Our Prayer

Just as we thought he would,, Jordan received two units of packed red blood cells along with the unit of platelets on Friday afternoon. Still, he didn't get that little boost he sometimes gets after a fresh supply of blood products. At first, he thought we were making a fuss about how much, or little, he was eating, but in the last day or two, he agreed that it's a valid concern. He's tried to eat whatever we've prepared, even making suggestions, but he usually takes one or two bites, and he's done. He's not hungry, his appetite is just AWOL! His mainstays have been water, Sprite, ginger ale,, Dreyer's frozen Fruit Bars,, and 3-oz orange and vanilla ice cream cups. Throughout the week, he's nibbled a bit of a pasta dish, a bite of a grilled tuna sandwich, a few grapes, some pretzels, maybe ten peanuts, and he got down a smallish slice of pizza on two occasions. When he drank not one but two strawberry smoothies yesterday, we were cautiously exuberant. Too much sugar, we wondered? This morning we tried a thin soup of chicken broth and potatoes smoothed out by a few seconds in the blender. He got all of it down! Maybe four or five ounces worth! True, it was like taking a big dose of medicine, all for the noble cause of nutrition. But then, oooooooooops, it didn't stay down. Back to ginger ale. And how about some raspberry yogurt? Yes? Good, here you go.

At this point, Shane and Brianna and I departed for church, leaving Dan and Jordan with strict instructions to get the labs done before we returned. We anticipated spending a nice, quiet afternoon together, doing some reading, a writing project, a little paperwork, mainly relaxing. When we pulled into the garage, we noted Dan's car was there, and we thought all was going according to plans. While at church, several friends had greeted us happily, concluding that Jordan was home and doing well since Brianna was with us. We tempered the conclusion a little by explaining he was home, but he wasn't feeling as well as we'd all like. When we walked in and Jordan was nowhere to be found, it was a let-down to learn that he hadn't been able to come home because he had a fever. Brianna swiftly gathered clothing, the laptop, books, a little food, and Dan took her to join Jordan for at least one night in hospital. His throat has been slightly sore for a couple of days, so maybe the blood cultures will turn up something this time. For now, he's receiving saline, antibiotics, and TPN, total parenteral nutrition. From Wikipedia: "TPN is the practice of feeding a person intravenously, bypassing the usual process of eating and digestion. The person receives nutritional formulas containing salts, glucose, amino acids, lipids, and added vitamins."

No one looks forward to a bone marrow biopsy, but we hope Jordan's will take place tomorrow nonetheless. We feel we're on a tight schedule, needing to do the BMB, allowing pathologists ample time to process the tissue samples, and then traveling to Seattle before the week is over. Unless Heavenly Father has another plan, a better plan, this is what we're praying for.