T+117: No Boost Necessary?

"Curiouser and curiouser", said Alice. Kay's white cell count has gone from 0.5 on Saturday to 1.0 on Monday to 1.6 yesterday, ie sky rocketing up. I'm so concerned not to burst this bubble of good fortune that I've not dared to ask anyone why the sudden rise. But apparently if this trend continues the stem cell boost stands a good chance of being cancelled. There are of course rules on the subject of when a transplant can take place, bearing in mind that there's risks to both the donor and the recipient, and if Kay's counts are rising on their own accord then it may be that the risks outweigh the benefits. On Monday the specialists will review the situation and decide whether the boost can/should go ahead.

Yesterday the team in Nijmegen worked flat out to get everything sorted so that Kay could go home and be treated as an out patient from now on. They did a brilliant job and, yet again, our heartfelt thanks goes out to them. Marion cleared out Kay's room. Kay had insisted that Marion take my Jag because she feels that she's less likely to get sick than in Marion's Volvo. Problem is, my Jag is a much smaller car and Marion ended up with the thing literally loaded to the roof with stuff, including bags of medicine. When they got home we had to unpack the car around Kay before we could get her out.

Kay continued to be very sick yesterday, twice throwing up her feeding tube. She was very scared about travelling home because she felt so sick and, while Marion was out loading the car, she phoned me up crying her heart out because she felt so bad and was so worried about travelling and messing up the car. In the event the car was so tightly packed that if she had been sick on the way, it wouldn't have made a mess of the car, just the stuff in it.

She continued to be sick most of the evening, oscillating between sleep and nausea. Apparently her kidney function is down - the current antiviral medication is bad for the kidneys - and it is essential that she gets enough fluid. Also her medication is vital. So Marion ended up sleeping downstairs on the sofa with Kay - who felt better on the sofa than in bed - and working through the night to get all the medication done and to ensure that Kay was sufficiently hydrated. Marion told me this morning that the night had passed well and that Kay hadn't complained of tummy ache for most of it. But I spoke to her a minute ago and Kay had just been sick again. Weird.

But in any case, being at home is obviously a mixed blessing. Brilliant for Kay, a hell of a lot of work for Marion. But still, I think that Marion is right that being at home will probably result an overall improvement in the situation, certainly if Kay's health starts to improve. For the moment we must first sort out why she's being so sick (again).