Sunday, May 31, 2009

Weekend Update

Considering that at the start of the week Brandon was neutropenic, meaning his cell counts were next to nothing, he has come a long way! Rick's analogy is that these past couple of weeks have been like climbing out of the Grand Canyon. Good news is, the stem cells have engrafted and his counts have gone from 100 to 1300 in the past couple of days. That means that the transplant was successful so far and his body is responding positively to the healthy cells. As you can imagine, he has been very tired as his body has been fighting and working so hard to kill the bad cells replenish the good ones. Unfortunately, Doan developed a fever this week and also some sort of rash. The fever is a pretty common side effect of the chemo treatment and luckily the rash wasn't too itchy. As of today though, they have both started to go down. Hopefully that continues to be the case.

The specific thing we're praying for this week is that Brandon will be able to get out of the hospital and go back to the Crockett's as soon as possible. Preferably in the next few days! In order for that to happen though, he has to be fever free for 4 days and his counts have to remain above 500.

So that's the latest. Tomorrow is Katie's birthday, so give her a call, send her a text, or an email to let her know that you're thinking of her! We'll keep the updates coming...please keep the prayers and fasting coming as well! Thanks for your love and support.

3 comments:

Jules said...

Our thoughts and prayers are with you Brandon. We trust that the transplant and chemo will move you forward on the path to recovery. Keep that fighting spirit!

We love you!

Heidi McMillan said...

What an inspiration you are to all of us. Praying that you make it home soon. Katie, you inspire me and Happy Birthday!

Ryan and Laurel said...

Happy Birthday Katie!!! Hope you're ready for another jog next time we come to town. We love you!