05 Nov Update
Today was more of elimination of possibilities again than answers. Keegan was again in a pretty good mood today with lots of smiles and monkey faces. His white blood cell count was up a bit, and he is up to 15 pounds again. He had an echo today to check his heart function, and it is still good. He had a sweat test this morning to rule out cystic fibrosis. I tested negative as a carrier in my first trimester, but those screens can be misleading sometimes. The biopsy of his throat turned out to be just an ulcer, so now we have to figure out how to get it to heal.
His biopsies from the scopes came back as fairly normal, so we are now operating under the assumption that we are dealing with a blood or bone marrow disorder. We met with the hematologist/oncologist, Dr. Scott, today. He is a very intuitive and thorough man. He has ordered some genetic testing, bloodwork, and of course, more stool studies, to lead us through this maze. He has some good ideas, and we’ll let you know what we find out. The bloodwork will take a few days, and even if it comes back with an answer, we will have to start treatment and gain some weight back to go home. It’s looking like at least another week or two here.
In more interesting news, Keegan finally took some steps behind a walker completely on his own! We were in the playroom and couldn’t get Keegan to crawl or stand much, despite cruising all over his crib. One of the child life specialists grabbed a walker like the one he got for his birthday, and I’ll be darned if he didn’t take off like lightning! Well, maybe not so much lightning, but he took about 8 or 10 steps before he sat down. Keep checking his picture/video website, and we’ll try to get a video posted of the walking soon (hard to do with the laptop at the hospital).
I know I’m sounding like a broken record here, but we truly are appreciative of your prayers and thoughts as we’ve battled the unknown in the last three weeks. Of course, we are so grateful for the meals, visits, gifts for Keegan, and more, but your prayers lift our spirits when the doubts and frustration become overwhelming. I thought I’d share with you the first reading from Wisdom 3:6-9 from Mass last Sunday (it seems my mom and I have become the official readers at the hospital Mass lately!). It again talks about faith during trials and was exactly what I needed to hear. Maybe it will be what you need to hear today. Thanks again.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble. They shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the LORD shall be their King forever. Those who trust in Him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with Him in love: Because grace and mercy are with His holy ones, and His care is with the elect. (Wisdom 3:6-9)