Fill 'Em Up!

I've probably lost most of you with all this talk of cells and lab results.  Today, it's a simple statement:  Steve's numbers are improving, and Dr. Altman, we were told, was surprised and pleased!  The dreaded platelets were at TWENTY, that's right folks, 20, at his draw around lunchtime.  So, I do think the cowboys in Interventional Radiology done shot that spleen.   His hemoglobin was also at 8.4, which was also up from 7.7...and he has not had a bag of red cells since last Tuesday morning.  His white cells are down to 2.3, but Dr. Mehta warned us this number could bump up and down until the second engraftment takes hold.   

We were allowed to use a room in Prentice as a filling station.  Sparky's, not Goober's.  It was great only needing red cells and not platelets.  Stinkin' washed platelets take forever to get!  All told it still took from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to jump through all the hoops for one bag of blood, and that was with his cross and match still in effect from clinic on Wednesday.  (THAT takes an hour and a half!)  Believe me, we are grateful for all the safety measures and checks and balances put in place by the blood bank, grateful for everyone that donates (shout out to "Double Reds Deb!!!), and for the keen eyes of the director of the NW bank that personally watches out over Steve.

The Boy Scout dinner ran from 4-7....if you know Chicago geography you know that leaving Streeterville after 5 and getting to the dinner was not going to be easy.  Steve wanted to go home and directly to bed.  I couldn't let Kevin down.  As we got close to Oak Lawn, Kevin texted us that the leaders were really hoping Steve made it....so Steve and I made a decision to just go for it.  We called Molly and she met us at Trinity Lutheran Church with our borrowed wheelchair from Trinity (which, I must say, is pretty sweet, it's lightweight, electric cobalt blue, and easy to lift into the car!).  It was something Steve had planned on doing for months, his return to Hollywood!  I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, thinking about all those cooties, uncovered sneezes, but mostly about Steve's energy level and getting overwhelmed.  I had to take a leap of faith with all those pills, and realize most of the meds he takes are preventative, not curative.

He ATE....did you read that correctly??...ATE 4 or 5 pieces of Italian bread, salad with Italian dressing, and "a lot" of spaghetti.  I was flabbergasted.  Just hours earlier at Northwestern, I goaded him into eating some vanilla ice cream from the cup, and even then he agreed to eat it ONLY if I FED HIM.  Clearly, this means we must start dining in crowded restaurants.   I'm going to need a designated driver!

Many people came up to him and were thrilled to see him make the dinner.  That so warms our hearts, and we thank you.  Good night!

p.s.  Please leave a comment if you like. :-D