Day +1 (GCSF)

Kevin had a wonderful day today. No vomiting, a good physical therapy session, and even a little bit of an appetite. Today is considered day +1 because it's the first day after the stem cell infusion. He was given his GCSF today which boost his stem cells from the damage done by the chemo. His ANC is the most important number. Right now it's at 1,100 and will eventually go down to zero (probably within a week). The shots he gets the next couple of days help this number go back up. He'll be at absolute zero from what I understand, for a few days before his counts come back up. He'll be home at the Target House but will have to wear a mask when outside our apartment. If he even gets a temperature he'll need to go back to the hospital until his ANC count is at least 500. Not sure how I got off on my medical tangent, but my point of today is Kevin had a great day. He played Wii with Mike and Scotty. He even ate ravioli twice for Mike this evening. I think we're going to lay off dairy for a bit, because the breakfast cereal thing is clearly not working out. Tonight we watched Return of the Jedi. He loved the movie even though he's seen it before. I think tomorrow we'll watch Phantom Menace. He even had some popcorn and doritos. He was his old silly self, making fun of me and the nurse as she was teaching me how to administer his TPN. She actually made me do everything myself tonight, from injecting the vitamins in the bag, to priming it, connecting it, and setting up the pump. It was a bit overwhelming, but now that I did it once I think it would be easier next time. He was a little ham though. He's back to his giggling silly self, at least for tonight. We're all just praying he doesn't get an infection when he leaves the hospital.

Take care,
Eric