Yesterday marked Kendall’s Day +50 since transplant. I wanted to note it because the first 100 days post-transplant are considered the most critical, and the time period when any serious or life-threatening complications after a bone marrow transplant tend to manifest. Despite his many other serious health issues right now, Kendall still has not shown any signs of rejection or graft vs. host disease That’s pretty miraculous. His body would not have been able to handle any more complications on top of the VOD, kidney failure, issues with breathing and blood pressure, etc. The staff up in the HICU don’t keep track of what “+ Day” it is like they do down on the BMT floor, but I have been carefully changing that number up on Kendall’s board each and every day, ticking away the time until the +100 day milestone.
Kendall made some big strides in a positive direction today. He was able to (with a GREAT deal of effort and assistance) get up into a chair today. And even more exciting, he is off the ventilator! That’s a big step toward eventually getting out of the ICU. The decision was also made to postpone doing CRRT, and possibly try the intermittent dialysis tomorrow if his blood pressure stays strong like it was today. That would be another step before moving downstairs.
So all in all, this was definitely the most positive day Kendall has had all week. Not like yesterday was for me. I spent the morning at one hospital with one my children who was having some lengthy scanning/testing completed, while my mom was in another hospital having her surgery (which went well), and then drove up to yet another hospital, Huntsman, to see Kendall. I left early to get back in time for a speech session (my first in quite a while) when I blew out a tire while on the freeway. Super scary experience when my nerves were already stretched quite thin. Thankfully there was a police officer nearby when it happened, who pulled over with me and helped me change the tire. Missed the speech session, though. Sheesh. This does not bode well for me trying to return to seeing clients next week….But one day and step at a time, right?