Jacob continues to be strong and cheerful, amazing the nurses and delighting us.  He knows the names of his medicines now and wants to know which one you’re giving him as he opens up.

A new attending physician took over this morning and ordered a nasal wash to see if anything viral is causing Jacob’s congestion.  Our boy was even sweet during this procedure, helpfully identifying for us which nostril had the most “boogies.” 

We learned today how dangerous viruses can be to him during the period when his immune system is wiped out.  In terms of bacteria, his skin and gut are full of it so he’d be most likely to get anything bacterial from himself.  But common viruses can be deadly during that critical 30 days post-transplant and there’s no real good way to treat them from what I can learn.  And the thing is, you can spread a virus 2-3 days before you have any symptoms.  So of course we’re really buckling down – I think I’m going to wear a mask and gloves in the room at all times just to add another layer of protection.

He continued to itch during the night last night and seemed to be having bad dreams when he woke up during diaper changes.  This morning they changed him to a new anti-itch medicine so we really hope that this one helps him to sleep more comfortably.

Jodi is there tonight (thanks for the prayers) and tomorrow morning we’re going to go over the entire orders for the BMT.  I continue to be so thankful for these days when the process is underway but he’s not suffering.  

He talks of going home every day and asked this afternoon to see the “family video” (the one that you can play from the Home page on the website).  He’s so excited to see all of the people and places in his life and we can’t wait to take him back to them.