Today, the pain seemed to be largely under control except in the evening. After a very long nap in the morning, Idan woke up happy and refreshed. Color returned to his cheeks and he was playing happily and calmly for most of the day. This is a huge relief as it means either the new pain meds are working or Idan’s pain is starting to subside. More likely the former, given everything he has been through and continues to go through on a daily basis. The pain came back in the evening, but he is resting peacefully now. Regardless, it was a great day because for once Idan could simply enjoy playing and we could enjoy his sweet laugh, jokes and silly side again. Most importantly, the attending was very happy with Idan’s progress, and was especially amazed at Idan’s appetite – not too many people can take a week of chemo and dozens of other meds that cause all sorts of side effects and still happily gobble down breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Later in the day, the fellow stopped by to check in on Idan, who had just finished building a Lego set of a hospital and ambulance. The fellow started to tease Idan and asked Idan if he could have the toy ambulance since he didn’t have any toys. Idan played along for a bit, and pointed to the pretend driveway where the ambulance belongs. As the fellow put the toy ambulance back, he stopped to see if there was a patient inside. To his surprise, there was – and it was a doctor!! Idan and the fellow laughed as the fellow backed slowly away, saying “Ok, ok, I’m leaving, I got the message… Don’t want to wind up in an ambulance!”
As we said last transplant, we expect many more bad days than good during this process, so when we have a good day, we rejoice and enjoy it!