Day 30.....the first laugh...

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Sean and Luca are here and for the first time in I don't know how long....Dillon laughed.  Between Sean and Luca they had him cracking up repeatedly.  It was FANTASTIC!!!!!!

He continues on the course of slow healing.  He is now on only 3 IV meds and the rest have been switched to oral.  They reduced his IV nutrition to help encourage his appetite. He gets enough calories to maintain his weight so basically  he would never get hungry while on full TPN, so yesterday I asked suggested a decrease, and the team agreed that it was worth a try.

He has been afebrile (without fever) for over 48 hours now, which is one of the requirements for discharge...so YIPPY!!!!

With discharge on the horizon, my brain is tabulating a list of all the stuff I need to do to "get ready."  Clean the car, clean the apartment, get his meds, get his supplies for IV nutrition at home as well as dressing changes and such, get some groceries, pack the hospital room, get all that stuff out of there and back to the apartment....and then the final transport of my boy who is still very very weak and will need lots of assistance just to get into the car.  I have requested one of my parents come to assist with all of that...it will lessen my stress, which will lessen Dillon's stress.  I am not sure how he feels about leaving the hospital...not a conversation we have had yet.  One of our neighbors at the apartment went home after being here for almost a year and when I asked her how she was feeling about that she said she was nervous to be away from the safety net of the doctors and hospital....I wonder if Dillon will feel that way about leaving the hospital.

Dillon had physical therapy a couple of days ago and they were shocked at HOW STRONG he is. He was laughing at them because he does not feel strong compared to his regular self, but they assured him that he is way ahead of the curve compared to many kids that are at the same point in the transplant process.  That seemed to motivate him and he worked really hard at his exercises with her.....of course the next day when it was me trying to get him to do the exercises he was not quite so cooperative (go figure!!!)  I guess he is still an adolescent boy balking at his mother's requests....thank goodness...so happy for those 'normal' moments.  

Oh yeah...a couple of days ago he also Skyped with his buddy Finn.  That is the first time he has had the desire and energy to do that since we came to Denver....another normal moment that made my heart sing.  THANK YOU FINN...it was so nice to hear about your adventures and some normal stuff outside of this hospital!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

ANC 3050 Remember it is normal for it to trend down after a big surge and the discontinuation of the GCSF, which was helping his body manufacture white cells.