9/24/2007 Update

September 25th, 2007 by shahin

Again, I apologize for not sending an update yesterday.  We were pretty much in status-quo. However, today I have some positive news to report.  His white blood cell count is at 47,000, down from 62,000 of last night.  A very positive sign that the medication being administered through the tube in his upper intestine is beginning to work.  He also is more awake and does communicate with nods and shakes of his head.  The awake moments are very sporadic, and when he is awake he obviously is in a lot of pain and they usually end up sedating him, so he goes back to sleep.  But, we still think of this as a very positive step. 

Most all of his vitals are holding steady.  Some bleeding is being noticed in his stomach.  One of the two tubes going in through his nose is in the stomach area to drain any fluid build-up.  That fluid is the one showing signs of some bleeding.  Although it is not a whole lot of blood, it is not a good thing as he is low on hemoglobin and blood platelets, causing his body not to be able to heal/clot any areas of bleeding.  The doctors are keeping a very close eye on this and are administering more platelets and plasma. For the first time in days I’m gonna give Shahin a promotion.  He is now at a 4. 

Please keep the phone calls to a minimum.  I will try to be more regular with the emails, even if there are no changes. Thank you for your prayers and support.  It is truly appreciated.