Day +2

Day +2/Friday, October 11:

As Riko mentioned, he is trying to get a post out everyday, however they may be delayed. He has asked me to help out in his absence from the computer. Day +2 was a very restful day filled with lots of naps throughout the day. After eating a banana upon waking, he felt “woozy” and was nauseous, all to be expected as a result of the SCT, which we will now abbreviate. His weight has dropped but he seems relieved about this as the fluids he was hooked up to in order to keep him hydrated enough for transplant did cause some weight gain. During his recovery from SCT he was initially scheduled for blood draws once a day and depending on the result would either require platelets, hemoglobin, both or neither. Since SCT he has needed at least one or both of these. They initially were using HLA (matched) platelets but after transfusion, realized that he didn’t get much of a bump in his numbers, so they don’t necessarily need to use HLA platelets. They did a 4 hour drip which was expected to bring them up from a 7, however after the drip, they remained a 7. He also required hemoglobin and was transfused with those once the AM shift arrived. As you can imagine, all of this time he is hooked up to IVs as the PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line is where they administer these. After a second lab draw (which they will be doing now) he needed additional platelets. This brought him from a 7 to an 11, which they were pleased with. Many of you may already know this but the normal range for platelets is: 150-400 k/cu mm, so obviously his are still extremely low which is to be expected until his sister’s stem cells begin to start working in his bone marrow. His hemoglobin increased from a 6.6 to an 8.4, and in case you are unfamiliar, here is another stat for your knowledge: normal range for hemoglobin for a male is 13.5 -17.5 g/dL. These are the two biggest indicators that initially kept him in the hospital in Maui when we went to ER.

One of the nice things about the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute (14K) is that he can wear regular clothes and does not need to wear a hospital gown. This is nice because it makes him more comfortable and he is able to wear whatever he wants. One thing this does do, however, is cause the hamper to fill up, just like at home, but we are blessed to have Malia & Eddie within driving distance and they have taken the laundry home to wash it. What a big help they are! Not only that, but he can have food brought in as long as we know who cooked it and that they used safe cooking methods. There is other criteria as well, basically he cannot have any fast-food, food truck/carts, restaurant or other foods, treats that are not made at home basically or by a trusted source. Malia surprised him with chicken adobo, sauteed vegetables (mushrooms, squash, potatoes & carrots) and jasmine rice. After not having much of an appetite recently, he ate everything on his plate. He has been in the habit of only eating two meals a day but needs more protein so he will now be consuming protein shakes/drinks at least once a day, Vanilla is the flavor of choice, although I did a small order for the Root Beer float ones. Stay tuned for his thoughts on those ones……

Walked 5 laps. Great progress since the SCT.