Another day, more challenges....it seems we were doing so well for a while there. Eli's diaper rash continues to get worse...the wound care nurse came to give her tips of how to handle things. We are trying that and hoping for the best. Last night he began to run a temp and we gave him Tylenol more for the diaper rash pain than anything else. Well this morning he had spots all over him!! The rash continued to get worse into the morning and then he spiked a fever of 103 this afternoon. He was just so miserable!! We gave him some meds and now he is sleeping, but the rash is still there and they don't know if it is a reaction to an antibiotic or a virus. We are taking him off of some of the antibiotics and we will have to wait and see. Apparently it may take days...I was so enjoying having my happy boy back!!

Anyway, I wanted to update everyone. This is short because I am in the PICU waiting area and they are closing things down. Our computer at home is not working!! Please keep praying and I will try to let everyone know how this goes. Friday we have multiple procedures and his last round of chemo for this section of the treatment. I was thinking we might coast until then, but I guess not. Thanks.

More tests, but no more answers. On Thursday we had another MRI and it showed the lesions had changed. Instead of being bright red now they are dark in the middle with "halos" around them. While this does not mean anything bad, it is also not any indication that they are getting better. One known disease that causes this is toxoplasmosis, which is carried though cat feces. They have done additional tests including an eye exam and ruled that out. So, we are back to really not knowing what caused the lesions, good or bad. Everyone seems to think that it was probably the methatrexate chemo that they injected during his last spinal tap, but they cannot tell us for sure. Next week he will have another spinal tap and they will substitute another drug for that one. After that, we will have to see. The problem is that the methatrexate works...So we will take it one day at a time. He got another round of chemo yesterday and seemed to handle it well. Eli continues to improve and still has not run anymore fevers.

PT came by yesterday and gave him a little walker to encourage him to walk and we walked all the way from the room to the playroom in the atrium, further than he has walked since we arrived at the hospital!! Since it is probably the chemo that is causing him not to walk we can't really fix the problem, just make it so we will have less difficulties after he is off of that chemo. His counts today were 160..up from 140 yesterday...As they continue to fluxuate John and I are hoping for a "spike" to get us to 500 so we can go home....

John spent last night at the hospital with Eli, which I think helped his spirits as well. I was able to go to the boy's basketball games, which was nice for me.

It has really been a great week, one that has given me tremendous hope and helped to give me strength. To see Eli more himself again is such a joy. It is amazing what the smile can do for your day, and week!! Again, I cannot say enough how much of this strength is due to all of the support and prayers that we get every day. It is going to be a long three years or so for us, but we will make it through.

Two good days with good news!! The past couple of days have been better, with things looking up. We got the genetic testing back and that looks positive. There are none of the "bad" chromosomes and there is even and extra 1/2 chromosome which makes the leukemia a little easier to beat. Eli is seeming more like himself everyday. He is grouchy with the doctors and nurses, not wanting to even look at them. This is much better than the little boy that was simply lying in the bed not wanting to do anything. We go and play everyday, although the laxatives seem to be working a little too much, and we are going to have to try to find a "happy medium". He is still not walking and the PT people have been very slow in getting to us, it isn't that he is paralyzed, just not wanting to put any weight on the legs. I have noticed it some in his lower arms as well when he crawls. The chemo that he is getting can cause muscle weakness as well as a tingling feeling, which could be the reason for the difficulties. We are now getting another MRI to see what that looks like. I went home last night and our computer isn't working properly, so these may be a little more spaced out. Bellsouth is sending some part today. The doc said we would be here for another week at least, another 2 or so at most. So hopefully there is an end to this hospital stay. Then we can try to figure out what life with this disease will be for us. Keep praying!!

Today was a good day. Eli is beginning to seem more like himself, which is making things easier. We have been playing with the play dough that MissAmanda brought him and coloring in his coloring books. His ANC count is up to a whopping 130. The dr said that we probably won't go home until his counts are at least 500 so, it looks like we will be there a while longer. We are getting another echocardiagram in the morning. The dr said it is just to 'be sure" everything is OK, but I am very nervous about it. He will get chemo this evening and then again on Friday to get back on track. He still isn't walking which has us a little concerned. It isn't that he can't move his legs, just that he seems really off balance and doesn't want to try. His appetite is still strong, although they have warned us that now he is off of the steroids that may change drastically. I am hoping to take a picture this week, which I will post here. He is actually looking better than he did a few weeks ago.

