Day 50

Another day of great counts. Mireya's white blood count has almost doubled, her red count is above normal and platelets are through the roof. Thank you Father for increase!!! The Doctors are so pleased with Mireya's progress. She looks great, has tons of energy and with these types of numbers you'd believe she is further along in the process, but we still have so much to be mindful of. 50 more days and we're on a new wave of freedom. Her meds are still being tweaked. There are a couple of counts we'd like to see in a more comfortable range. That pesky cough has progressed and caused a bit of a stir with her physicians. Reya had to get a chest x-ray today to rule out pneumonia, and she was given an additional antibiotic as a precaution.

She has been on a medication for a few weeks that helps to diminish the possibility of pneumonia but it has been making her sick and she's been dealing with some of the less pleasant side effects of that drug. We will be going in later this week for a pulmonary treatment that can be scheduled once a month with a pulmonary therapist. After speaking with the therapist about how the medication is administered, it could be tricky, but we'll give it a try and pray that it gives us greater results physically. We'll monitor this cough and continue to look out for other markers for issues, but Reya is doing better than great! Her doctors said if the counts continue to rise at this rate we can be seen even less in the clinic.

School will be starting next week, we had hoped that the girls would be going to a preschool program together a few days a week. Unfortunately Mireya cannot go to school for the period of one year post transplant. To avoid any issues we've made the decision to keep Makinley home as well. Jalen being back in school (and exposed to pretty much everything) is definitely something we'll have to stay on top of. We are so excited that ASK has a dedicated preschool program for the kids of Hemoc. The program is one day a week and includes siblings. ASK recognizes the need for supportive programs for young children whose preschool or kindergarten experience has been postponed or interrupted during medical treatment. First STEP offers an individualized early childhood educational program for ASK Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic patients and families. First STEP is designed to meet the unique educational, social and emotional needs of young children with chronic illnesses as they go through the process of healing. This program is provided though the partnership with First Baptist Weekday School. I'm really happy the girls will have this opportunity for socialization, learning and fun.