"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in" (Day +31, +32)

Unfortunately, due to showing signs of an infection, Max is back in the hospital. Fortunately he still seems well but the doctors want to keep him in as a precautionary measure. Not that we ever expected that the road to recovery would end on leaving hospital the first time, it is a bit of a shock to be back here again so soon. Hopefully this is just the equivalent of encountering a "Road works next 1km : Slow Down" sign and that we are all motoring along at speed soon after.

Max came in to hospital on Thursday as planned for blood tests and an appointment with Doctor T. About an hour and a half after having the blood drawn, whilst waiting for his appointment, he got the shivers. Quick thinking Bee wrapped him up in his jacket and got a nurse to check his temperature and sure enough it had spiked to 39.2. We were later told that it was possible on flushing his lines a bug of some sort was pushed back into his body, triggering an infection in the blood. Tests have come back today showing that he is positive for a gram-negative bacilli (rod) infection. They will continue to keep testing the cultures to see if they can identify the exact type of the infection in order to determine how to best treat it. After the initial spike, his temperature returned quickly back to normal (and before any meds were taken). He will need to be on antibiotics for at least the next nine days, time which most likely will need to be spent in hospital. In other medical matters, over the last couple of weeks a rash has developed on most of Max's skin and has become progressively more irritating. Today a skin biopsy was taken for testing to try and determine the cause of the rash, whether it be a symptom of Graft Versus Host Disease, a reaction to his medication or something else. They have also upped the dose of steroids to try and get the rash to settle down.

The good news is that despite, for three days, having had such a good time getting reacquainted with home Max is happy to be back amongst his hospital friends, many of whom have dropped by in the last couple of days to say hello. We are back in the fishbowl but we are now in room T3. As mentioned above, apart from his rash, he is not unwell and appears to be in good spirits.

Thankyous:

• Steve, Janine, Maddie, Sean and Sophie for the wonderful balloon arrangement. Unfortunately Max has yet to see it but i did take plenty of photos.

Cheers,

Tim