Day 273 - Inching closer to Maintenance

     It's been a fairly busy week since our last update.  Evan completed chemotherapy on Friday, along with receiving a dose of IVIG.  Cristy had a chance to talk to the doctors and I'm happy to report Evan will be getting his new port installed on March 23rd.  During this time they'll pull the PICC line and seal him up, as well as a spinal tap.  The blood test from Friday morning yielded an even higher ANC than Wednesday.  We're not sure, but hopeful it's not related to infections in his body.

Eating pudding like his little brother.

     The oncologist on duty Friday noticed Evan's red skin and had a theory as to the cause.  He believed the Bactrim may have been conflicting with the Methotrexate.  To that end we were asked to discontinue it for the time being.  It's probably too early to say if that was the culprit or not.  We've seen rashes/irritation around his PICC site and on his legs.  Need to wait and see if they improve or not.  In the meantime we were given a steroid cream to help alleviate the symptoms.

Spending time with the full Pruitt family for a belated b-day for Holly.

     Evan is bouncing back from a cold that got worse over the weekend.  I'm really pleased that his body seemed to handle it without issue.  No fevers.  No vomiting.  More or less had the same energy and motor as usual.  Any time he gets a cut or sick I always try to brace myself for the worst.  Since he's not hitting his typical nadir it looks like his body has a chance to fight back.  Speaking of which, Evan has an appointment on April 14th to perform an MRI on his back, hip and legs to check for any infections.  We're trying to be realistic that it's possible he still has infections, but hoping to avoid surgery.

Candid shot of everyone eating.

     Today Evan met with the orthopedic surgeon to confirm how he's healing up since his last leg surgery.  He was very pleased with Evan's appearance, and commented this was the best he's ever seen Evan. We need to wait until his MRI, then we'll be back to follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon again.

     Evan's movements seem OK; however, they should improve as his muscles strengthen.  He has not reported any discomfort to us and his therapist seems very encouraged by how he's getting around.  Being in school and starting to play with kids again has definitely given him motivation to stay upright.

The boys with cousin Lily.

Jason, Katie and Camdyn came by to visit.  The boys were excited.