Last week, Ryan was admitted to the hospital because of
breathing problems and a low oxygen saturation. They observed him for 24 hours.
The breathing and oxygen saturation didn't change much but the CT scan of his
lungs was clear, and they couldn't think of anything else to work him up for,
so they released him. We are now back at the RMH apartment.
I am feeling a bit discouraged because Ryan's platelet count
has started dropping. I know it is normal for it to fluctuate, but it was up to
155K a few weeks ago, then it hovered between 135K-145K for about two weeks.
Then, last Thursday it had dropped to 105k and today it was 79K.
So far, the team says they are not concerned about Ryan’s
counts. However, when I was on the phone
with the SCCA nurse last Thursday and I mentioned the count dropped to 105K she
said "Yeah, we noticed that too" in a voice that had a hint of
concern in it.
I haven’t had a chance to discuss today’s drop to 75K with
the team yet, but if it keeps decreasing at this rate, he will need a
transfusion in a little over a week. I thought we were done with
transfusions! I am really freaking out a
bit and am worried that he might be having graft failure. It makes me feel sick
to think about that possibility.
Also, his skin GVHD flared back up this morning, so we have
stopped tapering the steroids and are keeping him at the same level for now.
Ryan has really been missing home. His dad and sister stayed with us this
weekend. It was a surprise to him and it
really lifted his spirits. However,
today he was talking about how much he misses his cat, Dexter. He tried to convince me that we should “stop
by the house” (as if it were close). I
had to remind him that we are not allowed to leave the city until summer is
over, at the earliest.
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