Yesterday evening was a real turning point for Tyler healthwise. He FINALLY got a full night’s sleep – 7 hours – then got a 3.5 hour nap today as well. His GI issues have mostly resolved, and he’s been fever free. Today they cut his Vancomycin dose in half. Also, his isolation status was lifted today! He can finally leave his room, so we plan to take a few laps around the floor later this evening.
Yesterday we changed rooms as well. Tyler loves his new room – it’s bigger and back on the side of the hall that has a nice view. With the infection gone and Tyler getting caught up on some much needed sleep, he began trying to eat today. We’re tracking his calories so he can start being weaned from TPN.
We don’t know how much longer Tyler will be here this course – it all depends on his count recovery. If he follows the same track as the last two courses, he’ll start recovering around midweek next week, and should be home sometime around Christmas!
Yesterday we found out the dates for his upcoming transplant. Based on the donor’s availability, Tyler will be readmitted for his transplant course on January 17th. This means we could have him home with us for a little over 3 weeks!! He will have 8 days of transplant preparative chemo, then will receive his new bone marrow on January 25th. Now that we have a date, it all seems so real. This is both exciting and terrifying. We have been doing a lot of reading about the whole transplant process and it’s simply overwhelming, from the immediate effects of the preparative chemo, to post transplant complications, to a very different life after he’s finally sent home. If anyone is interested in reading about it, www.bethematch.org has extremely helpful information. Since this journey is so long, we have to continue focusing on what’s important at each moment rather than thinking too far ahead.
Thanks for praying us through this latest fight with chemo’s terrible side effects. Tyler should continue feeling better each day until he gets to come home. We can’t wait!