LDH is 1510 but Dr Murphy thinks he's far enough along that he will be able to wait until then.”

Today, Jon returns to the hospital where his blood will be tested again. If his platelets are high enough (he had a transfusion to help increase his count), his can begin his fourth round of chemotherapy.

Last time, this was a difficult course of chemo for Jon. He developed sores in his mouth and throat that were so painful he could not talk or eat for days and had to be fed intravenously, and his legs would give out beneath him if he tried to stand. They say that each round of chemo gets easier. I hope that it is the case this time around.

When his blood is tested, the level that I watch with the most interest is his LDH. LDH is used to to check for tissue damage. Accoring to MedlinePlus, “The protein LDH is in many body tissues, especially the heart, liver, kidney, muscles, brain, blood cells, and lungs.” In Jon’s case, it is an indicator of how well his treatment is going. The typical “Normal” range is “105 - 333 IU/L (international units per liter).” When I first brought Jon in to the hospital, his LDH was close to 3000 IU/L.

If you pray, please keep Jon and his family in your prayers. If you think, please keep them in your thoughts.

Please consider donating. Even if you can only afford five dollars, every little bit will help Jon and his family pay for medical costs as he continues to battle Burkitt's Lymphoma. Giving to Jonathan Minner and his family during this time of crisis is easy and safe. Click on the "donate" button below. You will be taken to the Paypal website to complete your transaction using your Paypal account, credit card or bank account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Bethany Culp at polymediastudio@gmail.com.