PRECIOUS BIRTHDAY GIFT
Pitre has had great week
Jonathan Pitre will celebrate his 17th birthday this week with a most astonishing gift: hope.
The Russell teenager has staged a remarkable physical recovery during the past week in his fourthfloor room at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. Although his breathing remains laboured, his kidney, liver and gastrointestinal problems have all improved.
What’s more, the wounds inflicted by his blistering skin disease, epidermolysis bullosa, have started to show signs of accelerated healing, particularly on his back.
“It’s pretty remarkable,” said Pitre’s mother, Tina Boileau. “You can see where the wound was: There’s quite a difference in size. And the wound looks like it wants to heal. There’s progress, and I’m anxious to see, in the weeks and months to come, how his other wounds will react. It’s exciting.”
Pitre has improved so rapidly that doctors are now considering the possibility of discharging him in the near future.
He went outside the hospital Tuesday for the first time in two months, and again on Wednesday.
He has also started to eat again after months of being tube fed.
“From last week to this week, he’s not the same kid,” Boileau said.
In a brief interview Wednesday from his hospital bed, Pitre told the Citizen that he’s “OK.”
His voice was tremulous, and he took quick, shallow breaths between short bursts of words.
“I don’t know how I turned it around, I just did,” said Pitre, who will turn 17 this Friday.
“I just stayed positive. I tried to direct the cells in my body.”
Asked about the improving condition of the skin on his back, Pitre said, “It’s encouraging. But I still have some work to do.”
Last week at this time, Pitre was in a perilous state. Although his stem cell transplant had taken root in his bone marrow and was producing white blood cells, his kidney and liver function were so poor that he had become confused and hallucinatory: He believed some of his nurses were trying to hurt him. Part of his large intestine had become inflamed, and he couldn’t eat or drink.
His blood pressure fell dangerously and doctors told him he would be moved to the intensive care unit unless he maintained his levels. They wrote the numbers on a blackboard in his room.
Boileau said her son seemed to will himself to keep the numbers at the required level.
“I think we just need to set goals for this kid,” said his mother, laughing. “We’re not even close to saying we’re coming home, but he’s showing day in and day out how strong and resilient he is. He’s so tough.”
So far, there has been no sign of graft-versus-host disease, which is among the most dangerous complications after someone receives stem cells from a donor.
Pitre needs to improve his breathing and raise the oxygen levels in his blood — while not suffering any more serious setbacks — before doctors will discharge him. The family has rented an apartment near the hospital and will remain in Minnesota, for several months after he’s discharged, to receive outpatient care.
Pitre began to show signs of returning to normal on the weekend.
He could stand while his mother changed his dressings, and wanted to listen to music; he also asked to watch his favourite TV show, Iron Fist, and showed interest in solid food.
“Last week I was in tears: It was the hardest week ever,” Boileau said. “But this week, I have a smile on my face because Jonathan’s back to being himself. It’s such an unpredictable thing: There’s no road map for this ... I know there’s going to be lots of hiccups, and challenges down the road, but right now, this is very exciting to see.”
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