Slow Improvement

Morning Update

Carson had a good night and has remained fever free now for over 24 hours. His morning blood work revealed platelet levels about the same as yesterday and a slight dip in hemoglobin. However, his ANC level - an indicator of white blood cell count and overall ability to battle viruses and bacteria - jumped a hundred points to 243!! 243 is still on the low side, but it is a huge improvement over where we were.

What's all this mean? Well, at least for now, the bone marrow test has been canceled. We are now in wait-n-see mode - see what tomorrow's blood work will reveal.

Back Home

After nearly 30 hours of traveling, I arrived home late last night. When you are trying to rush home as fast as you can from halfway around the world, the already long trip seems to take more than an eternity. I can't tell you how relieved I was when I finally got to the hospital at 11:30 last night to find Jennifer and Carson sleeping peacefully.

I can't say enough about what a wonderful mother Jennifer is. She has been at the hospital though all of this uncertainty for almost a week with barely a break. I can't imagine the stress and worry this has created. It was bad enough for me, and I was thousands of miles away!

At one point on Sunday night after the dose of steroids, Carson began to hallucinate, screaming out for "momma." Jennifer said, "I'm right here." But then Carson shot back, "You're not my momma! My momma is Jennifer!" Normally this would be a joke, but he wasn't joking. It was shortly after this exchange that he became violent and ripped out his port. Talk about a horrific scene! Yet, Jennifer handled it with grace, style, and faith beyond measure. She truly is a blessing.

It's good to be home.

Paul.