Day 13, 14

Day 13- Collin woke Monday morning a bit earlier than his usual time has been since the transplant but was upset and quite homesick. He cried and had a tougher time with being cooped up than normal. He was a bit happier by evening and was much more vocal with the techs and nurses. He had a good video chat with Kelsi, Austin, and Kara which helped his mood. We noticed that Collin's bald head had hair coming back already. It isn't much, just the beginning of some fuzz, but we were surprised that any hair was growing this soon after losing it.

Day 14- Collin had a better day. He left his room for a now routine weekly chest x-ray. He walked to the first floor through the back elevators to the x-ray department. It was nice for him to be gone from his room if only for a few minutes. He spent the rest of the day fascinated with a skeletal man with mushy organs that he could take apart that he had been given. The nurses helped him with what the purpose of each organ was as he pulled the guy apart. Putting him back together was just as fun. Collin's counts were mostly unchanged today. His white cells had blipped up a little but not enough to really get excited about. The number we watch to know if the bone marrow is engrafting is the ANC part of the white blood cells and that has not changed from 0 yet. The magical number is .5 or 500 depending on how it is referred to. That number marks engraftment and the ability for his body to exist in a less than perfectly sterile environment. For a short and concise explanation of ANC you can read here and here.