He looks good otherwise, and ate like a champ today: Frosted Flakes, half a ham & cheese sandwich for lunch, nutella for afternoon snack, chicken nuggets for dinner, then yogurt and granola for another snack, and finally some crackers.
It's not the healthiest of diets, but for now it's all about quantity.
His blood levels are so-so. Red and hemoglobin counts have improved since Friday, but platelets and white counts have decreased. We'll get them tested again on Friday. (It's all pretty normal. Chemo does a number on blood cells.)
I am hopeful they'll start recovering by then, between food, sleeping, and Neupogen shots.
So, what's the next step? It will be a stem cell harvest at UNMC.
They'll hook him up to a machine that will filter his blood to harvest stem cells out of it. It's a six (or so) hour procedure, and should be out patient. (That is my understanding at the moment.) That should be happening a week from coming Monday.
Stem cells will be cryo-frozen, and given back to him in a few months, after one specific chemo treatment.
I don't think too far in advance, as it can be overwhelming, so for now we're just focusing on keeping him fed, rested, clean, and engaged with schoolwork.
Speaking of schoolwork, he got a huge monkey doll that will take his place in the classroom, so his little friends will have "someone" in his chair while he's away.
It's a pretty cute concept, and maybe I'll write more about it in the next few days.
Maybe his teacher will send us some pics of Sam, the monkey ;)
I'm grateful for:
- he's eating well, (I know it's repetitive, but we're going day to day...)
- no fever! (we check him 3-4 times per night when it's hovering around 99, so not having to go to a hospital at 2 am is a huge relief.)
- his red and hemoglobin counts climbing up.
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