Day 217 - Not out of the woods

     Evan completed his latest and most difficult round of chemotherapy on Monday.  He's been faced with nausea and a loss of appetite, but we haven't noticed any other adverse effects.  His physical therapist has mentioned to us on a couple of occasions how resilient he is despite the changes his body is going through.

Playing with Evan's new web shooter.  Nolan and I were the victims.

     On Wednesday Cristy and Evan visited the CHoA satellite office near our house to have his blood counts checked.  The results were a bit alarming, but shouldn't have surprised me.  Evan's white blood cells, ANC and platelets were the lowest they've been since we began chemo.  As has been the case we'll keep him fairly isolated this week and likely next week as well.  Unlike previous nadirs we're hopeful that the Keflex and Voriconazole can keep any potential infections in check until his white cells recover.

Preparing the world for the next Picasso and Rembrandt.

     Evan has appointments scheduled with the Immunology and Orthopedic teams next Wednesday.  I'm anxious to hear their findings on both his ankle and in-depth details on his blood markers.  It's difficult to gauge where we're at with the progress on either because bone density can become a problem with some chemotherapy drugs and obviously with his counts being compromised I wouldn't expect to get a true reading on the health of his bone marrow.

Movie night.

     The medical team is working to finalize a date for the re-installation of his port.  This would certainly help Cristy and I as it would give us one less thing to maintain each day and it significantly minimizes his risk of infections.  The dates being thrown around right now are the end of this month or late in February.  His blood counts will dictate much of this and both dates coincide with his spinal taps for the next round of chemo (Interim Maintenance).

Time for some fresh air this morning.

     Hoping for a quiet weekend for Evan.  With the weather forecast calling for rain it will be ideal for movies and video games, which is right where we need to keep him in the short term.