Waiting Game

On Saturday I told my dad that I was going to visit Mason after work, and he told me I wasn’t allowed. What? I was pretty surprised because I wasn’t aware of these rules to visit Mason. My dad proceeded to tell me that it was going to be a boy’s night. The reason I wasn’t allowed to go is, well, self-explanatory.

He’s been doing pretty well recently. The other night he received anointing of the sick from Father Flynn. I wasn’t there for it, but Parker and my parents were, and they said it was a nice thing to be a part of. He likes to make his doctors and nurses laugh. I really think he’s gotten funnier since being at CHOP. Then again, we are pretty lucky to have gotten some really great doctors and nurses. I think this generalization might, however, exclude that nurse that wrote February 29 on the white message board instead of March 1. Yes, that really did happen.

As I had previously said, now it’s just a waiting game. We have to wait for Mason’s blood counts to go up so that he can come home. He has to have a high hemoglobin, platelet, and white blood cell count, and ANC. ANC stands for absolute neutrophil count. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that help fight off infection in the body. A low ANC puts Mason at a much higher risk for infection than the rest of us. Because of a low ANC, the best place for Mason to be is the hospital because it’s probably the cleanest place he can be. Hemoglobin is the part of the red blood cells that transports oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Because it contains iron, a low count of hemoglobin typically presents the same symptoms as anemia or even an iron deficiency. A low hemoglobin count means that Mason’s body isn’t producing enough red blood cells, which obviously isn’t a good thing. Platelets are responsible for the clotting of blood, and when enough aren’t produced bleeding can be excessive and occur very easily. If they these counts are too low, then it means the bone marrow isn’t producing enough, which means it still isn’t functioning as it should be. Lastly, Mason’s overall white blood cell count cannot be low. The count of these cells is a pretty good indicator of how his immune system is working. As long as this count gets up there, his chances of infection get closer and closer to that of someone who is healthy.

In English, all of that information means that when these counts go up his bone marrow is doing what it should be. The cells and parts of cells that need to be produced to keep his immune system up and running so that it is safe for him to come home must be in higher numbers. We’re hoping that he will be home around mid to late March because Morgan is coming home for Spring break at the end of the month, and it would be awesome to all be in the house together at one time. Things are looking good, though. He’s typically in good spirits and laughing or trying to make someone else laugh. He can’t wait to come home, of course, but he needs to get a little bit healthier first.

It’s hard walking down the hall upstairs to my room and passing his room because it’s been unoccupied for so long. It’s hard to sleep with Twinkie, one of our dogs, only because it means that Mason’s not home to sleep with her. What makes all of this easier is knowing that he will be home soon, and none of us can wait.