Day 1198 - Our first scare

     This past Saturday Evan experienced his first fever since being off of chemo.  Cristy and I were out to dinner to celebrate our 14 year anniversary and upon returning home noticed Evan was a bit warm.  He wasn't acting unusual so I wasn't too worried about it at this point.  His fever was clocking in around 100.04, which is right at the threshold for calling the Aflac team.  As the hours wore on it was obvious the fever wasn't going to go away on it's own.  As long as Evan has a central line (port) fevers will always be an immediate trip to the ER.

A trip to Hillcrest Orchards compliments of Camp Sunshine

     We continued to closely monitor and around 2:30 Cristy took his temperature and found that it was 101.4.  With that she promptly called ahead to the on-call doctor to announce our departure, gathered Evan up and took him to the ER.  I stayed home with Nolan, although I'll admit I didn't get much sleep (more on that in a moment).  Once they arrived his temperature registered at 101.7 and his blood was drawn to begin checking for any irregularities.  Evan's body should be clearing itself of the chemo that has coursed through his veins for years; this created quite a bit of uncertainty in my mind.  I'm happy to report that his counts looked good (except for platelets which he's never had a problem with in the past).  Cristy and Evan returned home around 6:00 a.m. after a good once-over.

Monster Mini-golf with the kids last weekend

     Cristy and I handled the situation much like we would have in the past, but I will admit I was bracing myself for just about anything prior to the blood counts.  I've said it many times in this blog and it still remains true - the fear of a relapse will always be with me.  Over the last few years I've trained myself to prepare for the worst, but hope for the best.  I should have remembered one of the biggest indicators when there have been problems in the past; Evan himself.  He wasn't acting sick or out of sorts which is always a good sign.

     A couple of weekends ago Cristy and I hosted a few friends to celebrate the turning of another page in our journey.  As part of our decorations Cristy had a couple cakes made, balloons and his medical counts on display.  We also unveiled his Courage Beads for others to see for the first time.  All in all I think it was a good day and I'm glad the weather cooperated.  It was nice of Cristy's brother Rhod to drive down overnight from West Virginia to share the day with us.

The silly-string war of 2019

     Evan has another clinic appointment next week and as always I'm anxious to see his blood counts and which direction they're trending.  I hope to get some more concrete answers regarding his port removal and how IVIG plays into his treatment.  As long as Evan has his port we have been advised to stay on our Katie Beckett Medicaid.

     I'm really late getting this blog up, but if you're not aware September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month.  I strongly encourage anyone not familiar with the challenges and hardships that many families face to educate themselves on it.  This is an opportunity for us to raise awareness for funding, celebrate the fighters and mourn our warriors taken far too early.  Fundraising and awareness will always be something we'll champion.  I hope to witness a day when cancer is a nuisance and not a life threatening disease.

Evan's wall photo from Curefest in Washington, D.C.

     This week both of the boys are out of school for Fall Break.  Since they're both battling minor ailments I'm curious how much Cristy will be able to get them out of the house.  Something tells me that they have a lot of Del Taco in their future.

Donut eating contest