Transfusion - November 22, 2010

We never truly understood how important giving blood can be. We will definitely start giving blood. During Luke's 'delayed intensification' phase, his blood counts went down to a critical level, and he needed a transfusion of blood and platelets. Thanks to the donations of others, Luke received the needed blood, and his counts improved greatly. Though his immune system is still down, and he has had to stay at home for about a month now, he is in good spirits, by God's grace.

Here's is Luke, all smiles, as we went to the clinic for his first transfusion since being admitted to the hospital during his initial diagnosis (in June).


Here is Luke looking up at the blood infusing into the port. Who knows what he is thinking? On this day, he received blood. A few days later, he received platelets. He developed an allergic reaction to the platelets, and the nurses gave him benadryl iv and hydrocortisone iv. Thankfully, it was not a serious reaction (a few little bumps on his head/face), but this does mean that any time he will need similar transfusions, he will be pre-medicated with these medicines.