October 13, 2012

SD didn't sleep as well as expected last night. He is still in a lot of pain, even with regular pain medication. So far, he has insisted that either Stephen or Mandy be in bed with him so that he has something softer to lay on than the mattress and pillows.

Originally, we were hoping to get SD out for a walk today, but his ANC is still too low; even just going outside his door will expose him too much. So we'll be encouraging him to walk around his room instead.

We just received some more good news from SD's doctor. The bacteria has been identified, and it is one that can be treated at home! Also, SD's blood cultures from yesterday and today are negative. Once we have three days of negative blood cultures and SD's fever is gone and his absolute neutrophil counts have recovered, then we will be released home!

At home we'll have the new experience of giving SD antibiotics into his port using an actual pump. Previously, we've just given him IV "push" chemo at home, which is done by hand.

So, things are definitely looking up! We still have a few more days in the hospital (at least), probably in PICU the entire time. At this time we expect to go home Monday or Tuesday. We appreciate everyone's prayers for SD's speedy recovery!