In a Holding Pattern

Disappointing news this morning from Dr R. He's the one covering for Dr M over the holidays, so he visited us today to check how well Tyler had responded to the platelet transfusion yesterday.

The good news is that his platelets climbed from 12k to 44k thanks to the added boost yesterday. They want to monitor how fast his body goes through this batch of platelets before letting him go home, so that we can have an undisturbed holiday before visiting the doctors again next week. So, we are in a holding pattern today. Tyler will be in the hospital for at least one more day.

While we are disappointed that he won't get to come home tonight, we are both very encouraged by his blood counts today. His platelets are up and his white blood cell count has continued to fall. He's into the teens today (16.3k) and they've stopped the Hydrea pills (which cause his WBC count to fall rapidly).

We have decided that, even if Tyler is out of the hospital for the holidays, we are going to stay home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We will miss seeing family at the gatherings that we know are taking place, but we really feel like we need to have a few days at home to regain our strength. Please know that we wish you a very Merry Christmas and we hope to be out and about much more in January.

Mandy