10/26 - there are white blood cells in there!

Thursday John received IV immunoglobulin to act as an immune system of sorts until he can sprout his own. There is also ongoing mucositis; one of John's nurses had the great idea of providing a suction tube to help clear the thick secretions AND she put the open end of the tube inside a latex glove when it wasn't being used; this eliminated the annoying and constant suction sounds.  So nice to have caretakers with experience delivering physical and emotional support.

Today, Friday, John's mouth is improving; he was even able to use a lozenge today to help relieve dry mouth.  John's skin is dry and itchy but there are no lesions or sores.  The radiation sores on his hands are kind of scabbing over and beginning to look a little better.  The hiccups are still a plague and the thorazine used to treat them makes John drift off mid-sentence; this may be a bit of a blessing in disguise since he is at least getting a little sleep.

John has popped a fever the last couple of nights; more blood draws but so far nothing has cultured out.  The fevers seem to resolve on their own so no infections or complications so far.

Still some fluid retention but the compression stockings are off.  No more GI symptoms but he really hasn't eaten for the last several days either.  John is still a real trooper walking the halls, elevating his feet, sitting in the chair, and working hard to get down the three Boosts a day - the goal his medical team has set for him.  For the first time today he mentioned coffee; still not ready for that but good news that it is sounding appealing again.

Anti-rejection drugs, lasix, antivirals, antibiotics, antifungals, zofran, compazine, IV fluids, platelets, red blood cells, thorazine, baclofen, aquaphor, Boost, moisturizing nasal and throat sprays - these are a few of our favorite things these days.  And they are often all hanging from the IV pole, being swallowed, and being rubbed on at once.

But, I have saved the really good news for last.  John's white blood cell count today was 0.09!  He has a long way to go (it's not considered engraftment until neutrophils - one kind of wbc - measure at least 1.0) but these are the first white blood cells since John received Michael and Zacc's stem cells last Thursday night, 8 days ago.  Once the wbc count start to increase, a lot of these symptoms will go away.  This is today's great news and what we have been waiting for.

Thank you all for your encouragement; we are really happy to be able to share this great news with you.