Blood Transfusion

As we mentioned in our last update, John's doctors are very pleased with how his cancer is responding to treatment. Unfortunately, the chemotherapy has also affected his immune system and caused his white blood cell counts to be very low.

John was at Childrens Hospital all day Wednesday for a blood transfusion. This did not come as a surprise to us -- the doctors told us that this was to be expected as John continues his treatment. Because of his suppressed immune system, John cannot be out and about due to risk of infection. He's stuck at home with me!

Despite needing the transfusion, John's energy level has been great and he seems to be feeling fine. And true to his nature, John can make anything fun. Our big game on Wednesday at the hospital was trying to figure out whose blood John was getting. John was pretty convinced it was coming from a professional baseball player, or possibly Elvis. He was doing such a great job on his school work the next day, I'm thinking maybe it came from someone very smart. A Harvard PHD, perhaps?

John was scheduled to go back to the hospital for treatment on Monday, but the doctors have decided to delay that until his counts are back up. I'm secretly happy, as I wasn't quite ready to go back in. Now, we'll most likely have until the end of next week....plenty of time for us to do some of our favorite activities together at home.

Back to the Hospital

I thought I would be updating the blog more often, but I've found myself immersed in family life. I'm surprised by how much I've enjoyed the simple things about our daily routine. John and I have found a comfortable groove and our days have been busy. I worked with Caroline on her book report and was very proud of our end result. Jimmy finished up his Fall baseball season and is enjoying CYO basketball with Mike as coach. Even though things seems to be settling into a nice routine, they are never predictable. John and I spent most of Friday at Childrens with a clot in his Broviac line.

John was back at Childrens last Monday and Tuesday for treatment and an overnight visit. It was the first time we had been admitted as inpatients since our original hospitalization. We checked into the same exact room that we had stayed in last time. It almost felt like home as I cozied up in my window seat with views of the Berkeley Hills. We had an endless stream of visits from the doctors and nurses that had cared for John during our previous stay. It's no surprise to us that John had made quite an impact on these people. We also got great results from the prior week's scans and x-rays. The doctors couldn't be more pleased with John's progress -- the medicine is doing it's job!

When John was released from the hospital, he got to attend a basketball clinic at the Warriors practice facility hosted by the Nicholas Colby Fund. Since John had just undergone his treatment, he was not able to participate as much as he had hoped. But, Mike quickly turned John's disappointment into hope as he pointed out that all the other kids on the court were further along or done with their treatments. John realized that he too would be back on the basketball court one day.

Lamont Gilbert, the father of Nicholas, came over to spend time with Mike and John. He gave John box tickets to the next Warrior's game. John came home on top of the word....and I crossed my fingers that he would feel up for going. As luck would have it, he did! We spent an amazing night at the game with five of John's closest friends and their dads. It gave me such joy to be together as a family and watch John get to be a normal 7 year old boy.