Day + 67

Dale continues to do well. His labs this week are still good. His liver enzymes are now down to AST - 38 and ALT - 61 Bili - 0.6. (This is almost normal) The kidney function remains stable ( Scr - 0.5) Because of the Cellcept added about a month ago, the white blood cells are dropping. It is now 3.67 The ANC - 2600. Plt - 86,000 and Hgb - 9.3 Hct 29.0. It is not however low enough to lower the dose . The prednisone is being tapered slowly . We are now down to 7.5mg/day. His face is still swollen but this should improve once he is off the steroids. The cyclosporine level is still going up and down. This drug causes increased hair growth on the face and body but unfortunately not the head. The hair on his head is starting to come in but in patches. Because of the side effects of the drugs, he looks a little different but he is still Dale on the inside. Dale was also started on some antibiotics for an in-grown toe nail. I didn't think it was a big deal but apparently because of Dale's immunocompromised state, it can become a big deal so they took it quite seriously.
Dale is still very committed to his school work. Derek often complains that Dale hardly spends time with him because he is always at his desk studying. So we ask Dale to take a break and play with Derek. Derek on the other hand has to be reminded to stop playing and do his homework. Last week , in addition to our daily walks and handball games, we went to play tennis at South Park in Gardena and the driving range to hit some golf balls at Dominquez. Luckily, Dale had some ball cards from last summer's FOR golf program and knew how to work the machine so it was fast and easy. It was a windy day so our balls didn't always go very staight. We are planning to go again this week when it is not so windy to see if our ball goes straighter. The wind last week probably had nothing to do with the direction our balls were going but it was a good excuse. Also last week, Coach Harvey Kitani (head coach of the State Champion Fairfax Lions) presented Dale with a Nike basketball signed by UCLA's head coach Ben Howland and the UCLA Bruin basetball team. It was very exciting. They also wrote " For Dale Inouye" "From the UCLA Bruins" Having watched every UCLA game from his hospital room, and reading the "Daily Bruin" (UCLA's newspaper) , Dale recognized most of the players names and their numbers. Some of the signatures were difficult for Dale to read so Danny ready them to him. Danny and Derek were equally ecstatic. I'm sure the 2007 March Madness and UCLA's journey to the final four will be an ever lasting memory for Dale. A big thank you to all of you who continue to follow Dale's progress through our blog and for your continued prayers and support. Grace and peace to yo always....