Home At Last--Bringing Gifts

Bryan is home!

When I got to the hospital he was, as I reported earlier, just waiting for me to pick him up. I noticed a red area on his arm and inquired. He said he wasn't sure what it was. It was swollen, red and painful, although not hot. One nurse said to just watch it--(I wondered if she thought it would do tricks?) another said it was not a blood clot because she could feel pulse on either side of it (that was reassuring). She suggested it was "most likely the end of a bruise, but usually they go from purple to green so I am not sure if it would be a bruise because they don't end by turning red, but treat it as a bruise." I thought it looked like cellulitis.

We left the hospital and headed south. As we approached I-405, Bryan called the Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center to see if Dr. Chen or Cunningham would be able to take a look at his arm. Not a problem---Dr. Cunningham said right away it was a staph infection which developed under the skin--typical hospital stay side effect (this is the gift). Seven to ten more days of antibiotics! The silver lining in it all, Bryan has an immune response to this infection. He has enough neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) in his blood stream to actually attack something on his own!

We had a great time of prayer together as a family at home this evening! Thank you for the prayers, fasting, cards, calls, meals, encouragement, etc. It would have been very difficult without the support of family and friends!

I would especially like to thank my dad for giving up Mom for the week. Sarah and I were very thankful to have her here. It allowed me to stay in Seattle when things were rough for Bryan and to know things were okay in Tacoma. Thanks, Dad!