Peter had another round of blood tests this morning and the results were stable - his red blood cell counts were all good but the platelet counts were still low (5,000). He's been on prednisone for just over a week now, so it is looking increasingly unlikely that prednisone alone is going to stabilize his platelets. Five days ago, this news would have devastated us, but it is amazing what a few days home will do. The last two days we've just been able to enjoy spending time with Peter and Lydia. For example, this afternoon Elisa, Lydia, Peter and Grandma Becky had a great time at the Children's Museum. I'm sure that there will be dangers down the road, but we'll worry about tomorrow when it gets here.
This is all made easier by the fact that Peter continues to be in otherwise exemplary health. If you saw him and didn't know he was sick, you probably wouldn't be able to tell. This fact seems to be increasingly perplexing to the doctors on his case. In fact, Peter is becoming a bit of a celebrity - there is already one physician who specializes in pediatric immunology and hematology who heard about Peter's case and wants to consult about it on Tuesday just because he is so unusual. Confidentially, we'd prefer him to be unusual in some other way (unusually handsome, unusually good at shelling pistachios...) but if this gets him more care options, we'll take it.
The primary side effect of the steroids is that Peter has had a jump in appetite - over the course of 48 hours, he went from about 4 oz of milk per feed to about 7 oz per feed! Normally this would drive a breastfeeding mother to distraction, but Elisa has taken it in stride. We don't think it is a coincidence that many of you have been praying for Elisa to have peace and not feel overwhelmed. <smiles>
For myself, I've been reflecting on how Peter's condition has forced us to parent a little different. We've always been pretty laid-back parents. But now I feel like I'm worried by anything: "Is that a new bruise?" "Does he feel a little warm to you?" "Is he fussier than usual?" "Does he look pale to you?" Part of the problem might be that when we left the hospital, they gave us a long list of things that fit the pattern"if xxx happens, get him to the emergency room immediately" which tends to freak a person out a bit. But on another level, part of me just wonders if I'm ever going to not be worried about my son. Perhaps that's just part of being a parent.
OK. Those are my thoughts for today. Instead of closing with prayer requests, I went ahead and created a "Current Prayer Requests" box on the side of the blog. I'll keep those updated, so folks can continue to pray for us as the Spirit Leads.
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