It's definitely the small miracles in life for us right now....like seeing Eli smile for the first time in a week (I thought I was going to burst) Or Finally having a bm!!! The tube worked, although it took about 8 hours vs. the two or so the doctors predicted. Even now, a full 24 hours later, we are continuing the laxative through the tube because it seems he still isn't quite done. The tube really isn't bothering him at all, what a trooper this little guy is!!! Eli wasn't back to normal by any means, but we definitely saw more of him today than we have in a while. Tomorrow we will get another round of chemo. Eli is beginning to really lose his hair...then I know there will be no more denial about what we are facing...that sounds strange to say, but somehow every now and then I still feel as though this will all be some big mistake and we will go back to our normal lives sometime. Again, thanks for everyone for all of the support and prayers....I feel as though I am beginning to "stand" again, and I know that is in a big part due to you.

Another day, no BM.....I never thought I would want to see a dirty diaper so badly in my life. We went into the MRI early this AM and that went off without a hitch. The rest of the day was spent waiting, to no avail. John is staying with Eli tonight as he has the past couple of nights....I think this week I have hit a wall emotionally and need some recharging. Spending some quality time at night with Jake and Sam should help. We are trying a last ditch effort with a laxative put directly into Eli's stomach through a tube. If that doesn't work, we may have to go with a supository which is risky with a kid with such a compromised immune system. On a better note, the oncologist said that the tests on the bone marrow from last week show only 4% blasts in his marrow, which is promising!!! They will do another bone marrow on day 29 and that will set the tone for the remainder of the treatment.

Today was pretty uneventful. We went downstairs for an xray of Eli's tummy. The poor kid has not pooped since Sunday evening and is having a rough time. There is no obstruction that they can see, just that he is very backed up. We have him on another laxative that will hopefully help. If not, we may have to postpone the chemo for tomorrow until the next day or so. With the lesions, we just know that we really don't know. The doctor seems to think that it was the chemo, but he is also quick to tell us that he really doesn't know. We will just have to wait and see. He is scheduled for another MRI on tomorrow that may shed some light, but still won't give any definitive answers. We will just wait and see.....

Today has been tough to say the least.....last night Eli's fever came down and never came back. I was so excited!!! Then this morning we had the MRI "just to make sure everything was OK". Well, as things have gone lately, everything was not OK. Eli has lesions on his brain. They are not concentrated, and it is not a tumor, but they are there still there. We do not know if it is just the chemo that has caused this, or a virus. If it is the chemo, it would mean that there was some damage done, and it may repair itself. If it is viral, it could be trouble. The oncologist seems to think it may be the chemo and that means that we will have to change out protocol some. We will have another MRI at the end of the week and talk to a neurologist this week as well. So we are hoping again for the lesser of the two evils, and we will deal with this roadbump, too. We are continuing to take the steroids which have him in a fine mood...only a couple more days of that. I am home tonight trying to spend some time with my other boys...it is nice to get back into a normal life for one night. Tomorrow I go back to the hospital with my little one....keep us in your prayers!!

I am trying to get this site together to keep everyone informed of how Eli is doing on a regular basis. Eli is our 2 year old son who was diagnosed on January 3 with Leukemia. We have been amazed and humbled by the numbers of people offering prayers and support, and we have also been brought to our knees by this horrible disease and what it is already doing to our precious little boy. We are only two weeks into what will be at best a three year ordeal and I am feeling as though I have already run a marathon. I am hoping I will begin to cope better as time goes by, but at present I am just breathing air and trying to make Eli as comfortable as possible. Our chemo began the Friday after we were diagnosed and we have already had three treatments. On Saturday Eli had a seizure so we had to spend the night in the ICUwith a tube breathing for him....horrible. Now we are back in our room on the seventh floor, but the doctors are still not sure what caused the seizure. They are going to do and MRI on his brain tomorrrow to rule out bleeding as well as an eeg. If all remains negative, they will chalk it up to a side effect of the chemo. Anyway, I will try to keep everyone informed by writing here as often as I can. Thanks for the prayers....