Summer break

Day four of summer break, and so far so good. We've floated stick boats in a stream, been to the zoo, eaten popsicles, visited the library twice, and attended a graduation party among other things. Summer is great, but it always takes a great deal of energy and self-discipline on my part to limit my kids' screen time. This summer that is more true than it ever has been. Not only do we have more screens to watch and games to play, but with one less leg around here--going places and even doing things around the house is a whole new ballgame. Sometimes I win my personal battle with the screen--other days I don't. And then I have one more thing to worry about. How else can cancer stress me out?





Steven's counts dipped down (probably his low was over the weekend), but his white blood count and ANC were up today to a normal range. We've been doing neupogen shots and really, that stuff is a miracle in a syringe. He's been getting more and more upset about them every day, but I keep reminding him how they have saved him from a neutropenic fever twice now. His hematocrit was low and his platelets are currently too low to start another round of chemo. But round eight of chemo doesn't start until Tuesday, and the docs feel confident that he will make counts by then.

In the meantime, we've seen evidence of the dropping counts. Last weekend he got a few mouthsores and the other day he had a nose bleed. He's been kind of tired--which I think the low red counts explain pretty well. He will go from seeming totally normal one day and the next day feeling lightheaded and then we'll do labs and the mystery is solved. Maybe by the end of this, his lab results will stop surprising me.

In other news, the CureSearch plans are moving along. Thanks to Rob's amazing company and co-workers we have totally surpassed my fundraising goal. As cool as that is, the more the merrier. We still need walkers, too. I guess this is the first CureSearch walk in Salt Lake. From the bit of research I've done on CureSearch, I am really impressed by what I've read. They truly are making a difference with the money they raise. There is an interesting article in Time.com that you can read here. The article talks about the excessive amounts of cancer non-profits and how some are poorly run and not making much difference in research. CureSearch uses over 95% of the money earned for research--you can check it out at Charity Navigator. We'd love to have any of join us July 9th! Go to Team Steven to register to walk or to donate. Thanks to all who have donated so far!