They're baaaack!

Grant went to the clinic today for a regular visit. His ANC was 2690! I guess the boost they gave him worked. Dr. Heym said that by this time that was an accurate number and his bone marrow was working the way it needed too. Otherwise, the GCSF shot would have worked temporarily but then they would be back down. So today he got chemo in his port, a spinal tap, and he will begin steroids and restart oral chemo tonight. We are back on track for now. Although, his oral chemo will start back at half doses. He will go back to the clinic in 2 weeks to reevaluate. Also, Dr. Heym told him he could return to school tomorrow. Yeah! He was happy about that, especially since Spring Break is next week. He really wants to thank his class for the Get Well card. I just can't say enough how proud I am of him and how strong and brave he is. God is good and faithful and Grant trusts in that. Thank you for all your prayers!

Power of Persuasion

WE ARE HOME! However, Grant's ANC is 0. It was 25 yesterday and Dr. Heym told us he was tired of seeing Grant in the hospital, so if it was anything but 0, he could go home today. The nurses would not look at me this morning when they told me that it was 0. Unbelievable!

When Dr. Heym came in, I told him he had to send us home. I couldn't stay there another day. They had stopped his fluids and antibiotics. And they were only taking his vitals every 8 hours. I promised to take his temperature every 8 hours if he would just send us home. He ended up giving him a dose of some kind of growth hormone that is used in treating other types of cancers to help boost his ANC. All of his other counts had recovered. So, he is basically homebound (way better than hospital bound) and is still at a VERY HIGH risk for infection. If he gets any kind of fever, we have to call and go back in. Please pray for protection and that his body can recover and fight off anything it needs to. So happy to be home!

He will go to clinic for his regularly scheduled visit on Monday and this one happens to be a spinal tap. He will still get the spinal, Vincristine, and start steroids regardless of his counts.

This is a picture of him putting the beads from his hospital stay on his Beads of Courage necklace. Each color or type of bead represents a part of his treatment.

Still at the hospital

Making Goop!

Well, more of the same. Grant's ANC was at 0 yesterday and 44 today. So, we are still waiting. He is ready to come home and everybody else is ready too. He still has the virus that he came in with because his body has not been able to fight it and there is nothing they can do to help a virus. But, the virus is also suppressing his immune system and it can't recover. It feels like he is in a vicious cycle that we can't get out of. It is such a helpless feeling.

Please pray for healing. We know God is in control and we don't want Grant to go home if his body can't handle it. So, we just need his body to be strong and healthy!

More Waiting.....

How long will we have to wait???? Grant's ANC went down for 3 straight days and finally hit 0. So he had no where to go but up today......wait for it.....to 10. So, he is not going home today and probably not tomorrow. He is feeling good and we are all ready for him to come home. When I told Trent this morning that Grant was not coming home he said, "aww (with a grunt), that silly Grant! What is going on?" That is a good question. Dr. Heym says there is no reason to be concerned, but we just have to wait. Today, they will have to take his noodle out and put a fresh one in since it has been a week. Grant is not looking forward to this but I'm sure he will handle it like a champ. He actually tripped and fell on his chest in the playroom 2 days ago. As soon as he saw his nurse, he told her about it and wanted her to check it. She was so impressed that he was so big about it. Please pray for our sanity as we continue to wait.....

Still Hanging at the Hospital

Well, yesterday Grant's ANC dropped to 30 and today it is up to 80, neither of which will get him out of the hospital. So, we wait another day. I think he feels okay and he keeps getting good reports otherwise from the doctor. He is pretty weak and doesn't have much of an appetite except for breakfast. He got a little dehydrated yesterday so they hooked him back up to fluids overnight. They have taken him off them again today but we are really pushing the liquids. He slept all night, but seemed to be restless. He is still coughing quite a bit. He has a long road before he is back to normal activities. Our hope right now is that we can get him home so it can be easier on everyone. Thank you for your prayers and please remember to pray for Trent too. This has been a little difficult on him, but he is being a trooper too and really looks forward to seeing his brother.

Creeping Up

Grant's ANC was 10 yesterday. It was 40 today. So Dr. Heym has said he can go home tomorrow if it is above 100. Please pray for a good, restful night and strong counts in the morning.

Thanks to our visitors today that helped entertain Grant and pass the time. He is feeling well and played a lot of basketball today. It got a little hot though, playing basketball with a mask on. We took it off really quick for this picture.

Aww Shucks!

My how things have changed. He was perfectly content on his ipod and watching ESPN. The nurse actually commented that we were making him watch that channel and he could watch cartoons if he wanted. Little did she know....that was his request.

Grant started getting a little congested and coughing on Thursday. By Friday morning, he woke up saying he did not feel well. Of course, he wasn't going to let that keep him from school. (Have I mentioned that he loves school!) But, the first thing he said to me when I picked him up from school yesterday was "I had a hard day." When I asked why, he said that he didn't feel good and his head hurt all day. We went home and he curled up on the couch. As we sat there, he temperature just started to rise. The magic number for calling the doctor is 101. He was at 100.9 for most of the evening. It finally crossed that barrier. We called the doctor and headed to the ER about 10:30. Grant was very sad about having to go.

They drew labs and also tested for the flu. The flu test came back negative, but his counts were extremely low. His white blood count was .5 and his ANC was 10. They ordered him an IV antibiotic and admitted him to the hospital. They also gave him some tylenol for the fever. He handled everything like a champ and was in much better spirits about having to be there. He was actually very impatient about waiting for the doctor to tell us whether we could go home or would have to stay. When the doctor told him he had to stay, he actually said "yeessss, I want waffle sticks for breakfast." Who likes hospital food? Oh well, at least he didn't cry over having to stay. Give the kid some waffle sticks!

Hopefully, we will see the oncologist today. His counts will have to come up and show they are on a path to recovery before he can go home. They will hold chemo until his ANC reaches 750. Thanks for all the prayers and we will try to keep you posted.