The best part of this week was Wednesday and Thursday when we finally got a break from going to the hospital. The visit to the hospital had become way too familiar. But as I say that, I have to acknowledge the good people on the 8th floor at LDS Hospital. We are getting to know them well and they couldn't be nicer to us. They see patients like us everyday all day and they are constantly encouraging us and looking for the good, little things that are happening. We certainly couldn't do this without them. Kevin has been pretty constant all week. He's eating everything I fix him, and that's good since that's all he can have. He eats because he has to, not because he is hungry. His appetite is still pretty small. I would call this week steady. No extreme ups and downs, which I appreciate. I believe the effects of the chemo and radiation are finally about out of his system, but they did manage to take all the energy from Kevin. Last week the Physician Assistant said that if Kevin felt like it he could go outside for a walk. It's not the outdoors that is a problem, it is people. So Wednesday, I told Kevin we could drive someplace where there are no people who would want to talk to him and go for a little walk. He suggested that he had already gone for a walk, he explained from the bedroom upstairs to the dining room down the stairs. And that was about what he had the energy to do. Getting strength and energy back will be a wait. Kevin has started to have some minor headaches this week, which are a side affect from the Tacro medicine he takes. He can't take any Tylenol or Advil or anything like that for his headache because those drugs would mask a fever, which is the first symptom we watch for Graft vs. Host disease, so that it makes it hard. He is finding he has to eat and rest at the right times to avoid the headaches and we are still trying to get the right Tacro level. On Friday we went back to the hospital for lab work. When the nurse pulled up his results he said, "WOW, look at those platelets, they have sky rocketed." My goal when this is over is for someone to award me some type of medical degree, so I will explain what that meant. It simply amazes me all the things that can be determined by a blood test. The medical team can determine almost exactly what is happening by those blood counts. All of Kevin's counts are low right now. That's what happens when they give you chemo and radiation. He had to go low in order to accept the donor cells. The purpose of the lab work 3 times a week is to make sure he doesn't go to low, which would then require a transfusion. Platelets cause our blood to clot, so without platelets, we would all bleed to death. Not good! Kevin's platelet count had been as low as 55, on Friday his platelet count was 143. Let's hear it for Kevin's platelets. Most of our platelets probably run around 300 to 400, so he has a ways to go, but that was quite an improvement. That increase could possibly suggest that the donor cells have begun to en graft, which is the best news of the day. Kevin's neutrophils have also increased significantly. Neutrophils are our first line of defense against bacteria and infection. As the neutrophils go higher, Kevin's ability to fight bacteria and infection will increase. Good news Friday! Many have asked if Kevin is going crazy yet. Not yet. He does a couple of hours of work everyday on the computer and phone and he has a good book that he is in the middle of and both of those things fill his day. I think he's not crazy yet, because he doesn't have the energy yet to do much more than that. His attitude is great and he finds something to laugh at and harass me about every day. The kids are doing there job of cracking the jokes and making him laugh.
One of the greatest tender mercies in the past two years has been seeing the power of the priesthood. Our family has come to have great faith in the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. This has to be one of Kevin's favorite lessons to teach. Several times he has got out his old missionary binder with his favorite chart in it and bore testimony of the Plan of Salvation. What a blessing it is to understand that Heavenly Father has a plan for all his children. We know that Heavenly Father has a specific plan for Kevin. We know Heavenly Father's plan for Kevin will be manifest through the priesthood. The priesthood is "the power to act in God's name". Every time Kevin has received a priesthood blessing, Heavenly Father has manifest his love and his blessings to Kevin. A week before the transplant Kevin received a blessing from our stake president, President Dahl. Kevin received a blessing from his dad with his other family members joining in the circle. When Kevin was in the hospital, Bishop Lloyd came to visit and gave Kevin a blessing. Each blessing brought comfort and peace. A few days after those blessings, Kevin received a card from a former co-worker which said, "I have no doubt that you have angels surrounding you." Reading those words brought to my mind the blessings he had received and reminded me that he was blessed to have angels attend him. She went on to say that "those angels are usually our ancestors and relatives who know us well." This weekend as we remember those loved ones who have gone on before us, I am comforted to know that angels do administer to Kevin and to all of us. I think of my grandparents and Grandma Freeman and know that they are with us or are sending the best angels to comfort Kevin at this time. That is a tender mercy. Kevin and his sister Becky, who has also endured cancer, share something special that was promised to each of them in their Patriarchal Blessings, and they recognize that it is through the power of the priesthood that those blessings will be fulfilled. The power of the priesthood and the knowledge we have of Heavenly Father's plan of salvation, his plan of happiness, are tender mercies.
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