Caringbridge Update (pictures)

Happy New Birthday Caleb!!

Wow! What a day! Isaac had to be in the surgery department by 6:30 and he let everyone know there that he was not happy about it! They finally gave him some versed and he was SO funny. His procedure took a little over an hour. According to the surgeons, he did really well. It took him a bit to wake up from the anesthesia, and he looked really rough when I brought him back to Caleb's room (he had a bright red rash on his bloated face and his eyes were almost swollen shut). But I am surprised how fast he bounced back. He didn't require any pain medication at all. He has to take an iron supplement 3X a day for a month to get his blood levels back! A super hero for sure!

Caleb had a few issues with the stem cell infusion. When it first started, he had chest pain and couldn't catch his breath. Talk about scary! That was likely related to them starting it too quickly. (And the fact that they have different blood types and Isaac's cells were probably causing some havoc at first.....crazy I know.) Shortly after they slowed it down, his benadryl kicked in and he slept for his entire "new factory" drip. During that time, his blood pressure got extremely high. (For my nursing buddies, he's normally 80's-90's/40's and he went up to 170/110. Of course stroke was on my mind!!) After he got some lasix and then nifedipine, he went down to 110/70 which made us feel much better. Tonight he was back to his baseline. Yeah! Once the infusion was done, he woke up and was so chatty and felt great. He hated that he had to stay in bed to be monitored. He was able to take a walk in the hallways tonight though. Again, isn't he amazing?!

The 2nd best news of the day is that he ATE FOOD tonight!! This is really the first time since he was admitted that he actually ate something (he's down to 30 pounds). He ate 1.5 packets of Valveeta Easy Mac!! Joel and I joked that maybe some of Isaac's appetite was in those cells too and they've already kicked in! He will start IV nutrition tomorrow and keep getting it until his appetite is consistent.

His doctors continue to be impressed with how well he has handled everything. They did tell us that all of the chemo he has received will likely "catch up" with him next week and he'll have some crummy days. But like Joel said, Caleb always does everything opposite so we'll see. We are blessed that he really hasn't had too many bad days yet.

So now we wait for those miracle cells to find their way into Caleb's bone's, and start reproducing and making healthy blood cells there. This can take a couple of weeks to happen. Please pray for Isaac's cells to GROW!! We also pray that Caleb will stay free from infections and viruses as we wait for his new factory to be up and running!

We've finished the first part of this journey, but we still have a long way to go before Caleb is 100% healthy. We thank you for your continued prayers!