The boys are doing so great today. They are laying down for a nap right now. I don’t know if they sense something is wrong and are just on their best behavior or if they are really this good. It doesn’t matter right now, I guess. Just grateful.
Sorry I haven’t updated yet this morning, it’s been a bit crazy around here.
Last night, about 9:30 p.m., they started giving Eli transfusions. He has now completed 3 transfusions and will likely have at least 2-3 more. They take over 3 hours each so it’s not a simple thing. When they sent the pre-transfusion blood work to the lab, they called back up to the floor and said that something was wrong with the blood and asked if it had gotten diluted somehow and that there was no way the results could be right. Well, it was right. His count was at 3.0 . A normal range is 11-15. 10 would be acceptable. All the nurses were surprised he was alive.
They have ruled out the possibility that he is leaking blood internally. They did some kind of test to see if he is producing red blood cells or not. The test showed that either he is not producing red blood cells or his body is destroying them as fast or faster than he can make them. There is a condition that some children get that inhibits blood production. There are treatments for it and some of these children begin producing cells again eventually. The other possibility is still Leukemia. Originally we thought that the white count was good, but the doctor said last night that white count was low too. I don’t know how we got confused on that.
Regardless of the fact that we are scared, we are trusting God. I never would have believed that such fear and faith could co-exist. But I think I’ve changed my mind.
He was to have a bone marrow biopsy today, but he’s not strong enough. They have to anesthetize him for this procedure. He has developed a heart murmur which COULD be a result of the inflow of blood that he has experienced. If that’s the case, his heart will readjust which we certainly hope is the case.
His hemoglobin is up to a 6.2 from a 3. His color is getting better and he is laughing and happy and seems to be feeling so good. We don’t know how long his counts have been dropping but it’s good to see him more his old self.
If something changes this afternoon, I’ll post again. He’ll be in the hospital for at least several days and if he has leukemia, we hope they will begin treatment immediately. It’s not going to be easy regardless of the diagnosis. Both possibilities are critical and neither has a quick cure. So I guess our new “normal” is going to be different than we could have ever imagined. At least God knew about it and has it all planned on. Of that, we can be sure.
Thank you for your prayers and for those who have been over to help last night and this morning, THANK YOU. We’re set for the weekend and we’ll regroup at the first of the week or sunday night and we’ll let you know what we need and how you can help. Being needy is so difficult for me. I’m a very independent person and don’t like to be a burden to anyone. Through our adoption journey, I really learned that if we’re all in it together, it’s so much easier. The funny thing is, one of the things I was looking forward to about getting home was that once again, I’d be in a place where I could handle things and direct our family’s life. God had other plans it looks like so once again we’re in the needy seat. So instead of railing against it, I’m TRYING to embrace it and allow other to help. So if we need something, I’ll try to let you know. Brenda Done is going up to the hospital to visit with Mary and keep her company a little this afternoon. THANK YOU BRENDA!! Last night, she, Carol and Wartha & Gus came over and helped get the kids dinner and bathed and the boys were in bed when I got home from the hospital. Wartha came back this morning and took the kids to school and Carol came and fed Matthew his breakfast. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!! Then I had a wonderful surprise when Annette M. dropped by and brought some lunch for us. Someone is bringing food tonight too. God is so amazing the way He brings us all together and provides such support. We surely couldn’t survive with you. I’ll keep you “posted.”
By the way, in case I haven’t mentioned it lately, we have the greatest kids ever. So blessed.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!