Elijah is doing much better. His adenovirus numbers went way down after 3 doses of the medicine used to treat it. His kidneys seem to be stable although his creatinine is still elevated. He is blood counts aren't great...WBC is only 2 and ANC is 900. But, they may be low because of the treatment of the virus.
Elijah and I decided we needed a little taste of home yesterday and so we added a pet to the apartment. Elijah is now caretaker of two goldfish that he has affectionately named them: Gold and Paul. There is a funny story behind the name Paul. Elijah has a physician's assistant named Paul. He has a nurse in the infusion center that he really likes named Jim. He choses to call Jim by the name Paul (which happens to be his brother's name). So, basically, any male in the clinic is now called Paul..even though he knows clearly what their actual names are. It makes me laugh everytime I hear him say "There is Jim..his name is Paul..."
So, now that he decided to name his fish "Paul"..the joke can just keep on going...
It is not easy to describe to you what it is like to be a part of this new family of people that are all sharing similar journeys...we know the staff all by name in the clinic. We see the same families and kids each day. We are treated like friends...and within this community, Elijah is valued for his uniquenss and sweetness. He is treasured at the clinic..and that warms my heart beyond what you can imagine... and I know that while we will be thrilled to not have to visit the clinic three times a week, we will miss our new friends....
