Here come the white cells! (by Bree)

We have some white cells today! This is the best news I've heard in at least two weeks:

White Cells - 0.4 (They have been at 0.0 for about two weeks or so, normal range is 5.0 to 19.5.)
Absolute Neutrophil Count - 0.08 (Have also been at 0.0, normal range is 1.00-9.00.)

The exact words from my nurse practitioner were, that he's "showing beginning signs of engraftment"...yea! Now, these levels could still fluctuate greatly for awhile before we see continuous improvement, but this is still very encouraging.

We're still watching his sodium levels (checking his kidney function with renal tests - draws every 6 hours or so), and he is only taking in half as much milk as they would normally like him to have, as we're trying to avoid irritating his stomach. Oh, did I mention that his NJ feeding tube has moved up into his stomach? It's now an NG (nasogastric) tube, which is okay in some respects, but could cause problems with his digestion. He also vomited several times on Tuesday, and the most recent time was Wednesday morning, so we'd like his stomach to settle a bit before increasing his milk intake. (Meanwhile I'm stockpiling it in the freezer...at least we'll be able to take it home to use later!) He had a few respiratory issues on Tuesday night, but last night was much better, and he seems a little more like himself today. He even stayed awake to interact with the OT when she came by to see him!

Please continue to pray that his body would heal. I mentioned the issues above, and he also still has signs of mucositis throughout his digestive tract. Since that has an impact on his breathing we're keeping an eye on his oxygen saturation, especially when he sleeps. We also had his feeding tube maneuvered back into his intestines (to bypass his irritated stomach) this afternoon, so he seems to be in a little more pain. Ugh. Pray for safe, restful sleep tonight, and an even better day tomorrow.