Transplant Day plus 44

Our four days back in Glens Falls seemed to fly by quickly. Noel felt basically the same health wise. Which is good with not much change either way. So we count this as a blessing.

More blessings came in the mail….more get well cards and good wishes to encourage us which they do and also in the form of support. Thank you for your generous gifts to help us at this time…we praise the Lord for this being his provision for us..

Sunday was the final day of the Tour de France… Very exciting… Made even more so because of the brilliant achievement to the British riders, first Brit to win in the history of the race… Then Noel also enjoyed watching the British Open Golf….Since Noel’s transplant he has been very fatigued and we seem to have watched a lot of sport on the TV. Something we have not normally done in the past…another blessing no time to be bored during this change in life style from our previously very busy lives.

We also had short visits with our granddaughters Charlotte and Lucy on Saturday and Monday always a blessing. They are so much fun to be with. We interacted with our grandchildren Eve and Will in England via Skype. It is not quite like seeing them in person but always fun and a blessing.

We came back to Boston yesterday. The rain held off till we arrived in Boston… Yet another blessing as interstate driving is horrible in the rain.

We are blessed to have a room at the Hope Lodge… It feels like home now..although quite a few of our new friends have gone home…. More blessings…new faces and people to get to know.

We arived at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at 9:15 am….after check in Noel had his blood drawn for testing..that was on the 2nd floor….then up to the 8th floor to wait to see the doctor. This week we saw Amy, Dr Soiffer’s NP. She is so nice and well up to speed with everything. Noel’s counts today were all still low and he did need to have an infusion of 2 units of red blood cells. His red cells are a bit slow at returning and are lower again.. But this is not unusual in these still early post transplant days so nothing to be concerned about. Another blessing as we choose to see having blood as a positive thing not a negative one.

This weeks numbers,
WBC 2.6. Last week 2.8. Normal are 3.8 – 9.2
RBC. 2.75. — 3.08 — — 4.2 – 5.6
Platelets 47. — 37. These are steadily creeping up. But normal is over 155 so quite a way to go……

Because Noel gets bouts of shuddering chills as well as feeling cold most of the time, Amy decided to be on the safe side and have blood cultures done to make sure there is no sign of infections..unlikely but she wants to be sure.. No results yet.

The 2 units of red cells took four hours to be infused as the drip goes very slowly. We did not leave the hospital until 5:30pm having been there for 8 hours today…..sitting reading, napping, looking at our iPads…is not difficult but very tiring. But one blessing was we did get the free lunch provided in the infusion center.

We were glad to return to Hope Lodge…..where we know the blessing of a comfy bed awaits us this evening….

We return next Wednesday for more appointments….but as yet there does not seem to be a room at Hope Lodge so we may have to stay at the Hampton Inn again…but are blessed we can at least get the reduced room rate for Dana Faber patients.

Two things I talked about in last weeks up date did not happen. Because of Noel’s continuing low counts he did not have his Hickman line removed, it looks like he will now keep it for a few more weeks.

We did not manage to start our early morning walks but may be this week we will have greater motivation and energy.

So the slow journey continues a day at a time with blessings to count every day. Thank you for walking with us, for your prayers, your cards, calls and gifts are a great encouragement to us and a blessing. Thank you.

We are focusing on what is positive in our lives not on anything negative and even though we do not know what the future holds we do know who holds the future…..please continue continue to pray for:

  • Noel’s counts to go up.
  • Better energy levels, should be good after the 2 units of red cells today.
  • For no adverse reactions to any medications.
  • For safety as we travel.
  • For the Lord’s continuing provision for us.
  • And give thanks for answered prayers and many blessing.

We keep you all in our prayers, God bless you.

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