Thursday, September 29, 2011

Round 17: check

We were pleasantly surprised this morning that Steven had cleared his methotrexate--it was .08. However, his CBC revealed low counts--his ANC was 300 (it needs to be 500 to go to school) and his hematocrit was 24. We decided to give him a blood transfusion before we got checked out so that he could feel a little better this weekend. He had been complaining of dizziness and headaches. I am so grateful to all those who donate blood. If you can donate--do it! Our nurse told us that the ICS unit at Primary children's is the biggest consumer of blood products in all of Utah, Nevada and Idaho. The cancer kids need blood and plasma regularly. She was trying to assuage my fears about blood reactions and infections, but I took from it a renewed desire to give blood.

As he had his transfusion, we put together some candy grams for Tim and Eric--our amputee cancer buddies who will both finish their treatments this Saturday. We can just taste the finish and you could just feel Steven's excitement in the hospital this round. It was so fun to wish them luck and dream about the near future, when we'll be on our way.



I love how little Steven looks next to Eric. Eric's prosthetic is almost as big as Steven is!



The candy grams were Steven's second craft in the hospital--so crazy! How do you spend that many days in the hospital and not do any crafts? I will tell you that Steven is just not a person who is interested in arts and crafts. He does love candy, however, and I know it made him feel really good to do something nice for someone. I'm going to have to figure out something he can do for others--I've always known it, but today I was reminded about how service can really help you forget about your own problems.

It is so good to be home. We are looking forward to a quiet weekend. Although technically, Steven could go back in for chemo on Monday, he isn't going in until Wednesday because he has an appointment at Shriners that morning with his prosthetist. That should put our last day of chemo on Saturday or Sunday of next week. Hooray!
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7 comments:

  1. Julie LloydSeptember 29, 2011 at 9:45 PM

    AHHHHHHHH! we are so excited for you to finish this chapter and start the next one. AMEN!

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  2. AlisaSeptember 29, 2011 at 10:04 PM

    So excited!!!! So close!!!!

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  3. AmandaSeptember 30, 2011 at 7:21 AM

    Hooray for next week! Thanks so much for the candy gram. Tim loved it!

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  4. JillSeptember 30, 2011 at 8:46 AM

    Love the candy grams. What a great idea. We will be counting down the days until next weekend. You're almost there!

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  5. LindsayOctober 2, 2011 at 3:54 AM

    I am so excited for all of you, this is so great that chemo is almost over. Steven you are so awesome- you have inspired all of us to do better, pray harder, and love more. I am so happy for your whole family! I keep thinking about what the doctor told you- that you will be awesome! This is so true, not only for you but through reading your blog I know that your mom, dad, siblings, cousins etc have become awesome as well!!!! Thank you for sharing all of this Sonja.
    We love you!!!

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  6. KatOctober 2, 2011 at 4:31 PM

    Amazing that the end of this chapter is so close! I bet it is awesome to look back and see where you've all been and where you have arrived. Hoping the next week goes well both physically and emotionally.

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  7. Jon PaulOctober 2, 2011 at 5:07 PM

    I'm glad to see the chemo coming to an end. I'm excited you're coming up to celebrate in Idaho. Maybe we can see some stars in the planetarium and, if it's a clear night, look at real ones at the observatory the night you come, Steven.

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