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Dear Everyone,
Today is Day +8, and incredibly, things have been relatively uneventful the last few days - which is a good thing (for now). Travis has been in a happy, playful mood the last few days, and has been feeling energetic (mostly) and upbeat. He is so easygoing. We know how truly blessed we are. His personality is definitely helping him get through this mentally and physically. I believe that with all my heart. We still laugh about the silliest things (like how he plants green beans in my "bed" here in the hospital room and hopes I don't find them). Just like a normal kid, huh? (I found them in time!). Not too much to report, health-wise (thankfully) Travis' blood counts "bottomed out" a few days ago, which they're supposed to do as a result of chemo and radiation. (Blood counts are when they draw a blood sample and then measure cells within the blood from that.) Now, after the transplant, we wait for engraftment, when the new marrow begins to generate new, healthy blood cells. We'll see evidence of that through the daily blood tests -will see White Blood Cells (now almost non-existent), Hemoglobin and Platelets being generated. They typically begin to show up around Day 10-14, but have shown up as early in some patients around now. So we're watching and praying.
The doctors are extremely pleased with Travis' progress so far. Except for the other problems (last week), they feel he has had fairly smooth sailing (I guess this is all relative, right?). They were actually starting to wonder a bit, as he hasn't had so many of the problems that could have already plagued him. He does have the beginnings of Mucositis -- getting some sores in the mouth and throat. But treated with drugs, he's quite comfortable. And, just like his Mom, nothing gets in the way of his eating meals! The nutritionist came up tonight and said how thrilled she is at Travis' eating to this point! We're so lucky that he can still swallow and eat comfortably. So, we celebrate every accomplishment!
The hair loss has finally kicked in. I actually thought Travis would make it through with his beautiful hair intact. Oh well -- small sacrifice. He doesn't seem bothered by it yet, though it comes out all over his clothes and bed. The doctor suggested just shaving it off to save from the itching and the mess, but so far Travis is opting to let it go naturally. It is so strange - just like I'd heard others say -- it comes out in handfuls when I run my fingers through his hair (not in clumps, but a handful that thins what's there). Over and over again, I did it - because I just couldn't believe this strange phenomenon, and also to get it out before the pillow did. I predict, at this rate, maybe 4 more days with hair. We'll see. Travis has a thousand hats, so we'll see what he chooses to do.
In other news (I sound like Saturday Night Live), we decided to enroll Spencer in Kindergarten here! In this township, they start at age 4, so it should work out well - we hope! We're hoping he'll meet some local buddies to play with. So that will be our daily early mornings for him. The first few days were rough for little Spencer here. We could tell how conflicted he was (and is) by his constantly switching moods (from loving and cuddly to defensive and angry). But things have settled down a bit now and he seems to be getting more used to the surroundings and routine.
At first, Spencer balked at wearing a mask for more than a few minutes, so his visits to Travis had to be mostly through the window to Travis' room. (Travis, Joe and I don't have to be masked, but Spencer, Mom and Dad do, as they're less frequent visitors.) But now, with computer games and Nintendo beckoning from inside the room and Travis' hands, Spencer happily scrubs his hands clean and dons the mask to get in on the action! It is SO sweet to watch the boys play together. It is a MAJOR boost to Travis' mood when Spencer is here (although he does get sad when his brother gets to leave), and is truly adorable to watch them slip into their comfortable best friend mode as they help each other play the games. I try (in between reminding Spencer not to touch his mask) to stay out of the way and give them some normalcy to their relationship. Last night I took Spencer to a children's play (free tix from the hospital to patients' families - very nice). We had a wonderful date together in downtown Milwaukee. (We even saw Brett Favre's restaurant. That scored points with Spencer!) It was really sweet.
Another note: a dear, wonderful woman who has done so much to help Travis and our family since all this has happened, was out in California last week and stopped in at NBC. You guessed it - Travis and Spencer were thrilled to receive a box, which included beautiful peacock lapel pins, peacock T-shirts and even little stuffed animal peacocks! So many people wrote after the "peacock update" about their experiences with peacocks, it has become an even stronger symbol for us! So the room is adorned with peacock memorabilia! I keep laughing that soon I'll look like one of those people from the Olympics who wear all sorts of pins and "stuff" that they've collected. I now wear my carabiner, peacock pin and "Chai" (Hebrew for "Life") pin every day! I'm sure folks think I'm a bit eccentric! (Hey, whatever it takes!) Joe and I are holding up ok. My parents are here to help and are wonderfully supportive. The challenge is that both boys want to be with us (Joe or me), so it's a bit tricky with our planning. Joe and I are a bit like ships passing in the night (though we pass in the anteroom outside Travis' room), but do get little windows of time together. So far, we're doing pretty well. Not at each other's throats (this week!) considering the circumstances.
Thank you all for the wonderful messages to Joe for his birthday (his FIRST 39th birthday). He really enjoyed them. (We still don't know how word got out to you all about that!) We had a birthday dinner (courtesy of a friend - thank you!) with Spencer in the HOT Unit (Hematology-Oncology-Transplant) family lounge area, and then Joe and Travis got to have cake together in the room. A nice touch. (That will be a great answer to the trivia question "Where's the strangest place you've ever celebrated your birthday?)
So that's the scoop - which is, happily, "no scoop" - from here. Hoping to send many other good news reports like this one. OK, chant with me now. "Engraft, engraft, engraft!!!"
Love from us,
Melanie, Joe, Travis and Spencer
P.S. Thought you'd hoot at this one - I had over 200 email messages the other day (even before Joe's birthday!!!). It was a late night reading through them!!! Thank you, thank you for all your notes of support.