The Pizza Made me Cry...

     We have made it to the end of day 12. Days 9 and 10 were a nightmare!! Gus had ran a fever for three days and we never thought we would see it break. Finally, after getting some steriods, the fever broke. He had what the Dr. called 'engraftment syndrome'. The body  reacts as the stem cells  start to reproduce again. His white blood cells are starting to rise again. They are now at 50 % of where they need to be. Two bags of platelets helped bring those up. Today he received two bags of whole blood. That helped bring his hemaglobin up. He is still on a soft to liquid diet. He is trying hard to hold down all the 'food' he can with the use of anti-nausea meds.
     The hardest thing on Tuesday happened. He woke up with handfull of hair coming out. He knew it was coming but the reality of it was here. Our sweet HCA, Shay, came in with the hair shears and took care of what was left. When Gus first saw himself, he was shocked, and cried. It was just too much. He said he hadn't been that bald at boot camp.  He is still trying to get use to it.
     Wednesday, today, was hard on my heart. Adam is struggling a bit at school. I have asked a lot from him to be at home alone, to take care of the house, to go to school, to care for the dogs and go to work almost every day.  That is a lot for a soon-to-be 18 year old. This after noon our neighbor, Kathy, wrote me a message asking what type of pizza Adam liked. Adam is a very picky eater so he has learned to all of his own grocery shopping and meal preparation. He does a really good job at it too. But tonight Kathy surprised Adam , right when he got home from work, with a pizza. Adam was SO grateful. He told me over and over again how much it helped. Adam had come home from school today with a stomach ache and I know he is worn out from all the responsibilities. I was so touched by Kathy's ability to sense tht Adam needed a mom and she stepped in for a few minutes to help out. It had made Adam's night. And of course, Gus and I were very grateful. So grateful that we cried. Who knew that a pizza could make us cry? We continue to recognize the tender mercies that we are blessed with.

Dr. Zander and his medical student come in every morning to visit Gus.

 No hair Gus.

It was cold so Gus put on a beenie.

It was tough to see himself the first time without hair. 

Shay doing the cutting. In the background is the social worker and the dietitian that come in every day to see Gus. 

 Medical Students

AND the beautiful pizza that made me CRY!!!!!!.