New update today from niece Thank you all for keeping him in your prayers.

• At transplant clinic this morning, the doctors said the MRI came back "normal" with nothing to be concerned about - Yay! ... the facial asymmetry/droop is still a mystery tho, so they suggested we see neurology at Dartmouth (to save another trip to Boston) ... so we'll be working on getting a referral for that
• We're weaning/tapering his steroids and they're putting in a new prescription for a different drug to help with his chronic GVHD (the skin/muscle tightness, especially in his feet and hands) ... the drug is called Rox-somethingerother (I don't remember the exact name) ... they said they've had good results with this medication, but it can take a while to start seeing results, like 6-8 weeks just to *start* seeing any kind of results ... they also said that because it's not as commonly prescribed as steroids, it might take longer for insurance to get the prescription filled (one reason we started the steroids asap) ... the reason for switching is because, while the steroids have helped his GVH is the past, we don't want to keep him on steroids for too long ... he'll be on the new medication until it's no longer needed (assuming it works for him) ...

• they're also going to talk to their GVH Dermatologist about a special "steroid shampoo" for his scalp because they are noticing the skin tightness around his hairline, and his hair loss (looks like he has a "receding" hairline already) ... they said that sometimes the GVHD can affect the hair follicles, causing very coarse hair, and even baldness, so they are going to look into a treatment for that as well
• during our previous visit to Boston (2 weeks ago) he also saw PT - she recommended that we see an orthopedic doctor, to get custom braces for his feet, because his toes are so tightly curled ... so we'll be working on getting a referral for that too.
• his next Boston appt will be to check labs (as usual) and see how the chronic GVHD is doing ... that appt is scheduled for May 8th!