Shortly after my last update, I got some more information from the oncology nurse. Although the first two of the blood cultures performed after Logan spiked his fever came back negative, the third was positive. Darn it, just our luck lately, right? Anyway, he has a bacterial infection called c-dif (in shorthand), which is essentially a plain old intestinal bug. But since his immune system is super weak right now, he can't fight it off. So he'll be on a 10-day course of the antibiotic Flagyl.
He also has low hemoglobin. In kids in his situation, they look for a number at or above 9, and his is only 7.6. As a result, he'll be having a hemoglobin transfusion sometime this afternoon to help his counts begin to recover. His platelet levels are currently okay; low, but okay. Passable. Prashant gave me a handy printout of all of his recent bloodwork results. I learned, courtesy of the printout, that he and I share a blood type: B+. If I can ask for one practical thing right now, it's that if you're able, please give blood. There are people whose lives truly depend on it. I've always known that to be true, but now I REALLY know it.
So what all of this means is that he'll most likely be here for roughly 10 more days. While it's disappointing, frustrating, and every other negative word I can think of, at least he's in a good place to be if he's going to be sick. And according to everyone here, what's happening is normal for kids on the Headstart 2 treatment program. They tend to spike fevers. In fact, the oncology nurse said that in her year here, she's never seen a kind on this regimen NOT spike a fever. As of the moment, he doesn't have one, but he's been bouncing between fever/no fever for a few days now so I don't know if it'll hold.
And so we wait. I go back and forth on this, but at the moment I think his right eye looks better - it seems as if he may have better control over it. Since the inwardly turned eye was the first indicator of the tumor, it's nice to see it appearing to look a little more normal. However, he's been rubbing at his left (unaffected) eye today, and occasionally complaining that it hurts. It looks a little droopy to me, so Molly the onc nurse came in and looked it at; she wasn't sure what to make of it, but said she'd see if the onc doctor come and take a look. So please pray for that. We really don't need yet another complication to add to our string.
As always, please continue to pray for complete healing. I know it's possible, I just know it, but I also feel like it's going to take a lot of prayer to get it done.
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