Back to the grind...it has been hard after such a great weekend, but we are managing. Clinic yesterday was alright, there is a new nurse practitioner from DC working there. The good thing is that she is willing to do Eli's LPs on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays, so now we won't have to switch things around once a month.

Eli's counts are:

Platelets 118
Hemoglobin 9.1
ANC 523

The ANC isn't great, so we won't be doing much this weekend. With cold and flu season we really haven't done much without a mask, but now I think we will just stay close to home for a while. I am so glad his counts are down this weekend rather than last.

We have an appointment with an ENT on Monday and we will recheck his counts then. If his ANC falls below 500 we have to stop chemo until they come back up. The ENT appt is just to check his throat. Eli has been talking with a raspy voice for a long time now. It may just be one of those things that we chalk up to the chemo and don't worry about right now, but I want to be sure that nothing else is going on.

Please pray for Jennifer, a 10 year old that is going through radiation right now for a tumor that was found behind her eye. She and her family have been strong through all of this, but prayers are always appreciated!! Hang in there Kim and Jason, we are with you in spirit!!

Gotta run go pick up the boys from school. Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful for all of the friends we have made on this journey. It is so helpful to talk to those that are walking the same walk as we are....and a real comfort.

Here are 2 of my favorite pics taken by the "paparazzi" Jane!!! I wanted to share them with everyone. We go to the clinic on Thursday for a normal checkup, then we have our LP next week. All is going well here right now. (Knock on wood.) Talk to you soon. Thanks for checking in.

Maria

WE DID IT!!!!!!! 13.1 Miles done....

I am so proud of "Team Eli"...we had 19 women in total for the weekend and things could not have gone better. Everyone finished under 4 hours...even Annie (pregnant with baby #2) and Belle (Walking with a bum knee)...

The experience was amazing....it is such a feeling of accomplishment. We raised over $14,000 for LLS (most in SC) which was incredible. As I have said before, I am amazed that so many women from all different parts of my life were willing to do this with me. It took training, and it really took some perseverance to do this entire race.

I have never walked in a race like this before, and I don't know that I will do this regularly, but it was a blast.

Eli is the new "Honored Hero" for the Team in Training for the next season, which is a real honor. We are happy that we will be able to thank all those that are trying to raise money to end these terrible diseases!!!

I will post pics as soon as possible.

Maria

I am thankful that I have so much support and such wonderful friends. I will never be able to Thank you, my friends, enough for the past year. Your love and support have carried my family through what will probably be the one of most difficult years of our lives. I thank God for you every day!!!

Well, it has been an interesting 24 hours here....haha. Last night Eli started running a fever. We got to 101.2 and called our fellow on call...of course, we were told to go to the ER. I took Eli and got there about 12:30 or so...we were there until 5am when they told us we could go home and the antibiotic would be given at clinic later (we had an 8am appt already). Well, then John calls me on my way home and says the hospital called and I needed to go back because I hadn't gotten the antibiotic?! We tried to call the hospital back, but couldn't, so I called the fellow again and asked her what I should do....she was VERY surprised that we were sent home, but she said since Eli's counts were good we could wait until our appt.

John took Eli to clinic while I slept...Thank you!! It was a long visit as he had to get his monthly Pentamadine and Vincristine on top of the new antibiotic. He will have an antibiotic here at home by IV that I will administer until Sat. (Didn't you know I am now an RN?) I have a feeling that Eli is just like Jacob in that he runs a little fever whenever he is fighting something off, but it has to be treated this was all of the time.

Anyway, Eli's numbers were really good this week:

ANC 3340
Hemo 10.1
Platelets 184

The ANC is really high, but they have told us with colds that sometimes happens. I don't mind really. We do start steroids today...yea!! This is our 5 day deal for the month.

Everyone else here is doing well. The flu hasn't claimed anyone else, thank goodness.

Eli's team has now raised over $14,000 thanks to the fundraising of Lisa Moore, who joined our team late. We go to MB next weekend.

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful that we have such an amazing oncology team. They are always there, and always helpful. This has been a HUGE blessing for us all.

Whew!! What a long week it has been!!!

Friday saw us moving....and Thursday Sam was sick....I took him into the Peds office just "to be sure" we weren't looking at anything but a silly virus, and he had the FLU!! Yes, for those of you that are wondering, we all got our flu shots this year (Except for Eli) The doc said it could be a strain that wasn't vaccinated for or he could have just gotten it through the vaccination...aren't we the lucky ones. So Thursday Sam stayed with me while Mom and Dad kept Eli and we switched off on Friday because Pam was here to take Eli to the Aquarium while we moved. So now my entire family including my Mom and Dad are on Tamiflu...yea. so far, so good.

The move really wasn't finished until Sunday afternoon, and John left out of town on business early Monday morning. I tried to get some done, but it really is difficult with three kids and all of the activities in the afternoons. We are getting there, but it is definitely taking longer than I thought it would.

Eli's clinic visit on Thursday was a quick "finger poke" Oh, how we love those. We were in and out and then we got to go to the aquarium and visit for a while. It was a good day. Eli's counts were:

ANC 1080 (We can go to the oyster roast this weekend for church...yea!!)
Hemoglobin 10.5
Platelets 187 still rising, good job.

So we are happy with those numbers. Things continue to go well...I really just want to get through this cold and flu season. It is hard worrying whenever we go out that I am exposing Eli to something that may cause us problems. We also have an appointment with an ENT on Feb 25 to discuss his voice. He has had a really "raspy" voice since all of this started, and we want an ENT to give us his opinion. It may just be something else we chalk up to the chemo that we can do nothing about, but we feel obligated to get it checked all the same.

On a different note...I LOVE my new home...I really think once we get settled this will be my dream home and then some. As I have told John, we never need to move again, this is IT.

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful for my husband. Although we don't always see eye to eye on things, I realize when he is gone for a week how much I depend on him.