Feb 10, Day +14, Up up and away, we hope

"Just the Facts"--  Very tired today, can't remember what he was going to say,  appetite has diminished, But some good news today as well.

So B had a revelation about his night sleeping issues.  Instead of fighting to get back to sleep when he is awoken from the many things that happen, he decided to just go with it and then try to catch up sleep in the day time.  Of course this goes against a normal persons pattern, but  for a BMT patient, this routine is quite alright.  It just took him a little while to figure it out.  So, last night  he went to bed at 8:30 (remember I wasn't here)  then slept until 10pm when they come in and out for about a half hour to draw blood, take vitals, give meds and so on.  He then slept until 3am.  This is where he would fight to get back to sleep, but he went for a walk, had a Popsicle and then watched a movie until he could fall a sleep again at 4:30am.  Pregnant women know that you have go to sleep when you can.  It just took B a little longer to catch on.  So as I sit here and type he is sleeping and it is about 8:30pm.  Hopefully this new found sleep pattern will help him catch up on some much needed sleep.  Everything has gotten very sensitive, sound bugs him, his sheets bug his skin, too much talking bugs him.  I even have to bring in TP from home.  Not a problem to help someone whose has been through so much.

We got some good news today, his platelets reached an all time high of 22.  Now we are waiting to see if they hold.  You see when it was around 9, they would draw 3 times a day to check them.  But at 22 now they will only draw them once a day at 10pm.  So we won't hear results until tomorrow.  But the 22 held for around 12 hours, so that is great.  The other thing is that the big doctor checked his spleen and said that it had shrunk.  This was great news.  It is a result of the chemo and was expected.  But it is good to have results that are according to plan.  So the exciting part of this will be to get the news about how well the platelets held.  He will get more blood tonight and this will continue until the new super cells can produce a ton of red blood cells to make up for what B is missing.  They are trying to keep his hemocrit at 25%, so when it goes below they infuse him.  I never new this much about blood before.  I can't believe I can retain it as my memory wanes at times.  Every time I walk into this room, I do a double check to make sure it is the correct room, as there is a bald man in the room. :)  B says the same thing every time he looks in the mirror.  We laugh at that, then he goes to sleep.  B has a wonderfully faithful Aunt, who has sent him a card every few days.  This is a sweet blessing.  We feel so enriched by all the love and support by so many.  We thank you and pray God's love to be poured out to each one of you.
Until next time,
Hopeful Believer.