Day 25 - Discharge!

Getting out of this joint!
So, the doctors decided that Ryan was doing well, and sent us home to the apartment today.  His ANC dropped (to 410), but they weren't all that concerned.  I was a little worried when I got labs around 2am this morning, as we really want that ANC number above 750.  But, his platelets were still good and the doctors know that we'll keep an eye on him.

We have clinic appointments next Monday, and we get to talk to GI about the hole in his belly on Thursday, but if all goes well, we get a few days off... I'm not quite sure what to do about that!

We got back to the apartment, and watched a movie together, which was kinda nice.  We ordered pizza and coke (Ryan wanted ice tea), and just relaxed.  I know we could have done that in the hospital, but the quite and the calm was so awesome.

Ryan didn't get a chance to see a movie in the theater last time he was out, so we might try to do that tomorrow, depending on how the weather behaves (I hate bringing him out when it's hot).

Thank you all for the continued prayers and good thoughts... We're getting through this!!

-----------------------------------

ANC - 410
Hematocrit - 20.5 (got more blood today... )
Hemoglobin - 7.2
RBC - 2.45
WBC - 1.0
Lymphocytes - 400
Creatine - --
Glucose - --
Platelets - 192

Description of lab numbers, in layman's terms:
ANC -  This tells us how well his body can fight off normal infections... We want this to be greater than 500..  Normal would be greater than 1500.
Hematocrit/Hemoglobin (H&H)  - This is a number of how much blood is in his system.  His normal range is 28-32/9-11.  The numbers are linked, so they are usually referenced together.  We will transfuse him more Red Blood Cells if he gets below 21/7.0.  (this is the blood you donate at blood drives, and we expect to use lots of it)
RBC (Red Blood Cells) - The number of Red Blood Cells in his body.  Normal is 4 - 5.5.  He has always been low, so we are happy with numbers around 2.5.  This number will go down with chemo.
WBC (White Blood Cells) - This tells us how many white blood cells he has (in thousands).  Normal is between 4.5 and 10.  We expect this to remain low, between 1.5 and 2.5 for a while.
Creatine - This is a good number to make sure the kidneys are working.  Normal range is between .5 and 1.2... If this gets higher, it means his kidneys are struggling.
Glucose - This number tells us that the pancreas is working.  Some kids struggle with diabetes as a result of the meds.  We want to see this number remain above 60 and below 150.
Lymphocytes - Non-cancerous T-Cells and B-Cells.  Normal would be around 1000, so we expect this number to be low.  This is the number of cells that will kill off bad cells like viruses.
Platelets - This is the number of platelets in the blood, which helps with clotting.  Normal is greater than 150.  We will transfuse more platelets if he gets lower than 30.
Co-Ags (PT,APTT) - These numbers tell us how fast he clots.
Bilirubin (Direct/Indirect/Total) - Bilirubin tells us how well the liver is working.  Normally, these numbers are less than 1, which is good.  However, when the liver starts to be under stress, they may go up.  Total Bilirubin is the Conjugated (Direct) + Unconjugated (Indirect).  The doctors said these numbers might come up, as his liver is trying to process all the meds we are giving him.
ALT/AST - these are liver numbers, letting us know how much stress the liver is under.  Normal range is between 10-50.

Comments

  1. Lois HillJune 30, 2017 at 7:25 AM

    WOW WOW WOW, out of the hospital for a while, that is awesome :) :) :)
    I imagine it was relaxing to just be "home" together and no hustle and bustle of the hospital.
    Talk about hot, it was 93 here on Monday, then it cooled down to not quite 70 yesterday, but by Monday it is supposed to be 90 and that temp or above for at least 10 days with it being almost 100 then. OMG all that good moisture we had will be sucked out with that :( AND the fire danger really scares me with all the great grass we have, NOW you keep us in your prayers too!!! We are all still praying for you. LUV U all

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