Detoxing

Things are going pretty well. Grant has been feeling good for the most part. His biggest problem is adjusting to being at home and playing by the rules. We really had a day of detoxing on Monday; Grant from the hospital (nurses), Trent from Nana. :) Yesterday, Grant was pretty sad that he did not get to go to school when we dropped off Trent. On the way to pick him up, he decided he wanted to know what his job for this week would have been. So, his teacher came to the window to give him a rundown of the week and things we could do at home. She has been so wonderful to send his schoolwork home with Trent. He misses school and all his friends. He also realized that he was missing soccer practice. Another bummer! Just hoping counts are on the rise and he can stay well.

We're Home!

Grant's ANC was 140 today! Yahoo! He was actually very excited about coming home. Trent and I went and picked up Rudy and Grant at the hospital this morning. Grant and Trent held hands in the car on the way home. It was very sweet. As soon as we got home, they jumped out of the car and on to their bikes, scooters and tractors. I think Grant was pretty excited to play outside. We will be stuck at home for at least a week and probably longer until his counts really recover. He goes to the clinic next Monday (11/1) for a CBC. We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers!

Staying Again

Grant's ANC is 70. He will be in the hospital at least one more day. It still needs to come up higher. Sadly, Grant is perfectly happy here. He has discovered the Wii in the playroom and that's all he wants to do. He also gets great pleasure out of ordering his meals everyday from the menu and leaving it outside his room. I guess it doesn't take much for a 4 year old. Please pray his counts up!

Still Here

Grant's ANC is 40. So, we get to stay here. :) Dr. Heym says that he sounds/looks good and that all his other numbers have come up. Basically, that one is just lagging behind. He did not seem concerned, but we are just going to have to wait for it to come up. The risk being that if we go home and he can't fight something off, then we will be right back up here starting all over. So we wait! He said if Grant's ANC could get over 100 tomorrow, then he would get us out of here. He is not on-call this weekend, but said he would communicate with the on-call doctors. One piece of good news is that Grant's fever is staying normal. This means that we are allowed out of the hospital room and can go walk around the floor and go to the playroom. That helps a lot. We were going stir crazy in this room.
When Grant gets to go home, he will be isolated. He will not be able to do the things he was doing before he got sick (preschool, soccer) until his counts completely recover. His chemo will be held until his ANC is back over 500.

ANC is up

Grant's ANC finally made a move in the right direction, up to 69. Dr. Heym, very optimistically, said he hopes to get him out of here by tomorrow afternoon. He has to have no more fever and his ANC has to go up again tomorrow. Grant was very disappointed when I told him this morning that his counts had come up. He wants to stay here and hopes they go back down. It's not too hard to believe. There are very few rules here. He watch tv and plays internet games all day. He gets everybody's total attention. People bring him food in his bed. What's not to like?
Thanks for praying with us!

It's back!

Well, Grant's fever is back. It came back up just before Dr. Heym came to see him this afternoon. So they have taken another blood culture and given more tylenol. Dr. Heym was concerned with how high his fever got yesterday and the fact that it keeps coming back. The plan is to wait one more day. If his fever continues, he will have to have CT scans tomorrow to look for fungal infection, which will have to be treated with infection-specific medication. At this point, Dr. Heym said that he is not concerned that the leukemia is back b/c all of his counts are slightly improving except the ANC so it seems that his bone marrow is working. Please pray for no fever!

Yay for Sleep!

Grant had a great night last night. Of course we could not go to sleep until the last out had been made in the Rangers game. But, he slept all night with no trouble. His coughing was much less and he did not have any more codeine. They are giving him IV fluids so he only woke up to go to the bathroom. We all got more sleep, however, we are not any closer to going home. His ANC is still a big fat zero today! We are still waiting to see Dr. Heym and find out if we are just staying the course or changing the plan of action. They have already been holding all of his chemo, so he hasn't had any since Saturday night. More waiting.....

More Fever

Grant and I slept all afternoon so that was great. I tried to wake him up about 4:30 to go to a party in the playroom. When I sat him up, I could tell that he was extremely warm. I went to get a nurse and his temp had spiked back up to 103.6. So, no fall party. But, they were so sweet and sent crafts and pumpkins and a bag of treats and games and food to his room. He was perfectly happy! He and daddy are playing Jumpin' Monkeys and waiting for the Ranger game to start. He just got his first dose of the codeine so he will probably get a little drowsy (which is just fine). My mom says Trent is acting like he is feeling fine. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Doctor Report

Dr. Heym came in to see Grant. Of course, he looked fine and was playing computer games, so he thought I was telling stories about our nights. :) He did prescribe him some codeine for his cough. He did not want him coughing so much that he was vomiting. And that should also help clear up his blood shot eyes, which he believes was caused by the severe coughing. His fever has stayed away this time, so now we have to wait for his counts to recover. His ANC crept up yesterday, but plummeted to zero today. Now we are looking at being here at least until Thursday.
They just brought Grant's lunch, which he does not like. So, he said "I'm not hungry, I'm sleepy" and rolled over and went to sleep. Gotta go catch a nap!

What a Miserable Night!

