Progress Report

Joel and I will some day print all these posts into a journal, with that in mind I have to report on how Henry is doing truthfully. I have a tendency to make things sound better than they are so that those at home don't worry too much. Today is Transplant day plus 10 and Henry is battling a lot at once. He has a bacteria in his blood called lactocaucus, something they haven't seen, he also has CMV a common virus that can be very detrimental with out an immune system. They are concerned because his bilirubin is increasing daily, his eye's are starting to turn a bit yellow.. all common of jaundice. The scary thing right now is that the Doctors are concerned he has VOD, which is basically the beginning stages of liver failure. When the liver fails, the kidney follows and then the lungs. Which inevitably leads to loss of life. The Dr. isn't concerned at the point about complete failure, but they are keeping a close eye on him. With his liver and spleen being enlarged and his body retaining a lot of fluid, there is a great deal of stress put on the lungs. They compare his lungs to a sponge, that is normally wet and full, however, when you don't take deep full breaths for extended periods, parts of your lungs dry up and become like a hard dry sponge. Their concern is that infection can be hiding in the dry portions and there isn't any way of truly knowing. All that said the Doctors are all impressed with him and how strong he is, enduring so much pain, and continuing to breath on his own, when his lungs don't have much room to expand. He is still on HemOnc floor, not distressed enough to go into the ICU, which is great. So although things look hard right now we are still have great hope he'll pull through. The pulmonary doctors came in yesterday to talk to us about his lungs and reassured us that his breathing is probably affected by his large organs and the virus infections. They aren't concerned about infection in the lungs at this point.

His hair is almost gone, a lot of the day he whimpers and cries in pain, but he is very strong and has happy moments too. He plays when he can and we try to give him enough medicine to control the pain which means he sleeps a lot. But I would rather he slept than had to tough out the pain. Although I know he's capable of that. Whatever happens we know that Henry will be alright, I asked him if he knew how many people were praying for him and he shook his head yes. So he's aware of your love and prayers and faith and I'm sure he is eternally grateful!