Live from St. Luke's

So I was supposed to leave for FL via UT today. But I just couldn't tear myself away. Brianna and I are drinking pineapple and V8 juice in the waiting room while Jordan gets a little shuteye. He had two units of packed red blood cells yesterday, his 18th such transfusion. Brianna checked our records, and he's had 25 transfusions of platelets so far, in case anyone was wondering.

I know I said the pain was under control on Sunday, but I was wrong. Jordan isn't ambulatory at this time because pain is too great upon attempting even a few steps. Keeping the pain at an acceptable level has been a constant challenge. He is on a titrated morphine drip. It was initially set at 1 mg/h, but it's now up to 6.5 mg/h, with bolus additions as needed. The doctor says the pain should be gone in the next day or so. His WBC's are up to .6 today. If it continues to climb, maybe this bone pain will have been worthwhile.

Dr. Z. was able to talk with the specialist, Dr. Hawkins, yesterday. Both agree that we should hold off on treatment until after next week's consultation. The whole diagnosis is up for review. We asked what should be done for Jordan while we wait, and Dr. Z. said that we'll just keep the pain in check and transfuse as needed. Fevers are still a problem, so that's why we're camping out here, enjoying St. Luke's hospitality. They really have been good to us here. We owe them a lot...and we're not just talking money.