Coming along

Well I arrived in time on Friday to take Kevin to his 2:30 labs. Next at 3:30 we went to E Clinic to go over the results of his blood test. Dr. Gajjar wasn't there, but his Nurse Coordinator was there to cover everything. It was pretty much positive news. His ANC has gone up from 700 to 1500. This is without he benefit of GCSF that he was formerly taking to artifically stimulate his counts. This means the Bone Marrow Transplant has started to hold. They don't want Kevin to have any more transfusions unless absolutely necessary. This Sunday may or may not be necessary. He has a Lumbar Puncture on Monday morning, but his platelet count needs to be above 20 or they won't do it. Right now they're at 22, but was at 23 or 24 prior. Platelets have little to do with his body's immune system, but if they're low he could have he propensity to bleed or bruise much easier. She said often times the platelets are the last to recover. She also said most of Dr. Gajjar's patients go back to school soon upon returning home. He does seem stronger now, and we probably will have the option to go half days if his strenth doesn't allow for a full day. We'll take off a week at the very least, so he can get some much needed rest in. As Rachel mentioned he did quickly lose a pound when he was taken off T.P.N. He'll need to be monitored closely since he's so thin right now. However, his appetite has picked up some. Today for example, he had a bowl of cereal in the morning, a piece of cheese pizza in the afternoon, some yogurt later with rachel, then tonight had a bowl of pasta with me. He still gets nauseated in the morning, but after given his Ondansetron he recovers well within 30 to 45 minutes. Of course when school starts we hope he won't be so dependent on the medicine. But Dr. Gajjar's Nurse Coordinator said some kids remain on Ondansetron for up to 6 months after going home. If that's the case we'll have to give it to him the second he wakes up, so he feels well by the time he's at school. I don't think Rachel or I plan on sending him to school while he's feeling terribly nauseated. If he's late, he's late. He's improved dramaticaly since I left over a week ago. Hopefully in another 10 days his improvment is a the same degree. If that's the case I think he'll be ok. He's eating a chocolate chip cookie now, as I write this so that's 3 meals (very small portions, granted) and 2 snacks today. We need to get him up towards 1,500 calories somehow, as that's the amount he received from TPN. Finally, as Mike eloquently wrote thank yo to all involved in the fund raiser. It was nice to see friends, family and people from the community there. Kevin was excited to hear Mrs. Stout (last year's teacher) and this year's teacher Mrs. Bonkowski were there. Tomorrow we find out if he needs a platelet transfusion. Hopefully not, as it will mean we'll be stuck in he medicine room for a few hours. Not the best way to send my birthday, but at least it will be with Kevin.

Good Night,

Eric