Two days ago they did some HLA typing on Todd's blood in an effort to find a better platelet match. He was receiving platelets every morning but wasn't retaining them. His count at 3 a.m. would be at 7,000 and would go up to 13,000 after a transfusion, but then they would go back down to 7,000 the next morning. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of his HLA matched platelets and they were not able to locate any for him. So, he's been receiving general platelets.
Today, however, he turned a corner, retaining some of his platelets. He went from 7,000 yesterday to 10,000 today with yesterday's transfusion. He still received platelets because he was right at the threshold of having to get them, but at least he is showing progress.
He also had to get a blood transfusion because his Hemoglobin was at 7.9 just slightly below the 8.0 threshold number. His white count has been bouncing around but was up from 40 yesterday to 80 today. The nurse said this morning that she feels that Todd is turning a corner in his progress and that things look good to see his numbers start to climb steadily each day now.
We are so blessed because Todd has not been suffering from many of the horrible side effects some of the other patients have, such as infections in their Hickman catheters (which means they have to be removed surgically and/or replaced) or mucositis and esophogitis (which makes it difficult to eat or swallow and is very painful). He started losing some body hair today, but that is to be expected. He is also very tired and still spends a large part of the day sleeping. He has lost some weight (about 10 plus pounds) mainly because he doesn't feel like eating in general or doesn't want to eat hospital food or pre-packaged food that is safe for him to eat; that just doesn't appeal to him.
We've had a great visit with our three daughters who came up for a visit this weekend. They brought some funny movies to watch and it was good to hear him laugh! It was refreshing to our spirits to be around them and just to hug them!
We are so blessed because Todd has not been suffering from many of the horrible side effects some of the other patients have, such as infections in their Hickman catheters (which means they have to be removed surgically and/or replaced) or mucositis and esophogitis (which makes it difficult to eat or swallow and is very painful). He started losing some body hair today, but that is to be expected. He is also very tired and still spends a large part of the day sleeping. He has lost some weight (about 10 plus pounds) mainly because he doesn't feel like eating in general or doesn't want to eat hospital food or pre-packaged food that is safe for him to eat; that just doesn't appeal to him.
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