Day 13: This video is of Annie flying paper airplanes through an opening in the privacy curtain pulled across her room. Annie's grandfather Chuck, who passed away last fall, flew a P-51 Mustang in WWII. This Memorial Day we are celebrating his service and that of all the others whose sacrifices to protect us and keep peace, enabled our society to have the stability to achieve things like the medical marvels from which Annie benefits.
Therefore we are especially delighted to report that on this Memorial Day the doctor reported the first white blood cell present in Annie's blood sample. This is hopefully the first sign of the engraphment for which we are all wishing.
When the lab gets a blood sample they count the different types of cells floating in the plasma (reds, whites and platelets). This is how you get a blood count. Annie gets transfusions for reds and platelets but whites you make or do without, thus her isolation. We'll know over the week if this trend continues. It's possible that she'll have only one or zero white cells present in tomorrow's sample as there are a relatively small number of them at first. What we hope to see is increasing numbers of them as the week progresses.
It's going to be a nerve-wracking few days but we'll draw courage and inspiration from all the brave people we honor today.
What a wonderful post, not only for Annie's progress but also a tribute to her grandfather who passed away. I remember being impressed that Tom was able to attend the Harvest Festival during a time of mourning. You guys are very inspiring, to say the least!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great! Prayers are still flowing westerly!
ReplyDeleteLove you guys!