Day Zero Plus Eighteen – Stand By Me

Not yet.  Jeff’s ANC dropped to 320.  We are assured that it is not uncommon for the counts to yo-yo a little before engraftment.  Jeff was so disappointed and I could do little to help him out of his funk all day.  He still had pain in his shoulders, arms and hands.  He had a little nausea, not bad enough to medicate.

It was a lonely, sort of boring day for Jeff and me.  Jeff’s hospital room is driving me crazy - and I’m allowed out of it.  I can’t imagine how anxious Jeff is to engraft and be allowed to “recontaminate” by walking the hallways (and kissing me). 

When I called my parents at lunchtime, there was no answer.  I knew it was likely that my father had been taken to the ER for a planned geriatric let’s-do-a-whole-lot-of-tests-in-a-couple-of-days visit.  Judy had everything in hand and I spoke with both she and my mother late in the day.  Pop was fine, just bored, waiting to be admitted.  The “B” word - bored.  There’s a lot of that goin’ around, it seems.

Ken came for a visit in the early evening.  As he and I were getting ready to leave, we saw some musicians in the hallway – two guitarists and a singer.  Music Therapy; perfect!  Palmer and Greg thought about bringing their instruments last week but Jeff probably wasn’t up to it then.  But tonight he certainly was!  Nurse Jenny said there are different volunteers who come every Tuesday although this was the first we’ve seen them.  They are somehow associated with WXPN.  We asked her to be sure to tell the musicians that Jeff would appreciate a visit.  They sang in the room next door, “Under the Boardwalk,” and then they sang “Stand By Me” for Jeff.

Jeff needs us to stand by him and pray for a good ANC tomorrow.