T+251 Lion Around

Today two tiny lion cubs came to visit Ronald McDonald House from a zoo in northern Minnesota.  They were born September 11th, and their mom abandoned them, so they are bottle fed.  Torie (and the rest of us) were quite fascinated with these little-bitties.  We were able to pet them and they are so soft and fuzzy.  It is amazing the things that the House staff come up with to keep us entertained.  The other exciting event of the day was the Flu Shot Clinic.  They set up the clinic right in the office, and they were free of charge.  Even better, we got lollipops, BandAids, and T-shirts.  There are a whole bunch of us sporting "I Got My FLU SHOT Today" stickers.  Okay, maybe flu shots aren't really exciting, but the services that they provide here are unbelievable.

Even more exciting, Torie's counts are going UP!  Her hemoglobin went from 8.6 on Monday to 9.4 today, and platelets are up to 40.  Her WBC's came up from 1.8 to 2.7, and her ANC went from 1100 to 1900.  The docs aren't sure if the Rituxan finally kicked in, or if the burst steroids are responsible for the increase in counts, but we'll take it!  If her counts continue to go up, it doesn't look like she'll need to go on 6MP (chemo).  We're are cautiously optimistic that we may be able to head home mid-November.  Of course, in the BMT world everything can change faster than Colorado weather!

Cute little critters.  I always knew playpens were for animals!

This is Lauren (in the black - not the one with the bottle).  She is one of Torie's favorite people here.