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| Blood counts as of 2/20/2018 |
Last month Evan went for his monthly chemo appointment and his blood counts showed an irregularity. His red blood cell count was down with the result being that he was anemic. I immediately started thinking worst case scenario and that he had potentially relapsed. The doctors assured us not to worry and that it was likely an anomaly caused by any number of factors. Leading up to that appointment Evan had been battling a cold for sometime and the dominant theory was that it was viral in nature. Viruses can cause red blood cell production issues so the doctors asked that we give it another month and then we'd check his counts again.
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| Stopping at Menchie's for some yogurt |
Fast forward to today for our most recent clinic visit. His red blood cell counts looked better, but his ANC was much higher than they'd like to see. Again, it was attributed to a nagging cold that he continues to battle. It usually shows itself in the form of coughing, runny nose or a sore throat in the morning. I'm personally looking forward to warmer temps and an end to this flu season. This being our first real winter at school while in maintenance I'm anxious to get through it. Cristy, Nolan and I have all battled our own versions of cold/flu ourselves and passing it along to him is always my biggest concern.
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| Rock climbing at Escalade |
Over the last month we've continued trying to stay active despite the rainy and cold weather. Skating, wall climbing and putt-putt are our go-to activities for getting out of the house. I'm really pleased with Evan's mobility at the moment. The next thing we're going to start focusing on is his stamina. He can walk almost normally now, but gets tired after 20 or 30 minutes of activity. The doctors at the clinic today were very pleased with how well he looked.
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| Cupcakes at Grandma and Grandpa's house |
With his continued improvement Cristy and I felt comfortable letting him stay down at my parents' house last weekend while we attended a wedding for an old friend of mine in Tennessee. Nolan really enjoyed staying down there, but Evan started to get homesick after the first day. Not sure if it's because he missed us or missed playing video games at home (probably both).
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| The start of a fun weekend together |
Cristy and I had a low-key Valentine's Day with the boys, but had our first day out as a couple following the wedding. It was good spending time with the woman I love and I hope that the future holds many more opportunities for us to do things like this. I'm considering taking the boys camping with me soon so that they can enjoy the outdoors. I seriously doubt we'll be roughing it, but spending the night in the tent and cooking over a camp fire is a lot of fun. It's the simple things that make life worth living and we're still making up for lost time.
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| Feb 15th was International Cancer Awareness Day Evan's name is on this shirt with many, many others |
