Our week has been full of ups and downs...

My appointment on Wednesday went wonderfully. The doctor took some additional pictures and said that although he did see some "webbing" in the bone that could be slight fractures, he didn't think it was enough to warrant a cast. (Go, God!) He did say that I jammed the bones in my elbow together and they are collapsed in, so I am not supposed to lift, push, or pull anything over 1 lb. (So officially Eli now weighs 1lb) and I need to exercises to try to get them back to normal. I have another appointment in a week or so and I think I will have to do some physical therapy. I have been having some additional pain, but I think it is just because I am using the arm and elbow and it is no longer in the splint or sling. I am taking Tylenol on a regular basis, and that seems to take some of the edge off.

Eli and I went to the clinic and MRI yesterday. The MRI showed that the lesions have again lessened considerably, and the onc is now really wanting to give him the Methotrexate when we do another LP (Lumbar Puncture). I told her that we really want to have everyone's opinions on what we should do and why next week before we make our decision. Her opinion was that we really want to go full guns when we get into remission because if we were to have a relapse, it is much more difficult to reach remission again. Makes sense to me, but at what cost? We don't know what the long term effects of this will be on my little boy....but then I can handle some additional tutoring for school when he is older...especially if he is cancer free!! So, we will get the opinions next week and go from there. I am trusting God here, and I really believe he will lead John and I to make a decision that we feel confident about.

The MRI also showed us what has been causing Eli to cough at night..he has a sinus infection. He hasn't had a runny nose, but he has been coughing when he sleeps....the drs have been listening to his lungs and they sounded fine, and we thought maybe he just had some reflux. So we tried Nexium and that didn't do anything, so I took him off of it...and now we know. The dr said that many children have these as a recurring issue during chemo and we will just have to watch it. So, he is on yet another antibiotic. And to think, I was so worried about him being on any antibiotics because of the whole "kids becoming resistant" thing. Now it seems he has been on everything in the book.

On the bloodwork side, Eli's bloodcounts are now bottoming out. (Yuck). We were really hoping that we just weren't going to go so low this time, but his ANC was at 80 yesterday and he needed platelets yet again. He was borderline for blood, so we will probably need that on Monday. The dr said with his counts so low she wouldn't be surprised if he ran a fever this weekend and we had to be admitted. For some reason, lots of kids just run fevers when they get so low. So we are homebound for now. John and I were hoping to start the IM phase on the 23rd of April, but we will have to wait to see. Eli cannot begin any additional chemo until his ANC is at least 750.

There have been so many great miracles this week.....a friend who though she may never have another baby found out she was pregnant....way to go, Erin Beth......and precious little JoJo Greenwood got a new heart last night...WOW. I am full of hope for our future, I believe God will take care of Eli and my family.....Happy EASTER!!!!