10 days post transplant

Well, we got our arctic blast. Freezing rain last night and continuing this morning. The temperature has dropped. The dogs are definitely NOT PLEASED!

We decided to brave the ice and go into the transplant unit. It was a good thing. Don's platelet count was critical (13 K/ul), so he got a unit of platelets in addition to his two liters of IV fluids. His white count has been 0.02 K/ul the past two days. We hope that levelling off means it will start to recover soon. His hemoglobin has dropped to 10.5 g/dL today. We are watching for signs of infection, since his CRP (a general indicator of inflammatory process) doubled from yesterday. They drew blood cultures this morning.

UAMS is going to implode a dormitory next to the hospital tomorrow morning, so they are limiting access to essential personnel. If everything remains stable, we won't need to go back until Monday morning. It will be good to have a day off!

Don was awake all day yesterday, which is a first for the month. His sense of humor (ornery) is back. He started to look at email this morning, so you may be getting some jokes soon. They gave him steroids before the platelet infusion, so he is a bit hyper and restless.... you all can have him back at Methodist if he keeps this up!

He has kept up with comments on the blog and really appreciates knowing people are reading it and thinking of him. God bless you!