Mindy still stable

Mindy remained in stable condition overnight and is showing slight improvement in her lungs.  She still has a low-grade fever which the doctors see as a good indication that her body continues to fight infection.  They are keeping her on the ventilator so that her body does not have to work to breath and can focus on healing.  She is off the steroids and several of the antibiotics that she was originally given because they are too hard on Mindy's body long-term.  They are also planning to reduce her level of sedation to see if she will respond positively to her family's voices.  Tomorrow the doctors will perform another bone marrow test.  Keep fighting, Mindy!

Cute picture of Mindy hitting the links

Update from Stanford

Dan just met with the doctor that is managing Mindy's care at Stanford. The good news is that she remained in stable condition during her flight from Roseville last night, her vital signs are good and all her major organs are functioning well. Mindy is still fighting an infection and continues to have fluid in her lungs so her new doctor plans to reevaluate her condition by initiating a whole new panel of tests. He was very pleased with the care that Mindy received at Roseville, thanks to Dr. Bosco and his team. Mindy's condition is still too fragile to begin cancer treatments so the plan is to continue to treat her infection, clear up her lungs, and get her strong enough for the next phase of treatment.

Mindy at Stanford

Mindy arrived safely at Stanford last night and has continued to show improvement. They are meeting with doctors currently and we will update the blog once we know what the next steps are.

Mindy's on her way to Stanford

Great news! Mindy's condition stabilized enough that she was released from Sutter Roseville this evening and was flown to the Stanford Cancer Center. Dan, Corey, Trevor, Al & Becky, Dan & Mindy's parents, siblings, and aunts drove down to Palo Alto to be there for support. We will keep you posted as to her treatment once we are updated. Please keep Mindy in your prayers.

Mindy

This blog has been created to keep all of the Trinidad's many friends and family members up-to-date on Mindy's progress. Dan, Corey, and Trevor greatly appreciate the many calls and the offers of support that all of you have given to them. If there are needs that arise over the next few weeks, we will post them here so thank you for the generous offers that you have extended already.

As most of you know, Mindy has been ill off and on for many weeks. Her symptoms began with a persistent cough accompanied by fatigue. Eventually, the cough began to clear up but was soon followed by flu-like symptoms. Antibiotics seemed to help for a short while but within a few days the symptoms returned with much greater severity. Mindy's energy was drained and her joints ached to the point where she could barely walk without intense pain. She developed a fever and Dan admitted Mindy to Sutter Roseville on Monday, August 25th.

A variety of tests have been performed over the course of the week to determine the cause of Mindy's infection. Though many of the symptoms seemed to point to a severe case of Epstein-Barr virus, none of the blood work confirmed this. Mindy's white blood cells and platelet count dropped and she began having difficulty breathing on her own. She developed pneumonia and was put on a ventilator to assist with her breathing. A bone marrow test was performed yesterday morning and the doctors gave a preliminary diagnosis of acute myelogenous leukemia or AML.

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a malignancy that arises in the white blood cells that battle infectious agents throughout the body. It develops when there is a defect in the immature cells in the bone marrow. In a nutshell, AML causes uncontrolled growth of bad blood cells and stunts the production of good marrow cells, causing a depletion of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. More information can be found at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/adultaml/patient

The current plan is to get Mindy's condition stabilized enough to transfer her to Stanford to begin immediate treatment for leukemia. Her doctors have put her on several different antibiotics and steroid treatments and, much to everyone's relief, Mindy began to show some improvement this afternoon. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers so that she may continue to fight this battle. We all know how feisty Mindy is so, if anyone can beat this, it will be Mindy.

Many of you have asked if you can provide meals for the Trinidads, however they are spending most of their time at the hospital right now. Gift cards to local eateries (Starbucks, Rubios, The Habit, etc.) may be more convenient at this time.

Also, please keep checking this blog for information regarding a blood drive that Al Snowdon is setting up. Though our blood donations will not go directly to Mindy due to the length of time it takes to process the blood, Mindy will receive credit and notification of each donation. The location of the drive and the information necessary to designate Mindy will be posted here soon.

Thank you again for your kind thoughts and prayers.