Seven Days and Counting. . .

a little r and r

7/30/2011:  8:45 AM

Let's see. . . .Where did I leave off? 

Davis's best day of the week is Thursday. Thursday afternoon, he floated around the pool a bit. He even thought it would be fun to float around with cucumber slices on his eyes. That lasted for all of a minute and a half.  And the temptation of food kicked in, and he ate them. Well, I guess they served a purpose one way or another.




best buds



Thursday evening, one of Davis's best buds was having a little get-together. Davis's ANC was high enough and the party was outdoors, so Davis decided to go for a little bit. It just amazes me how his sickness melts away when he is in the company of his friends. They had a great visit; they just picked up where they left off last. I love that friendship is blind to weak muscles, incision scars, rounding faces, and hair loss. And as hard as we try to boost Davis's spirits, friends do so without effort. They are such blessings to him.





chemo

We are fortunate that Davis has developed a routine going to and coming home from St. Louis: sleeping. Sleeping aids with the carsickness. The doctor's appointment went well. The only time Davis appeared very nervous yesterday was when the nurse accessed his port. I wished to take a picture of the actual needle and tubing for the blog, but Davis refused. Maybe next time. They do a CBC test before giving Davis his chemo to determine if Davis needs any red blood cells or platelets.  An hour later (yes, it takes some time to get lab results back), the nurse asked me if Davis had been experiencing headaches and tiredness. Yep. All tell-tale symptoms of a drop in hemoglobin. Davis's doctor decided it would be best to transfuse him because this week's chemo will further drop his counts. The transfusion added a couple of hours to the day, but Davis didn't mind because he loves getting blood. It perks him up considerably and makes him feel stronger. Overall, his counts were pretty good.  His white blood cells were up to 1 from .5 (healthy children are between 5 and 10), and his ANC had dropped from over 900 to 600 (healthly children are over 1500).



chicken strips and

blood . . .yum

We were finally on our way home at 3:00 PM.  Davis, despite not feeling well, remained pretty composed. We watched a movie (Elf, one of our favorites!) which passed the evening quickly.  Davis slept peacefully after the long day.



We have now started the countdown.  We reminded Davis that he only have seven more days of the Prednisone - the medication he loathes. He will have to take it later down on down the road, but it won't be for 28 days in a row. Thank goodnesss.

heading home

Next Friday is the day for which we have been believing and praying. Davis will undergo a bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap again. This will determine if he is in remission. If so, we move on to phase two of chemo, which will last for a minimum of 6 1/2 months. We know very little about phase two because it is created based on the results of the biopsy that is scheduled for this coming Friday. The doctor assured me that when she knows something, I will know something.


We continue to ask for your prayers.  We pray for our short term goals: remission, tolerance to medication, no bacterial or viral infections, no fevers; and our long term goals: no long term side effects, CURE! And we thank you in advance for your uplifting support, positive thoughts, and prayers. We are humbled to know that we cannot do this without GOD and the encouragement of our family and friends. 

Looking forward to a weekend of rest and recovery.

We will keep you posted.