Feeling good

Nate had an appointment at NW on Monday.  The Dr is pleased with his counts and said come back in two weeks!  The visiting nurse will come once a week until the NW appointment.  His platelets have increased on their own and the neulasta bumped up his white blood cells.  The neulasta effect wears off around Friday, so let's pray his white blood cells still stay strong.  It was so encouraging to have a good Dr visit.  Nate is feeling good, the general malaise feeling has lifted and his energy is increasing.  He still gets tired and needs to rest, but overall he is doing well.  Nate still needs to be careful about crowds and germs.

Northwestern Update

Nate had an appointment with his transplant doctor yesterday.  We were told that Nate's counts should be higher at this point.  The doctor prescribed a neulasta shot to boost his white blood cells to hopefully get him thru these last weeks of viruses floating around the community.  The visiting nurse will come twice more this week and then back to NW on Monday.

This appointment was a little discouraging.  Basically Nate's body needs to kick into gear and make his immune system stronger.

Holding Pattern

5k last May

Today is Sunday and it has been a quiet weekend around here.  We will take quiet.  The nurse took Nate's labs on Friday and his numbers were stable.  Nate is feeling decent, just tired.  He is able to attend the kids games because they are outside and he does not need to interact with many people.  He wore a mask, snuck into church late and left early to avoid the crowds.

I have been more reflective these past days, maybe because life is quiet, well as quiet as our life can be.  People ask how we are doing, how I am doing?  We are thankful Nate is home, that he can be outside, that our family is together, that his counts are stable right now.  But honestly, this journey has taken a toll.  The above picture came up on my FB memories today and it makes me cry. We ran a 5k on this day last year.  Look how healthy Nate looks.  Both Nate and I wonder, when will he get his hair back? Will he look healthy again?  Nate will say, right now he feels old, much older than 37.

And this journey has taken its toll on me.  I am losing my hair, more than is normal.  Stress induced hair loss is a thing, who knew?  I love my husband, but I do not want to lose my hair in solidarity! (And if you have knowledge on how to regrow hair, send me a note.)  I also had to talk with my Doctor about finding a med to help me turn off my brain at night, so I can sleep.  And this past week I am so tired, I feel like I could nap all day.  I wonder if the adrenaline and stress of the past months is catching up with my body, exhaustion is setting in.  The wonderful(?) thing about kids is they force you to keep moving.

We have an appointment at NW on Tuesday and the nurse will continue to come a couple times/week to check Nate's blood counts.  So we continue to pray for quiet, healing weeks.  And that my hair stops falling out, ha!

Nate is home

On Tuesday morning, Nate's blood counts rose dramatically.  The Dr said it probably meant his counts were on the upswing, but the shots helped quite a bit.  He received platelets and was discharged this afternoon!  We are so thankful he is home.  Now we are waiting for an appointment at Northwestern sometime this week or next.

Please continue to pray for health and rising blood counts.  Thank you for your prayers and messages of love and encouragement.

Still in the hospital...

It is Monday and we were really hoping Nate would be discharged today.  But, his counts tanked again.  Gah!!  The fever was gone as of Saturday. The blood cultures are negative for infection. Northwestern is saying Nate will probably stay in the (Holland) hospital until Wednesday.  They want his ANC back to .5.  In the meantime he will continue to receive antibiotics to prevent infection.  He will be tested for a virus, receive immunoglobin and get neupogen shots again to boost his immune system.

This hospital stay is mentally and emotionally taxing.  It is so frustrating for Nate to be back in the hospital.  It is frustrating for all of us.  Please pray for patience, for friends to keep boredom at bay, for our family dynamics.  Please pray that his ANC rises again!