10/11/2007 Update

October 11th, 2007 by shahin

Thank you all for all of the emails and cards wishing Shahin a happy birthday.  His room was decorated and cards and emails were read to him, drawing smiles, tears, and laughter out of him.  Made the day a little more bearable for all.

His white cell count dropped to 1,900 yesterday.  As a result, he was put on medication typically reserved for leukemia  patients to help boost the white count.  As of this morning he was back to 2,100.  Still very low, but we are hoping that the medication will continue to increase the count.

A few days ago I wrote that his internal sutures had ruptured as a result of pressure build-up due to water retention in his abdominal cavity.  His doctor said that he no longer can wait to repair the opening and will be operating on him on Friday as he could see Shahin’s insides through the opening.  The good news is that he could visually see that the inflammation of the intestine had subsided significantly. A good sign that the CIDIFF infection is being controlled effectively.

His kidneys and liver are getting better and better every day.  Dialysis is only being done sporadically these days.  A very encouraging sign.

They have left the tracheotomy tube alone for now in case his condition gets worse.  

His daily score: 5.5