Day 20
One day has stretched into two and so I've added below to my earlier report.
I am happy to say that today has come and passed with little to say. On a good day from where I sit you can see Mount Baker to the north, the Olympic and Cascade mountains to the west and the east and the angular white face of Ranier to the south. Today was a good day with one round of nausea, one eye still tearing and the early weariness that comes when there is healing going on inside. When the worst you hear is "I am so over this", it means the clouds are far enough away to get some perspective on where you are.
John's picture, so far, is good. He even has rather peach fuzz on his head, although the color for some reason is white. He was able to shop a while with Debbie and continues to manage his own IV, though he allows me to manage his pharmacy of pills. Having John out of the hospital has allowed Debbie and me to put in full days of work, even if via telecommuting. Tomorrow we will get the first blood tests since Monday, so we are looking for more progress to pass and another good day.
. . . . . . .
I wrote all the above rather late, at what seems was actually Thursday on the East Coast. No sooner had I fallen asleep than John woke me saying that he had a nosebleed. As it turned out, blood was running out his nose and mouth about as bad as I've ever seen on anyone. He was scared, but I went into first aid mode, laying him back with his head resting but elevated and so on. After about 45 minutes of ice, pressure on the blood vessel and calming down, we got it stopped for the night. He had a similar, but milder incident during the day.
We had John's routine visit this afternoon and they said these things can happen - not comforting at all if you are the one bleeding or who has to stop it. John is still well ahead in terms of his recovery from their point of view. "Patience" and fluids are their suggestions at this point.
John's White Blood Count is now 4.86, which is actually within the normal range for the first time this year. His ANC or neutrophils, which are the specific disease fighting cells are now up to the level that he had before he went into the hospital for the transplant.
It has been a long 24 hours for it to be the same day, so I am going to try to rest.
I am happy to say that today has come and passed with little to say. On a good day from where I sit you can see Mount Baker to the north, the Olympic and Cascade mountains to the west and the east and the angular white face of Ranier to the south. Today was a good day with one round of nausea, one eye still tearing and the early weariness that comes when there is healing going on inside. When the worst you hear is "I am so over this", it means the clouds are far enough away to get some perspective on where you are.
John's picture, so far, is good. He even has rather peach fuzz on his head, although the color for some reason is white. He was able to shop a while with Debbie and continues to manage his own IV, though he allows me to manage his pharmacy of pills. Having John out of the hospital has allowed Debbie and me to put in full days of work, even if via telecommuting. Tomorrow we will get the first blood tests since Monday, so we are looking for more progress to pass and another good day.
. . . . . . .
I wrote all the above rather late, at what seems was actually Thursday on the East Coast. No sooner had I fallen asleep than John woke me saying that he had a nosebleed. As it turned out, blood was running out his nose and mouth about as bad as I've ever seen on anyone. He was scared, but I went into first aid mode, laying him back with his head resting but elevated and so on. After about 45 minutes of ice, pressure on the blood vessel and calming down, we got it stopped for the night. He had a similar, but milder incident during the day.
We had John's routine visit this afternoon and they said these things can happen - not comforting at all if you are the one bleeding or who has to stop it. John is still well ahead in terms of his recovery from their point of view. "Patience" and fluids are their suggestions at this point.
John's White Blood Count is now 4.86, which is actually within the normal range for the first time this year. His ANC or neutrophils, which are the specific disease fighting cells are now up to the level that he had before he went into the hospital for the transplant.
It has been a long 24 hours for it to be the same day, so I am going to try to rest.
