A new do

Steven's hair has been falling out fast the last few days. When I tried to comb it to collect the falling hairs he wouldn't let me because he didn't want more to fall out. My sister jokingly suggested he wear a hair net to keep it on his head. He got a good laugh thinking about being a lunchroom server in his state. By bedtime he was very irritated by all the hairs in his face and pillow that he finally agreed to buzz it off. I had big picture and video plans for the ceremonious haircut, but Steven was in no mood to allow that. Our nice nurse brought in the clippers and went to town. When it was all over, he was still really irritated--this time by the short stubble left behind. So our nurse tracked down some duct tape and we tried pulling out what we could. We got quite a bit and he finally went to sleep. It must have been okay because he slept pretty well. They let him sleep without iv fluids. He's in better spirits this morning.

Yesterday, his fever came off and on all day. So far today his temp has been normal. They've run tests and cultures and so far nothing has shown up for either a virus or a bacteria. The doctor said that is not unusual. Often times they never know exactly why the patients have fevers. If his fevers stay away, we should be able to go home tomorrow.

We've had a nice, peaceful Sunday. I was able to go to a short sacrament meeting here at the hospital. I've been really worried about my sister lately. It was nice to feel some comfort that God knows us and loves us.

Hospital too soon

We are back at the hospital again tonight. As we were walking up to the entrance at 5pm and the sun was shining, Steven said, "what a bad way to end a beautiful day.". It was a nice day. We took a walk at the park and then a friend from school came to visit him after school. Jackson caught him up on the latest happenings at school and played chess with him. It really cheered him up.

Despite the sunshine, all day I've been worried about a low grade temp he was running. It was around 99.5 or 100 most of the day. The rule is that we call if we get two readings of 100.5 thirty minutes apart or a one time temperature of 101 then we call. So when I took it at 3:30 it qualified and they had me wait an hour and take it again. It went up one degree and so we came to the hospital. By 5:30 it was 102 and by 6:00 it was 103. They are doing a strong iv antibiotic and doing cultures on his blood to figure out what bacteria he has and which specific antibiotic will work the best. We can leave when his temp is gone for 24 hours, his neutrophil counts are high enough and under one other condition that I can't remember. The average stay is 3 days and it may affect his chemo schedule (he is supposed to start his next round on Thursday).

So here we are. I told Steven it was too bad we never made his hair pulling out video and he said, "I have to admit that I don't really want to lose my hair". It made me sad. Hopefully this stay won't be so miserable as a chemo infusion. We'll let you know.

Home sweet home

We are home from round one of chemo! There was some question if we could come home because Steven has been running a slight temperature. When he caught wind of that possibility, he was pretty bummed. All morning he has been asking me "When do I get to go home?" We got home a few hours ago and he got to take a shower. He sat on the heater vent--one of his favorite places. He's sitting on his chair and feeling much better being unhooked from his IV and wrapped in his own blanket. It feels so good for me to be home with my other kids--I've missed them.