Inpatient again

So, the roller coaster that is a bone marrow transplant continues.

Hunter's weekend was fairly good. He still had to take pain pills around the clock every five hours for his shoulder pain, but when his pain was under control he was feeling pretty decent. We even got to go on our first public outing Saturday afternoon-frozen yogurt!

There wasn't anyone inside, so he came in, ordered, and took it back to the car to eat. Baby steps, y'all.

However, when he got out of bed Monday morning to take a shower, he felt very faint and weak. I called the clinic and they wanted him to increase his fluids. Over the course of the day, he continued to feel "off." His appetite was gone, he felt nauseous, and lightheaded.

When he got out of bed this morning to come to clinic, he started vomiting. He could barely make it from the RV to the car. I got him to clinic and they immediately ran a bag of fluids through him as fast as they could, and took bloodwork.

His labs showed that his hemoglobin (red blood cells) had dropped a significant amount from Friday. His white count is a little elevated, and his platelets are good. Something is causing Hunter's body to destroy its red cells. This happens in the first 100 days pretty often. Usually, it's when the donor's blood type is different than the recipient, and the new blood type takes over. But, Hunter and his donor share the same blood type, so his doctors are running more tests to determine the cause. Right now we are waiting on a blood transfusion. This will help to make him feel better for now. Most likely, Hunter will be put on steroids to help keep his body from destroying red cells. Please pray with us that this is an easy fix.

On the plus side, his shoulder and neck are feeling much better today. Last night was the first in a couple weeks that he hasn't woke up in pain, with a little fever ready for pain medicine. I'm so thankful, because I don't think his liver would tolerate pain pills today. It seems like as soon as we get one thing resolved another problem arises.

Please pray with us that the cause of the red cell destruction can be easily determined, that an IV will be sufficient for this hospital stay, and for a safe trip for Mark and Jana as they head back down here. Also, please keep our boys in your thoughts and prayers. I was going to go home this weekend for Benton's birthday, but there's no way I can go home with Hunter feeling so miserable and back in the hospital. I would love to thank each and every person who reads our story, and lifts Hunter up in prayer. He has been in the process for almost 50 days now, and he is weary. We know that there are 3 little guys at home that will make all this suffering worth it in the end, but we could use an extra measure of strength to clear this hurdle. Love to all of you!








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