A Brief (But Happy) Update

Things began to improve almost immediately after I wrote last week.

Aaron was down for two days, but by Sunday, he felt much better and ended up making a full recovery. Even though it was nerve wracking to have him sick, I took it as a very positive sign that his body fought the illness on its own. He took his new bone marrow for a test drive, and it passed with flying colors. 

I took Aaron to his appointment on Tuesday, and his blood counts reflected the stress over the weekend. His neutrophil count had taken a hit and had dropped quite a bit. But surprisingly, his platelets, usually so melodramatic, had gone up since Friday. As expected, his red blood count had continued its downward trend and was sitting at 7.4, so a transfusion was in order. 

This made for a long day: they had to take a type and screen first, which analyzed Aaron's current blood type so they could get a compatible match (lately, he's been getting O+ blood). It took a couple of hours for those results to come back. Then Aaron had to be premedicated (just with Tylenol and Benadryl) because he has had a slight reaction to transfusions in the past. Finally, they began the transfusion which ran over two hours, followed by another half hour of observation. Then he could finally go home. 

Here's a little interesting fact we've learned about blood transfusions: When the number of red blood cells in the body is low, a person's heart rate goes up. Because red blood cells carry oxygen, the heart has to work harder to maintain the same oxygen level throughout the body regardless of how many red blood cells are present. So when Aaron gets a transfusion, his heart rate is monitored, and as the blood goes into him, his heart rate gradually goes back down to balance out the increase in oxygen-rich cells.

I asked the doctor if I should be concerned that, at Day +69, Aaron is still getting blood transfusions, and he said no. Right now, Aaron's body has been focusing on platelet and white blood cell production. When those are both solid and stable, it will put more energy into making red blood cells. 

When Mike took Aaron to his appointment a few days later on Friday, his white blood count had recovered a lot from Tuesday. This was more good news: Not only was Aaron able to recover from the illness, but his bone marrow rebounded after being depleted. 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said that we can know that God is aware of us by "honestly counting the blessings and bestowals of His grace in our lives." Aaron's regenerating cells are one of those blessings--made possible through a miraculous body, knowledgeable doctors, and countless prayers.