11-13-16

Josh got in from his trip and went straight to the hospital. Drew was happy to see him, I guess he had enough of me! The rest of the week went pretty well, with more learning done. We were monitoring a cough he had all week, and found a drug that worked to settle it. Some of the more experienced nurses said that some kids do cough all through the infusions, and they stop when the infusions are complete--and that's just what happened. We continued to be able to keep the pain under control during the infusions, with a lot of narcotics. We are starting to see the effecs of chemo, with him getting sick on and off. Which is so hard to see again. But we learned a lot this first cycle, the next one should go much smoother, we hope and pray!

We were released yesterday, about noon. Drew was still pretty medicated and sleepy, but it was nice to be home. Right before bed though, he had another fever. And with a central line, that always means a trip to the ER to draw blood cultures and get pre-emptive antibiotics. A couple hours later, we were back home, for the second time that day! Josh took him in for the 2nd dose of antibiotics this morning. So far no growth on the cultures, and he's been fever free today. He's still not 100% Drew yet, we hope he continues to bounce back each day! Since he had fevers all week, I think everyone assumes it's related to the infusions and chemo, but we have learned never to assume anything! So keep praying that cultures stay negative, and Drew doesn't get another infection!

Its been a long time, the first week in September?, that we've been in the hospital. It was a long week, especially after the news we got last week. But we got through it, and it's nice to be home. We had planned a "Friendsgiving" dinner with a few friends in town, but weren't sure it would work out this weekend with all that was going on. But our friends were great, and made it happen anyway. We showed up today and were suprised by a check from a fundraiser on facebook that was managed to keep secret from us all week! It was incredible to once again, see all the support we have from our community and beyond. God has truly blessed us through the love of so many, and we are truly, truly grateful. It is hard to explain the feeling of happiness and love, but then also sadness for the reason behind all this. Its really bittersweet. I'm overwhelmed by how incredibly beautiful parts of this all is, but so broken that it's at our Drew's expense. We still pray, and continue to ask you to, that this trial helps Drew, and that he can defy all the expectations, like he has many times already, and be healed one day!

~Heidi