OK I know I have been horribly slack...but luckily everything here has been going really well.

Thursday was procedure day and quite the marathon. We got there at 7:45 and didn't leave until a little after 5pm. There was a mixup with the chemo, so the procedure was delayed and he had to get IVIG after that which is a blood product and takes about 3 hours to infuse. It still amazes me what a trooper Eli is throughout all of this. He was perfectly content the entire time except around 12:30 when he was sooooo hungry and thirsty and just had to fuss about it...which I understood completely because I was hungry and thirsty too :) His blood counts were great:

Hemoglobin 11.8 (normal)
Platelet 178 (normal)
ANC 3800 (normal)

Again, having his ANC so high right now during flu and strep season suits me just fine, but we may have to increase chemo dosage again if it continues to trend up like this.

Our great Nurse Practioner, Lori, let me know our "D Date" for next year.......April 25, 2010....so everyone put that on your calendars. There will be a HUGE party around this date to celebrate our going off treatment. I know it may seem far, but to me it seems so close. When we get to 1 year and counting we will be ecstatic...I dream of days without meds...

Eli has now started our fun steroid pulse. His mood hasn't gotten worse yet, but the appetite is kicking in...he really wants to eat constantly. I think he may also be growing to boot....

One week from today, on Feb. 14th we will be walking our half marathon for Team in Training. I am looking forward to it, but I really haven't been training so I fear I will be really, really sore after....We have a group of about 17 women again and we will be staying at the beach for the weekend. Pray for us please :) I will definitely check in after and post pics and let you know how it went.

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful that our friend, Abby, was released from the hospital so quickly after her pnuemonia...it is a very scary thing for these kids and she came through like a champ!!!!