Saturday, June 04, 2005
Turning the Corner
Jacob's White Blood Cell counts were up significantly today.
All of the Docs said that this was a major turning point for his recovery.
He is in some respiratory distress, and needed oxygen most of today. When he is able to sit up, or increase his level of activity, his Pulse-Oxygen numbers improve quite a bit, and he doesn't have to wear the oxygen mask.
Rajni (his Bone Marrow Transplant Doc) had said yesterday that some of the respiratory distress Jacob was experiencing might be due to white blood cells beginning to repair the damage done to his lungs by the high dose chemotherapy. Dr Link confirmed today that that looked like what was happening.
For a couple times today, for about 10 to 15 minutes at a time, Jacob was quite engaged and active. He played cards with Ellie and Ann, and won handily. This was really great.
He has pain in his chest and stomach, and when he swallows, the pain is sometimes intense and quite literally lays him out. The pain meds are sometimes slow to affect him now. Its really good he is starting to feel better. He took 4 baths today. In watching him move, I can see that it is taking an effort for him to walk and move around. He really concentrates on doing simple things.
He ate a bit of watermelon today, and he was surprised at how rough the texture was. I could tell from the surprised look on his face that the taste and texture were not what he was expecting.
All of the Docs said that this was a major turning point for his recovery.
He is in some respiratory distress, and needed oxygen most of today. When he is able to sit up, or increase his level of activity, his Pulse-Oxygen numbers improve quite a bit, and he doesn't have to wear the oxygen mask.
Rajni (his Bone Marrow Transplant Doc) had said yesterday that some of the respiratory distress Jacob was experiencing might be due to white blood cells beginning to repair the damage done to his lungs by the high dose chemotherapy. Dr Link confirmed today that that looked like what was happening.
For a couple times today, for about 10 to 15 minutes at a time, Jacob was quite engaged and active. He played cards with Ellie and Ann, and won handily. This was really great.
He has pain in his chest and stomach, and when he swallows, the pain is sometimes intense and quite literally lays him out. The pain meds are sometimes slow to affect him now. Its really good he is starting to feel better. He took 4 baths today. In watching him move, I can see that it is taking an effort for him to walk and move around. He really concentrates on doing simple things.
He ate a bit of watermelon today, and he was surprised at how rough the texture was. I could tell from the surprised look on his face that the taste and texture were not what he was expecting.
# posted by Jacob's Dad @ 7:44 PM 
