Andrew returned home Friday after surgery to replace his central line tubes with an internal port, which means that he can now take a bath and play without the danger of one of the dangling lines getting snagged on something. They will use the port for his transfusions and the nutrition and medications that he continues to get at night.
As the doctors explained, his white count is normal and holding, which means that he has his soldiers back, but they are untrained, like those of a newborn baby. They will slowly have to learn to recognize and fight all kinds of bugs and eventually Andrew will be re-immunized with vaccination boosters, as well. Until then, he must be protected like a newborn with limited visitors and outings.
Over the course of his bone marrow transplant, Andrew received over 25 transfusions, with most, if not all, of his blood coming from directed donors. We can not begin to express our gratitude to all of you who came to give both blood and platelets throughout the procedure. You truly impacted the course of his recovery. Over the next 100 days, Andrew will continue to rely on frequent transfusions to boost his system while he continues to stabilize. Thank you for your continuing donations and prayers.
Radiation is up next. He might even get his first tattoo for that one - between the tough scar for surgery and a tattoo at age 3, Andrew is going to be able to play the bad boy card early!
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5 comments:
Go Andrew!!!
Jorge Hinojosa
All of us here are pulling for you, little warrior.
Uncle Tom is wearing your green bracelet. And everyone at Strake Jesuit College Prep are praying for you. So, keep up the good work.
Love, Tom, Tommy, Pauline, Charlie, Junior (the turtle).
Keep up the good work everyone!! We are always thinking of you.
Gretchen, Louis, Allegra, & Olivia
Brave Andrew--I am so happy to hear of progress, and thought how irresistible you will be playing your bad boy cards so early! :)
Erik isn't too excited about his tiny radiation tattoos, but he is pretty proud of that monster scar across his abdomen. Great conversation starter at the beach!
Keep up the good work, and we'll continue to pray those untrained soldiers learn their jobs fast!
Stay strong little man!
Many prayers!
Donna Ludwinski
Great news! Way to go, Andrew! We can't wait to see you!
Julia, Gary, Max & Sadie
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