Update on Tom: Saturday morning Tom's nose started to bleed a bit, a sign that his platelets were still low and his blood wasn't clotting normally. We checked with the doctor and he had us monitor the situation at first. The bleeding kept increasing through the afternoon, so I placed another call to the doctor. He had us go down to Pasqua Emergency, where they put Tom in reverse isolation for his protection (his white cell counts are still very low). They administered Benadryl through the IV, and then 5 units of platelets. He broke out with a small number of hives. So they doubled up the Benadryl and added a corticosteroid, Solu-Medrol. The steroid acts as an anti-inflammatory and can also be helpful in ensuring platelet survival. Everything settled down and he was doing fine (but very sleepy after all that Benadryl) so we headed home. The Rider game was about to be rebroadcast on TSN2, so we got to see the game after all!
It is a bit unnerving to take your child to Emergency when he essentially has no immune system. We took what precautions we could: we made sure he wore a mask and his gloves the whole time we were in the public areas. We shut his door after a patient right outside his room started coughing uncontrollably. As Tom's girlfriend Stephanie can attest, we've all become germaphobes!
Today he's feeling well, but without knowing if his counts are high enough to safely go out in public, he'll stay home for the rest of the day. Then on Monday, we'll head back to the clinic to check his counts and see how much progress he's made. The goal is to get his counts back up and get him feeling better. We hope to be able to start radiation as scheduled on Thursday. We'll post updates to the yellow status bar in between blog posts to keep y'all updated.
Pay it Forward opportunity: In 2005, studies showed that approximately 1/3 of young adults (aged 16 to 25) did not have basic literacy skills needed for everyday reading and writing tasks. These young people are not going to enjoy the same type of success in life as they would with more literacy and higher education. The Raise a Reader program is working with school and community groups across the province to improve those rates.
Laura's part of a team of other business students, U of R profs, and community members who will jump into an icy pool of water in a fundraising event called Chillin for Charity on November 6 to support Raise a Reader. Donations over $10 will be tax receipted. We'll have a pledge form at home here in case you are interested in getting involved in this worthwhile cause and I'll be posting links on the sidebar.
This charity drive is just one component of a business skills competition called JDC West. It's an annual three-day competition of business schools from across western Canada who compete in a variety of skills: solving business cases, debating and sport, social and charity challenges. The U of R has come in 2nd the past two consecutive years and is hoping to rise to the top this coming January when the competition will be held in Prince George, BC.
As one week ends and another begins, we know we have many things to be grateful for:
* Stephanie was able to stay with us for a couple of days, so that helped Tom's 'quarantine' pass more pleasantly
* Laura's foot has healed: she's off crutches and driving again, and seems to have survived midterms. She has also just started a term position with Rawlco Communications to coordinate their Santa's Anonymous program this year
* Nancy starts work at her new job tomorrow and we wish her well
* Jeanine is working hard and getting good marks in Lethbridge
* We've been blessed by the kindness of strangers - for example, those who donate blood and platelets, who support the work of the Chris Knox Foundation (the mini-vacations that the Foundation supports are so important to a young patient's well-being)
* We are surrounded by wonderful friends and family, who visit us, who pray with us and for us, and who treat us so well! We are also grateful for the ongoing support of the church community - it has meant a lot to us on this journey.
We chatted with Mike's sister Geri in Australia yesterday. Her hubby Chris' grandma is not doing very well, so it sounds like he's getting ready to make another trip back to Canada. Their son Evan has been fighting some kind of flu/gastric problem recently, so we will add Chris' Grandma and Evan to our prayers.
Thanks for checking up on us and keeping us in your thoughts.
Take care,
Thomas' Mom
