February 14, 2014

As many of you know, SD went to the ER last Saturday because of a fever. His only other symptom was a cough which, though infrequent, didn't sound very good. He remained cheerful and active, and his appetite wasn't affected, so the presence of a fever was surprising. At the ER he received an antibiotic and was then discharged with instructions to return for more antibiotics if his fever hung on through the next day. His fever has not returned, but his cough has been gradually getting worse since then.

At clinic today, nearly one week after his ER visit, the oncologist decided to call it bronchitis and prescribed a 6 day antibiotic. While on it he may not take antacids, but he will be taking steroids; he has always taken Prevacid or similar medication with steroids to prevent acid reflux, so we're a little nervous about how a full pulse without it will affect him. In the past month or two, he's had more issues with what seems to be acid reflux than he's had in the past.

He has been off his oral chemo since last Saturday and his counts were really low again today, so he won't start again until at least Thursday when he gets his counts rechecked. He did receive vincristine in clinic today and has started his steroid pulse, so his treatment isn't at a complete halt right now.

Our prayer requests for this update: that SD's counts will go up quickly (including his hemoglobin, which has been in the 7's since at least last Saturday), that he'll get over his cough soon, and that his body will tolerate the steroids without antacids.

Apart from this recent hitch, SD has been doing wonderfully since our last update. He has stayed healthy, has been getting more active, and has been acting more like one would expect a little kid to act. His sense of humor is returning, which is one of the greatest blessings we've recently experienced. :)

Since we don't have any pictures from clinic today, here are some since our last update which show some of the fun he's been able to enjoy over the past few months:

SD had fun playing in the leaves as well as playing photographer last fall.

SD finally decided he felt strong enough to try pedaling on his own. We're really proud of him over this one!

The evening before the two year anniversary of his diagnosis he found one of his old chemo caps. We're so thankful that he doesn't need these anymore and for the happy face beneath it!

Having fun in a room we'd never been in during a December clinic. There is just enough room for him to hide between the window and wall, and hide he did. It took quite a while for nurse Mary to find him. It was also a great perch for watching workers go down a manhole and come up much dirtier than they were before!

Working hard clearing Grandma Snell's deck with his new shovel.

The kids seemed to enjoy this area the most out of the whole water park at the Kalahari, where we stayed while Stephen attended CodeMash (a big conference for programmers).