Day 44

Wednesday.  So Riley slept most of yesterday (because of transfusions), which meant that he was up all night last night.  He woke up from his Benedryl induced sleep at about 8:30 at night and was ready to do his exercises.  He was full of energy now that he had new red blood cells.  (Amazing how that can turn you around so quick!)  My boy had me up late...  Riley wanted to go for a walk in the middle of the night, which felt like the middle of the day to him.  As you can see the clock in this picture, it was getting toward 2 AM!! 

The night nurses were excited to have Riley cross over to their side! :)  I went to bed about 3 and Riley was still wide awake!!  When I woke up at 7, he was already signing in to seminary. He took his morning meds and our nurse let us know that Riley's temp had been creeping up.  (This is expected when your ANC is 0 !)  They got the doctor and took a blood culture and started him on antibiotics.  Riley said, "...but I feel so good!!"  The doctor replied, "I'm glad you feel good Riley, but you still have bought yourself some antibiotics!!"  Around 10am Riley started to feel tired.  I reminded him that he had been up ALL night!  He slept from 10ish to 4pm.  Vince came by after a job and we hung out with Riley. We were trying to keep him up a bit so he could sleep tonight.  He wasn't feeling the greatest, but still able to rest and visit.  Riley was headed down hill, around 6:30 we realized he should do his walk and take his shower so he could be done for the night.  We only made it around 7 times.  He started to feel dizzy and oh so tired!!  He dived into bed and felt a little sick.  He is required to shower every day with surgical soap and they clean and wipe down his bed and room while he is in the shower.  (Everyday he has new sheets and pillowcases.)  So he took his shower and then felt even worse.  He looked pale and could not keep his eyes open.  My boy needed more blood.  Even though it was night, they agreed that he needed a transfusion.  Red blood cells usually don't cause reactions, platelets are the problem.  So they got the transfusion going and Riley was out for the night at 8:30pm. 
Riley told me tonight that even though he didn't feel the greatest, it had been a good day.  So positive.  That's my boy!

Labs today:
White blood cells: 0.4 (normal 4.5 - 13.5)
Red Blood cells: 7.8 (normal 13.5 - 17.5)  one unit transfused
Platelets: 20 (normal 150 - 425)
ANC: 0 ( < 500 = severely neutropenic)