Day 227 - Getting stronger

     Friday afternoon we received the blood counts from Evan's draw earlier that morning.  It appears his body isn't quite ready for the next round of chemotherapy originally scheduled for tomorrow morning.  His hemoglobin, WBC and platelets had all recovered, but his ANC was too low.  If you recall, ANC is calculated on both WBC and neutrophils to help determine a score for your body's ability to fight infection.  The doctors have asked we check his blood counts again this coming Friday and if they have improved we'll start the next round of chemo the day after the Super Bowl (Go Falcons!).  There were markers in the blood that would suggest his bone marrow is bouncing back so while I was originally discouraged the doctors seem pleased with where he's at.  It would appear we have dodged the need for a blood transfusion.

We ordered a butterfly kit for the boys.

     Evan's ankle has not healed as quickly as expected, but we're continuing our on-going PT work here at the house and off-site.  He has an MRI of his ankle scheduled for Tuesday to get a closer look at the bone, cartilage and blood vessels in that region.  Our fingers are crossed it isn't something more serious.  I briefly mentioned it in the last blog, but the doctor would like to rule out AVN (Avascular Necrosis).  In short, it's a disorder that causes bone death due to lack of blood flow.  It's not normally found in the ankle; however, we still need to confirm there isn't a bigger issue.  Our surgeon isn't an expert in Oncology so he couldn't ease our concerns, but we're hoping the lack of bone development is related to the stringent chemotherapy his body has been dealing with lately.  We plan on talking to the Oncology team this week to see if they can provide any insight on this.

Working on Valentine's Day bracelets and stickers.

     Interestingly, Evan's appetite has shriveled up almost completely again.  This is despite the fact that he hasn't had chemotherapy in almost two weeks.  Cristy and I are doing the best we can to tailor the meals to include higher concentrations of calories and in the meantime gaining weight ourselves.  Hopefully his eating habits will normalize over the coming months.  We're not scheduled for any of the more challenging chemo inductions from here on out.  Panda Express is our new go to spot at the moment.

Keeping mind and body strong.

      Mentally Evan is holding up very well.  He's doing great with his school work and we're blazing through a book series called The Magic Tree House each night.  I do most of the reading, but will occasionally ask him to read a few lines and he normally is able to pick it up without a problem.  His math skills have improved too, and Evan likes to work with his little brother on addition and subtraction using a toy cash register the kids got for Christmas.  Sadly it's one of the few times each day they're not fighting.  Keeping a child with cancer healthy is hard enough without the rough housing, but boys will be boys.  Cristy and I have been slacking with the photos lately, but I promise we'll step our game back up.  Should have another update Tuesday evening following  his MRI appointment.