Gaining Blood and Losing Hair

Ryan's turn for blog duty while Julie is hopefully having a relaxing time at the beach...

After spending the last 2 nights in a "sleep chair" (misnomer) at the hospital, hopefully I can stay awake long enough to finish this post. The good news is that William has been fever-free since Friday morning, his white cell count has jumped tremendously today, and he does not have a blood infection, so we were discharged to retun home this afternoon. Hallelujah - we burned rubber and darted for the getaway car.

William got another blood transfusion (to boost his red blood cells) before we left the hospital today, which should hopefully keep his energy up for the next few days. For the most part Will was in great spirits today - one of my favorite moments was when he was playing Lego Rockband on the DS, had his headphones plugged in, and was rockin' out and singing along - didn't have a care in the world.

Will's main frustration today was his thick blonde hair continuing to fall out and get in his mouth and make him really itchy. He also didn't appreciate my consistent insistence for him to eat (to limited avail) - apparently the hospital can't even get a PB&J sandwich right, and William threw it back up, as if to prove a point.

We hurried home after the blood transfusion (which takes 3 hours) and got William set up on the back patio for a haircut. He was brave to let me cut his hair, but how wrong can you go with clippers? Plus grandma was there to fix my rookie barbering. Will wouldn't go for a mohawk or a buzz, but I cut it as short as he'd let me (we'll have to post pics after Julie gets back with the camera). Things actually turned out very well. So we'll see how long the remaining hair lasts. I keep reminding William that losing his hair is a good sign - it means the chemo medicine is working and shrinking his tumor too. It also means he can get some new hats.

So we're looking forward to an uneventful next week at home - the house will be quiet (naps anyone?) and Will's white blood cell counts are rising quickly so he shouldn't land back in the hospital until his 2nd round of chemo starts in just over a week. William and I will travel to San Francico at the end of next week for a consult at the UCSF Children's Hospital where he will be having his stem cell harvest and bone marrow transplant - so he'll get a chance to at least see the beach this next week too.

William is very happy to be back home, and he has been chatting up his visitors this evening like the William we know and love.