Day 48: Hangin' In There

It's hard to believe we're over half way through the first 90 days! Liver failure was a rather unexpected bump in the road, but thankfully he seems to be recovering quickly. I'm sitting here, watching him sleep, feeling thankful for all the hurtles that are now behind us.

My dad flies in tonight from Oklahoma to add more helping hands at home. He has mastered the art of convincing Fiona to go back to sleep in the middle of the night, so having his nighttime backup again will be especially helpful. I've missed not being able to spend the night with Ian and be there when the doctors come for their rounds every morning to talk about recent test results and answer questions. With my Dad here, I'm hoping to be present for a few of these and get a better grasp of everything on the table for Ian right now.

So far, things are pretty quiet. Although he still requires platelet transfusions daily, his counts seem to be creeping upward. The GVHD spots have cleared up and he no longer needs to treat them with "chemo" lotion. It has some scary side effects with long term use, so we are glad it worked fast. Ian vomited this morning, which is always a red flag, but since it only happened once they aren't too concerned. He eats and holds down every sandwich I bring him, but he can't even look at the hospital menu without being flooded with nausea. I'm trying to keep him stocked with sandwiches as best I can. Asha and I had an assembly line the other day making 8 turkey/cheese bagels for him, and he wolfed down two of them within minutes of our arrival! Although bagel sandwiches seem to always win, it's a moment by moment quandary what he is craving or might be able to stomach. Those of you who have experienced pregnancy may know what I'm talking about. If anyone lives close to San Francisco and wants to help keep Ian fed, please let me or Ian know!

The big prayer right now is for the GVHD to stay under control. Now that it has popped up, they are more concerned about it showing up in other places as well. Please continue to pray it stays nice and quiet, silently attacking the cancer but ignoring Ian's vital organs. If the GVHD stays under control, then they will start reducing his immunosuppressant after he completes his first 90-100 days. Please pray all goes smoothly so he can eventually be off of immunosuppressants completely. Oh how wonderful that would be...

Thank you!