We got to go on pass again. His ANC was 922, platelets were 79 and hemoglobin was 107. So things are now dropping. Hopefully we get at least one more pass before being locked up entirely. Jan and I both seem to be developing colds and Donovan still has a runny nose. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Malcolm does not get sick, or that if he does, that he does not get a fever. If he spikes a fever then he must receive IV antibiotics for at least 48 hours (and likely longer than that) while they run cultures to rule out any really serious infections. You may recall this happened in round one and he was hooked up for close to a week - not fun.
For those of you who have been reading this blog since the beginning, you may remember that in round one we were a bit depressed that Malcolm seemed to be losing quite a bit of hair and we were expecting him to go bald. However, you may have noticed that in photos he still seems to have quite a bit of hair. The truth is, he has not lost much since the first round. And we have let all his remaining hair grow quite long so it helps to hide the fact that it is quite thin. We are lucky in that his hair loss was uniform - for some kids it comes out in patches and they sometimes shave their head because it looks better than random bald patches. His hair has changed consistency - it is very dry and brittle, does not need to be washed much - and has really lightened up - we have had several nurses comment recently on how blond he has become. But we are now very hopeful, with only two rounds to go, that he will not go bald or need to have his head shaved - a small but welcome blessing.
Trick or treating is tomorrow here at the hospital - stay tuned for super cute photos.
Mary Ellen
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