Day + 43

It is now 6 weeks post transplant and Dale continues to do well at home. He started home schooling. His first day was yesterday. His teacher is the same teacher he had 3 years ago when he home schooled for a year so there was no first day meet the teacher anxiety. She is wonderful and Dale really likes her. Dale's labs are fairly stable. His ANC has been between 4,000 to 5,000. WBC - 6.1 - 6.4. Hgb - 9.7 Hct - 30.4 Plts - 61,000. He hasn't needed a transfusion since he was discharged but we'll see how that goes. The liver enzymes are however somewhat rocky. It goes up and down. The total bili is now 0.8. It was 0.5. The doctors added a new medication - mycophenolate (MMF) to try to control the upswing in the liver enzymes. They think the reason for the rise is GVH (Graft vs. Host disease - Derek's marrow or Dale's new marrow is "attacking" Dale's liver) His blood pressure is also high from one of his medications so now he has to take medicine for that too. The pill count is now 23 pills a day. He takes them all diligently without question. Today Dale and I went to a tennis court and played a little tennis. He is allowed to play outside as long as he wears a mask and he stays away from crowds.
We didn't last too long. We both got hot and tired but it was fun. Dale still spends most of his day doing is school work. Danny still has a cold so Dale and Danny are not allowed to be in the same room at the same time. Dinner is eaten in shifts. Derek, being the diplomatic brother, sits at the dinner table the entire time Dale eats and then while Danny eats. I make sure Derek is not eating that entire time he is sitting at the dinner table. Those of you who know Derek know that he probably could eat during both shifts. One of their favorite games they play now is Mad Libs. It has all of us laughing. Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. Grace and peace.....