Excellent 30-Day Doctors Report!

GQ Joe, once again sporting his new hat and green face mask (and not just for Halloween), along with his 32 day old immune system, visited the specialist at Wash U today for his 30 day check-up.  All his vitals and blood work are in the normal ranges!  As you may remember, when he was in the hospital, we were tracking his White Blood Count (WBC), Hematocrit (HCT) and Platelets.  When he left the hospital, his WBC was 6.6, today it was 7.6 (normal range is 3.8 to 9.8).  His HCT was 27.0 and today it was 31.8 (normal range is 36.1 to 50.3) and his Platelets were 27 and today they were 197!  All other vitals were good and he gained 2 lbs.  

Even though we're still waiting for the "Hey, I feel much better today" day, he's starting to have some of the normal signs that he's turning the corner such as taste buds are returning, some foods are starting to taste good or he's craving them, overall fatigue is decreasing and energy level is slowly increasing.

More good news is that he's not allowed to have any more McDonalds or White Castles :)  Also, at his age, two naps a day are normal (and at age 80, he gets 3 naps - breakfast, lunch and dinner).  As you know, he doesn't follow normal rules so I'm not sure how that rule will apply to him long term.  

In more good news, he can start driving when he feels up to it.  The trick with driving is that he will get very fatigued very easily.  So, he may be able to drive to the Target, go in to get something, but too fatigued to drive home.  He admits he's not ready to drive yet.  He also needs to remember, his immune system is only 32 days old, so avoid sick people and crowded places.      

As we progress through this journey, he also learned today that for the remainder of his life, he should only be lifting 20 to 25 lbs.  He does have cancer of the bones so if he lifts more than that, he could risk breaking something.  He was shocked by that and said "well, I guess that removes putting a wheel on a car" -- which frankly, he was doing a week before he started the stem cell transplant process.  We'll see how that goes.  

Doctor's orders were to keep up the good work!  Next doctor's visit will be with his regular oncologist at the end of the month.  He goes back to see the specialist at Day 100, mid-December and also has a bone biopsy that day.  That will tell us if the stem cell transplant worked (which all indications at this point are yes)!  If the answer is yes, he's released completely to his oncologist who will keep him on a low dose of chemo for the next two years.

Thanks for your continued prayers and financial support!  We are very humbled and blessed by all those who have made donations on the website and/or sent contributions.  We're 1/2 way to the goal!  

God is Good!