Day 17....slow recovery

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Dillon is slowly restoring his body.  Yesterday midday he agreed to order some watermelon (one of the only fresh foods he is allowed to have) and he ate 4 or 5 bites.  That is the first solid food he has eaten in 3 weeks.  He has been and continues to drink a couple of cups of ice water and yesterday he asked for lemonade.  His skin is a little less yellow and his bilirubin count is falling very slowly, which is the trend we have been waiting for.  Every day before yesterday the bilirubin was rising and finally a slight dip.  Dillon is still extremely discolored, he does not really look like himself between the puffiness and the discoloration.  My mom and Luca were a bit shocked when they first saw him.  His kidney function also improved enough for him to get the contrast for the MRI yesterday...so that is also a big improvement, although he has a ways to go.

His legs and hands are beginning to regain more function.  For a few days his fingers just did not seem to work well.  He had trouble grabbing and holding small things, he could not hold a pill to put it into his mouth, but now he can.  His feet were also not functioning quite right (sort of stiff and floppy at the same time) so walking to the bathroom was impossible for the past few days but yesterday he got up (with the assistance of 2 people) and got to the bathroom and even got his much dreaded shower.  He was exhausted after all that action but he had to admit that he did feel better being clean and moisturized.  His skin is terribly dry.

Stable and steady.....on the mend, slowly but surely.