Transplant 2 Day 13

2 Corinthians 12:10 "When I am weak, then I am strong."   This was the focus of our devotions tonight.  It's a reminder that the Lord uses this trial too to turn our focus from earthly things to put our trust completely in the Lord.  We marvel at His love that He desires our affections!  He's given us everything we've needed to rest in peace and trust His good promises and character.  We pray that He continues to grant us everything we need for each day again.

I had a restless night and woke up for the day at 8:00 when they hooked me up with my first unit of blood.  It was a little after 10:00 and I already had two units of blood run into me!  The nurse was highly efficient today.  It was interesting that I've had platelets for three days in a row after the scare with HLA typing... All of a sudden, my platelets are at 14 and I incremented well.  That is a relief for everybody because it means that I am not developing an immune response to regular platelets (when the body rejects new platelets before they have a chance to do anything).  There is a unit of platelets with my name on it that has been HLA matched in the blood bank here, so my next unit will be that particular batch.  The doctors will be able to measure how well my numbers jump or increment from that unit, in comparison to regular pooled platelets.   I'm not sure if another unit of matched platelets has been ordered for later in the week, but normally, even with matched platelets, I would still need two units a week.

So it's Day 13 and the platelet number gives us confidence that things are relatively well in my body.  This means that I'm not burning up platelets, though I'm not yet producing them on my own.  My organs are functioning well, I have no fever - things are going well.  Watching the platelets jump up and hold their place gives us confidence as we wait for the white blood cells to climb.  We are still not expecting anything in the whites for the next few days but you can tell it's on our minds.  Please keep praying for strength and peace for each day.  I'm feeling more tension now than 10 days ago when I was battling fever.  It's crunch time.

I had lovely phone calls from my brother-in-law, Chuck, and my brother, John.  I enjoy those things very much.  For the rest of the day, Barb and I had a quiet afternoon.   Barb has gone home early now to get some things done and a good night's rest.  We wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Deuteronomy 33:25b "As your days, so shall your strength be."