Day 20
Thursday was a pretty positive day and John’s health seems to be improving. He does, understandably, seem a little tentative about the steps in his treatment that remain, not really wanting to hear too much of the whole process.
Although his feet are still blue, the rest of his color has returned to John’s skin. His blood count is “.5”, but the neutrophil portion has to reach that level before he is considered to have his own immune system again. A nurse testing his blood said she guessed he could go home early, before December 21 as scheduled. His doctor said everything remains day to day. When he gets out, he should be able to drive and have other activities until he returns about a week later for 6 days of his first “consolidation” chemotherapy. He did develop a runny nose during the day, but no other signs of infection, which is a good sign.
I spent a remarkable 20 minutes in the morning on the phone with the Aetna transplant case manager. She knows John by name already, asked how he was doing, told me about children she knows with cases like his, said that she had already precertified John for transplant evaluation, had talked to the Emory coordinator about the status of Courtney’s blood test and even asked how I was doing. She is comfortable with Emory, but agreed that we should evaluate other clinics, and mentioned several.
John was able to draw a bit during the day, but was exhausted by evening. His website now has guest artists and Bo Coker is coordinating game reviews. It is http://www.ihatethisgame.com. You should take a look.
I will be at the hospital Friday morning for a while and Debbie and I will take John dinner Friday night. I’m not sure what my schedule for Saturday is yet, but he should be able to have some visitors this weekend. I will be with him Sunday morning through much of the day.
Although his feet are still blue, the rest of his color has returned to John’s skin. His blood count is “.5”, but the neutrophil portion has to reach that level before he is considered to have his own immune system again. A nurse testing his blood said she guessed he could go home early, before December 21 as scheduled. His doctor said everything remains day to day. When he gets out, he should be able to drive and have other activities until he returns about a week later for 6 days of his first “consolidation” chemotherapy. He did develop a runny nose during the day, but no other signs of infection, which is a good sign.
I spent a remarkable 20 minutes in the morning on the phone with the Aetna transplant case manager. She knows John by name already, asked how he was doing, told me about children she knows with cases like his, said that she had already precertified John for transplant evaluation, had talked to the Emory coordinator about the status of Courtney’s blood test and even asked how I was doing. She is comfortable with Emory, but agreed that we should evaluate other clinics, and mentioned several.
John was able to draw a bit during the day, but was exhausted by evening. His website now has guest artists and Bo Coker is coordinating game reviews. It is http://www.ihatethisgame.com. You should take a look.
I will be at the hospital Friday morning for a while and Debbie and I will take John dinner Friday night. I’m not sure what my schedule for Saturday is yet, but he should be able to have some visitors this weekend. I will be with him Sunday morning through much of the day.
