STILL in the hospital, sigh. Eli's counts today were:

ANC 10
Platelets 17
Hemoglobin 9.2

These numbers are way, way low....however, they have held steady for the past couple of days. (The ANC has nowhere to go but up.) Eli's pain is almost all gone except for when he poops. As it goes with Eli, the doctors are stumped and really have no idea why this is. We have had an x-ray, ultrasound, and cultures of his stool. All with no answers. But we do know what it is NOT, so that is some reassurance.

Eli is basically just really bored.....and I really don't blame him because I am too. John is there now for the weekend. I told our dr that we were going to have to "renegotiate" this 200 ANC number if his numbers aren't up by next week. They are closing the playroom on Tues, Wed, and Thurs of next week and I am NOT spending week #3 in the hospital without the playroom. I will bust him out of there in the dark of night if I have too....

It has really been impressed on me, though, how blessed and fortunate we are. There is a beautiful little girl, Malaysia, that is two doors down from us at the hospital. Her grandmother and I spoke the last time we were in about our kids and how tough they were. She told me they had been there for 9 months earlier ( and I fussed about 6 weeks) and Malaysia had relapsed. Well this week all of their family and friends were coming by because Malaysia is dying. And here I would walk by the room with Eli in my arms smiling or talking to me....wow. I couldn't sleep last night thinking about it....and trying to figure out why God has opened my eyes to all of this.....there has to be a reason somewhere. I never realized how much I put my "blinders on" to some of this stuff before. I am not one (or wasn't one) for hospitals, so I pretty much avoided them at all cost. I didn't want to look at sick kids because my kids were healthy and it made me sad....Now it is although it is all I see and think about....I can't imagine what that family is going through.....and I don't want to.....Again, there has to be a reason for all of this somewhere...I just hope He shows it to me soon.

Sorry this has gotten so deep. I have had way too much time on my hands...Thanks for checking in, and thanks for your prayers. Please pray for Malaysia's family that they will find comfort during this time.

Maria

I am thankful for the wonderful nurses of 7B. They willingly go through what many of us try to avoid, and make things bearable for those of us going through this nightmare with our children. They are amazing, strong women that I admire and appreciate with all of my heart.