Moving day again!!!

In the grand scheme of things, it's a minor annoyance, but when you're the one going through it, it's major. Yes, we had a private room for 24 hours, then another patient needed isolation, so it's shared digs once again. How frustrating. This has Donovan at his wit's end! The transplant ward is quite small, and has only about 4 private rooms, so they are at a premium. He is on the list for one, but it remains to be seen when that will happen. How about we turn this over to God? He knows all of our needs, and knows what Donovan needs.

Ok, now for good news. Twice around the ward with the "Zombie Walker"....two laps in one session. That's twice as good as yesterday!!! He's fighting for all he's worth, and we couldn't be more proud. It is exhausting though, and Donovan is not gaining strength at the rate he wants to. He's more than a little frustrated with his baby Bambi legs, so needs all the encouragement we can give him.

It was wonderful for Donovan to have a surprise visit from his very good friend Logan today, and Logan's sister Sherren. It was great for all of us to see you Logan! Fresh from European travels, and more recently from school in Winnipeg. It's friends like you that are helping Donovan pull through this major event in his life, and we are so grateful for your loyalty! Bless you! Sherren, we appreciate your prayers and support as well. Wonderful to meet you!

Of concern today is Donovan's need once again for more "transmission fluid" aka blood. He received another unit today, and will get one tomorrow as well. From what we understand, his bone marrow just isn't producing the red cells he needs. Not sure why, but God knows. Let's bring this need to Him, and ask for plenty of red cells!

Amy & Tyler are here for the weekend, and Katie (and the world's cutest unborn grandbaby) as well as her husband Kurtis were also around today. Nothing like family, but we miss you Stephen!!! So much!!! Katie and Amy helped Donovan was his hair in bed today, quite a feat involving plastic garbage bag funnels and a tray...I wonder if they'll demand the favor returned one day?

A little more good news...there is talk of an end in site for IV antibiotics. Do you know we are into our fifth week of them? What a haul. But as we understand it, the transplant infectious diseases specialists (there's a mouthful) are talking about discontinuing them about 2 weeks post-transplant which will be tomorrow. This will mean Donovan can drink more liquids, as he will get less through IV. Yay!!! His white cell count was down to 14 today, and we can all celebrate that. If we can go down to 11, we'll be within normal range....

Yes, this has been quite a life-changing process, and yes, we are all tired. But these small gains buoy us on. Dr. Ghorpade (the surgeon) has even suggested to Donovan that perhaps next week he'll be able to get an afternoon pass from hospital. If you hear whooping and hollering from Edmonton, that will be us! (me, anyway.)

Love & Prayers to all,

Beth