Grant didn't sleep at all during the day yesterday, so I had high hopes for a restful night. Not so much! We didn't go to sleep until about 11:00. By midnight, he was sweating like crazy again and waking up crying. He went back to sleep and at 2 a.m. he woke up coughing and crying again. He got choked and just started vomitting. Of course he was very upset so he was crying, but he didn't have much strength so it was more like wimpering. He was not running any fever so they were trying not to give him tylenol, but at this point, they did. They also gave him Zofran for nausea. After the wonderful nurses gave him a fresh bed, he slept off and on the rest of the night, but kept coughing. And everytime he coughed, I made him sit up so he didn't get choked. At 6 a.m., I turned on some cartoons to try to distract him, b/c he was crying and didn't know why. The t.v. didn't help things b/c he couldn't open his eyes to watch it. They were almost swollen shut and poured liquid every time he tried to open them....which upset him more. So, this morning he has had more tylenol and benadryl. I will update again after the doctor sees him.

Add Trent To Your Prayers

Trent was sent home from school today with a fever. Under the circumstances, we thought it was wise to go ahead and get him to the doctor. He was diagnosed with strep. So, he got a shot and should not be contagious after 24 hours. Hopefully, he will be feeling better soon too.
Grant is doing well this afternoon. He has not had fever since noon. He has been laughing and playing games and is having some pizza and salad for dinner.
Thanks for keeping up with us and keeping all of us in your prayers.

Back Up

We had an interesting night. Grant slept hard from about 8:30-11:30 when his temperature broke. Then, he kept waking up crying. He was sweating so much that he kept soaking his pillow. He was pretty wide awake about 1:30 and had 2 bowls of Fruit Loops and watched Cars. I made him go to sleep after that and he slept until about 7:00. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep at all. :( His temperature was back up again this morning. He has had some tylenol so it has come down a little. But, we need it to stay down on it's own. The doctor has seen him this morning. She said he looks good, but we will just be doing the same thing as yesterday. He will continue getting antibiotics and tylenol as needed. And eating cereal..... :)

High Temp

Grant's temperature came down this evening after he got some tylenol. He was talking a little more and eating more Cheerios. But, it has spiked again. He has already had more tylenol and it just keeps going up (103.3). Please keep praying for our little Grant. He is being such a trooper. Also, he has been having some leg pain. The nurses aren't sure what is causing that, so we don't really know how to treat it. And Rudy and I don't want to give him more medication if we don't have to. Please pray that we are all able to get some rest tonight.
UPDATE: 11:40 p.m., Grant's fever broke! Yahoo!

What?! The Hospital?

That's right. We are in the hospital. Grant spiked a fever last night about 1:30. We prayed and stalled all night, but decided we needed to bring him in this morning about 7:30. Grant has done absolutely wonderful. He has been so cooperative and compliant even though he feels terrible. They took blood and cultures and did x-rays of his chest and sinuses in the ER. His counts were very low (ANC 40) and the x-rays diagnosed sinusitus and pneumonia. The tests came back negative for flu and RSV.
He was admitted to the hospital. Dr. Heym was the on-call oncologist today, so he met us in the room to examine him. The ER doc, Dr. Heym and the nurses all say how good he looks for being this sick. He will have to be here until he is without fever for 48 hours and his counts are on the way back up, which will probably be at least Wed., since he still has fever as I write.
Dr. Heym gave us a hard time for not calling at 1:30 when he first got to 101. We gave Dr. Heym a hard time b/c I called on Friday afternoon about Grant's cough and he told us to wait it out at least through the weekend. He's a Yankee fan. What does he know?? Either way, we're here now.
Rudy and I are pretty bummed. It's been almost a year since he was last in the hospital. But, he doesn't seem to mind. When we asked him last night if he needed to go to the hospital to get some medicine, he said yes. Then he said b/c he wanted to eat the yummy food they have there. He's had 2 bowls of Cheerios. He eats Cheerios everyday at home. ?????
He has been able to rest some since we've been here. He is dozing off and on. He chose to watch football over movies or cartoons. He is his father's son! So, I guess it's just a lazy Sunday afternoon....in the hospital.
Grant is able to have visitors. But, everyone will have to wear a mask, b/c his counts are so low. We are in room 3112.

Pumpkin Patch

We took our first trip to the Pumpkin Patch this year. It was a field trip with the Grant and Trent's school. We all had a great time!

Just Another Day at the Clinic

Grant had a great day at the clinic today. We were only there for an hour....record time! He fussed that he didn't want a poke, but when I told him he had to sit still, he did. It went very smoothly. He got his chemo in his port and then the noodle came out. The worst part of the whole process is having to take the sticky bandage off that they put over it while he is accessed. But, we just go really fast and it doesn't have to last long.
Grant has been taking a daily allergy pill for quite a while. However, this week he has developed a pretty yucky cough. Dr. Heym said that his lungs were clear and otherwise sounded fine. He started his steroids today, so we are hoping they kill 2 birds and help with the cough as well. If not, he will have to go back in for something else. Also, his ANC was back up today and with his growth, Dr. Heym decided to increase one of his chemo doses. So, the methotrexate that he takes once a week will go from 5 pills to 6. Please pray that his body can handle this change and that the steroids help his cough. Thanks for all your prayers!

Light the Night 2010

Light the Night is only a week away! Be sure you click the link and go to our team page and register if you plan on walking. We are looking forward to another fun evening this year....hopefully warmer....and dryer. :) http://pages.lightthenight.org/ntx/FtWorth10/GrantsBigAdventure