Adrienne was in again today. I needed platelets and they had given me the regular pooled platelets (rather than the HLA matched) and I responded well, according to a blood test an hour later. They assume that one of the bugs I had almost three weeks ago was a pretty nasty one and that a lot of my abdomen pain was also part of that gastro bug (and not spleen pain like we originally thought). They figure I burned a lot of platelets in that time, trying to fight that bug. A better response now to platelet transfusions mean that things are well again in that part of my body. They will probably be moving away from HLA matched platelets now. The doctors start more talk now of us taking leaves of absences. They liked it that we went home yesterday and that's kind of where they're moving towards. Even if we don't have engraftment by the weekend, I might be sent home anyway with a tight schedule for checkups at the clinic for blood tests and transfusions if needed.
When you start to talk like this, it's very easy to let our minds get ahead of where we're actually at. We don't know yet. They originally said 2-4 weeks for engraftment and they won't worry until 4 weeks. But now we're at 3 weeks and they are prepping us to go home before engraftment, depending on whether or not I am issue-free. If I have no issues, I also would be happier to sit at home rather than here with nothing happening, but it does increase our anxiety level about what the Lord has planned for us. Will engraftment actually happen? We don't know and we rest in our Lord's sovereign plan.
We did not leave the hospital today, though we did go on a nice hike through the hospital this evening. We toured some places I haven't seen before and as you can see, I rode. It's nice to be out of the room when there's no crowds. The hospital is pretty quiet after supper here. I definitely wouldn't want to be out in the daytime.
Below is a picture of the trusty blog writing team. :)
Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me whole-heartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him. (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 1).
4 comments:
I have been checking every minute for the past hour...so eager to hear what is or is not happening. My heart breaks for you, imagining the stress of the wait, decisions about going home, etc. Please know that you are constantly on our hearts and in our prayers. Even more so, our sovereign God is watching over every thing that is going on...we pray you can rest in that, but imagine it is extremely hard. we send our love and prayers, and we'll be checking around 8pm(your average time) tomorrow. Sleep well, and God Bless! Rev & Bev Van Hal
Hi Richard and Barb and Family
Wow if we see the pictures from you Richard , you look so good on there and still there is no engraftment yet , We pray for you and your family
in this difficult time of waiting greetings with love r+a
It is understandable that the thought of going home, though wonderful, is almost a little paralyzing. The 'what if's and the constant searching for hidden meaning behind the doc's words must get exhausting. Continue to hold on to the promises of God, believe that prayers ARE heard, and that many many people are bringing you before the throne of Grace. With Him there are no 'what if's or cryptic answers. We stand on the solid foundation of His promises, and may trust beyond any doubt that He will give us everything that we need. Praying for you all.
We pray for you every day. I know waiting can be tough, the unknown harder then actually knowing what is going on and what God's plan is. Yet we know that God knows what He is doing, His will is beyond understanding. May God grant you patience, peace and a joy that is known only among God's people. May you rest in His abiding love.
We love you and we will continue to lift you and your family up to the throne of grace.
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