Dave (and I) spent the weekend in the hospital getting IV antibiotics, playing Words with Friends, and watching movies. We didn't learn much other than that his white count hasn't really increased significantly. Also, his CT scan was clean, so there was no hidden infection.
His oncologist just visited to confirm that his bone marrow is normal - there is no indication of lymphoma or leukemia or any of the weirder forms of anemia. He firmly believes his body had an autoimmune reaction to a virus - and he's says we'll never know what caused it because all of the tests have been normal. He called it "isolated neutropenia" and says that it's just a random incident and we shouldn't expect this to be the new normal.
He also said if it is related to the lymphoma or the chemotherapy, "it's not known to be." I'm taking that to mean it's possible but he doesn't want to say that for certain. That's only my opinion, of course, since it's hard for me to separate what chemo does to the immune system from what happened in this situation. He also said he usually sees one or two cases like this a year, and he's an oncologist, so...
At any rate, now that they've ruled out The Big Scaries, he can start Neupogen shots. Neupogen is similar to the booster he got after each chemo treatment, and it will stimulate the bone marrow to make white cells. He'll have to get two a day until he reaches the normal level, and he'll still be getting IV antibiotics. Once his absolute neutrophil count (ANC) is 500, he can be released with oral antibiotics. Today, that count is 36.
He should be just fine once he recovers his immune system, so this is all good news. For now, our specific prayer request is for a rapid increase in his neutrophil count so he can go home.
As always, thank you for the prayers thus far. We feel them and we are so grateful.
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