Blood.

I am finally able to post, the wireless service has been out here at the hospital for a couple of days. It has been so frustrating!! Ashton is doing well now. He went two days with a really high heart rate, and we didn't know why. When we first come in to the hosptial with a fever, we have to go through the Stanford ER which is where they do the first blood test to check his counts. The ER test showed that his white cell count was zero, but his red count was 10 and they don't give transfusions unless it is under 8, so 10 is pretty good. Well, after 2 days of his high heart rate and no other symptoms, he had another blood draw. This time his red count was VERY low, so low that the doctors thought it must have been an error, so they drew it again. It came back the same...very low. The drop it made was alarming because it could mean internal bleeding, but Ashton looked well and had no signs of that during the exam. They immediately ordered him to get blood and he actually had to have 2 bags when he normally has one. Poor little guy...his heart rate was so high because his body was working so hard to pump what blood he had. He is doing really good now. The dr.s think the initial test done in the ER must have been an error. The drop it made was just too dramatic. They also believe that Ashton is just a really sensitive little guy to chemo. His body takes a huge hit. They think this may be how it is for him each cycle....Chemo admit, fever admit...then chemo, then fever. Thats how it has been so far for us all. So now we are waiting for his white counts to recover. When they do we can go home.
I also wanted to encourage everyone to get out and give blood if and when they can. I never knew how many people depended on it until now. There are many children here that need it almost everyday and mine is one of them.