2-20-16

One month ago today we took Drew to the emergency room in Austin, beginning this whole journey. In some many ways we are much better off then we were a month ago, and in other ways I look back and wish to be back in our "normal" world again. But each day forward is another day closer to being healed. This journey has already been, and will be filled with ups and downs, but we have faith that its an overall upward trajectory. I've been likening it to the stock market--in the course of an hour or even a day it can be hard to see the trend line between all the highs and lows, but over the year the trend is almost always up!

This week has been one of the "lows". This round of Chemo has caused Drew to get sick a lot. The nurses and doctors are figuring out what will keep his getting sick to a minimum. Cutting off the feeds for now has helps a lot. Trying different anti-nausea medications in different forms/amounts is where we are now. My dad (Heidi's) so graciously was with him the first few days in the hospital overnight and quite literally caught the brunt of the sickness. Since yesterday I've been here and he has gotten sick some, but it is improving. They just changed us to a new medication for nausea, we'll see if that helps even more, pray it does! With one more dose of Chemo tonight, we know that the end is in sight either way. They expect to keep us until he can hold down the feedings again though, which may not be so bad. It's easier to deal with the mess with help from the nurses! Pray that that process doesn't take as long as the last time!

The big picture though has been unchanged--no new complications that are of concern. Praise the Lord and pray that continues to be the case! Everyone is anxious to see if his red count soars again once his body starts to recover. They still don't know what to expect with him! Next on our flow chart of treatment is a re-check of the bone marrow before round 3 begins. It will be a surgery again, and we'll just be admitted early for our scheduled Chemo round to have that done. We can already start praying that this test shows progress--even total healing--of the bone marrow (which I'm told is possible!).

Drew really has kept a pretty good attitude through even through this sickness-ridden round. He'll be smiling and playing around, then get sick, and as soon as he's cleaned up again, right back at what he was doing. This continues to show us that overall he is making great progress. The trick now is keeping him in bed, as you can see from my pictures!

As always thank you again for the encouraging words, thoughts, and prayers. One month down! :)

~Heidi