August 7, day +190, Two weeks and counting

"Just the Facts"--  Friday marked the second 2 week cylce for needing blood and we past it.  Blood holding at 9, yahoo!  Platelets rising.  Steriods on slow reduction plan.  Still immuno -suppressed, but getting stronger.

I have said it before that I use the recurring cycle for needing blood as my measurement of how things are progressing, as this is how we lived in 2010.  Back then, every 2 weeks B would go to infusion for 2 pints of blood like clockwork.  So, it was just thrilling for me to see this Friday come and go and B not having to get infused with his usual 2 pints of blood.  His will get new labs on Monday and this will show any changes from over the weekend.  It is likely that he still will not need blood.  This is what we have been waiting for.  The other significant item is that the platelets are actually rising, instead of holding or lowering slowly.  B hasn't had an infusion for platlets since June 27.  His threshold for infusion was 20 so he may have gained to a level of 30 with the infusion.  As of Thursday he was at 62!  All this is just so encouraging to us.  We still are watching for any little signs of relapse for the side effects of this treatment or the medicine.  But as we do this we are also hopeful that we are slowly moving into a new phase of day by day recovery.

This process has been a long effort.  As B starts to feel a bit better he is getting ainsy to do more things.  The problem with this is that he is still immuno-suppress.  He still cannot be around a lot of people, shake hands or eat from resturants, even though he was given a short window for this activity about a month ago.  Every little liberty won is very exciting both in terms of recovery and just being able to participate.  So now B is looking for activities to do in his extra time.  He finally has picked up the guitar he has had for years.  So we'll see what the result will be toward the end of the year.  All in all it has been a trying but sucessful year so far.  We all know that life waits for no one but once in a while you get a pause.  We have been so grateful for all the friends that have been following B and his journey and continue to pray and follow up with him for encouragement.  It has been a true blessing.
Until next time,
Hopeful Believer.