I’m writing this from Tyler’s room back on the oncology ward! Boy, does it feel good to be back here and out of the ICU – the longest 3 1/2 days of our lives. Tyler is much better than he has been, but is still extremely weak. He couldn’t wait to shower, and he even got to brush his teeth since his gum sores are so much better. These two activities basically wiped him out, so he’s resting now. Ironically, we ended up back in the same room, even though we had to pack up and move everything out while he was in the ICU. At least the room got a good cleaning; there’s always a silver lining, right?
He’s still not out of the woods yet infection and blood pressure-wise, but is doing well enough that the level of monitoring he gets on this floor will suffice. We’ve been told that kids with AML usually do end up in the ICU; in fact, two other children with AML from our floor were there while Tyler was. We have to keep reminding ourselves that the chemotherapies he requires are just very, very toxic.
We hope and pray that the next two weeks are uneventful, that his counts recover normally, and that we can bring him home for a few days before his third course begins!
Thank you all so much for praying us through this major bump in the road.