Kei was in tears last night, "I don't want you to go to the hospital tomorrow!"  This morning she was up before the crack of dawn, because she needed hugs.   I am so thankful that, when the time came to actually head out (7am) she was calm.  These weekly checkups are hard on everyone.  The not knowing how long we will be at the hospital or if we will be admitted is stressful.  <We all still agree that weekly checkups are still W~A~Y better than being in the hospital!>

Fast Forward to the hospital...

Joshy's labs actually looked better today!  Had he not still had a cold and some spots in his mouth that look painful... oh and the fat lip he got because he bumped something last night, he might have even been able to skip having a transfusion today!  

I have a new health manager on his iPad which besides keeping records of various things will also chart/graph levels.  I can even take pics of the graph...

See that yellow line - that's his WBC count.  It's the highest it's been in over a month and almost back to his all time, post illness, high!!  It's at 1,100 which is ALMOST 1/3 of low normal

See the blue & green lines - those are RBC's and hemiglobin.  The top peak was after his last whole blood transfusion, 4 weeks ago.  They took a pretty big dip when Joshy got sick last week, but they recovered some and are starting to hold their own

The red line represents his platelets.  The 2 peaks show when he had transfusions.  Yes, they are still dropping, but since the last transfusion, 2 weeks ago, they haven't dropped as quickly.  This is also the first time his platelets have been double digits by the time 2 weeks without a transfusion has rolled around!! They are still dangerously low - like 15% of low normal - but hey they ARE better.

This week marks the 5 month point and I actually feel like we might actually be making some progress.   The doctor seemed to think we might be making progress, too.  He indicated that if Joshy's number keep going like they have the past few days then when we hit the 6 month point we might just keep going with the current treatment instead of needing to start back at square 1.

Joshy is not out of the woods by a long shot, but today's lab results gave me the biggest glimmer of hope I've had in a long time.

Praying the levels keep it up!! 

My Mother's day was laid back to the max! 

We all have colds so we decided to keep our germs home.  Hated to miss church, but decided it was the better option... why take our germs to others and chance picking up other germs to bring home and share with Joshy. 

We had a short family worship time and relaxed.

I even took a...shhh, don't tell anyone... a NAP!

Watches a few episodes of Touched By An Angel. 

Had yummy, yummy chicken for lunch and rice crust pizza for dinner.

How was your Mother's Day?

This has been a rather crazy week.

I do believe that today takes the cake in craziness!

Last evening Joshy started getting more & more congested.  He was really restless during the night, lots of coughing & congestion.  He alternated between having a hard time breathing and not being able to get comfortable.   He was also cold - his body temp was around 34C/93F after we had being warming him for an hour or so

<The above can also be read as not a lot of sleep for mama & daddy>

Restless night was followed by...

Knowing I needed to call the hospital, very very likely take Josh in to be checked, and possibly end up staying... I went to ECS about 7:30 to get my little bitty preschooler's class things prepped in case Jerry needed to cover for me.

I came home, drained & prepped the vegetable broth I had made in the crockpot over night for the freezer <I started it before Josh started getting bad>, put supper in the crockpot, gave meds, called school, called the hospital, packed, and was on the road by 9:15.

Arrived @ the hospital about 10:45 ~  Got in, labs were drawn, chest xray ordered...

No pneumonia

WBC's & RBC's actually went UP a little

This means that the meds from Wednesday are working   It's just going to take time and while we wait it out we need to make sure he doesn't develop anything worse!

Doctor said he would admit us, but if I wanted to keep Josh at home he was OK with that... UMMM...  YES, home is GOOD!!  We have orders to call if Josh starts running a fever.   Another med was ordered to help with the congestion and after the pharmacy finally got the meds to us we were free to go.

We were on the road home by 1:30.

Dropped Josh off, unloaded, grabbed Kei and headed to the store for a liter of milk & some juice - to get the family through dinner, dropped her at home, and made it to work by 3:15.

Taught 3 classes, filled the car with gas, made a stop at the grocery, and made it home by 7:45.

And now... I sat down... I'm not sure I can get back up!

I PRAISE the LORD for good medical service when we need it <seems we have needed it a lot this week>.  I praise Him for storms to help us appreciate the calmer days.  I praise him that we are home and not in the hospital. 

I WILL keep praising even when the storm gets rough...

*edited below*

Thank the LORD today has not been as medically challenging!  I must say it HAS still had it's challenges.  I saw this picture which is so profound and true and fitting and...

Seems like life has had a whole lot more "LORD please help me through it" days recently...  Of course, taking that same thought into each and everyday is a good idea too!!

As for today...

First off ~ PTL ~ Joshy is not worse and actually seems to be doing better!!  Thanks for the prayers!   Never underestimate the power of prayer.

This morning before my class I took Jerry to the orthopedic clinic.  So thankful, that he is a big boy and can sit and wait and handle the appointment himself... Once I got him to finally decide to go, that is    He has been having a lot of leg pain that just won't go away.  The doctor checked everything out and pronounced that it's due to stress/over used joints/muscles.  During the long hard winter, Jerry had to walk everywhere - work, grocery shopping, church, etc... some days he was needing to walk 2+ hours.  With me not being home to drive or teach my classes, he ended up being out and about each and every day.  Because the snow was so heavy this year, walking paths were not clear so this added to the situation.  Add snow shoveling...  Somewhere along the line, the muscles/joints of his right leg got strained and have not had a chance to recover.  He needs to take it easy and go back next week for another check up.

Today MY biggest challenge came in the form of attempting to get more than just the basics of school done with a small helper...

Hmmm... the TV is in the other room.  AND everyone is in the kitchen.  OH... unsupervised play time... I'm gettin' out of here!!

WAIT...

The door won't open!

PLEASE open the door for me!!

What do you mean, "NO"?  I want to go out... OH I see the problem...

SIGN...

OK, you keep dragging me back and then you moved the white thingy up where I can't reach it...  Hmmmm... how about slamming cabinet doors and drawers?!?

What do you mean I might pinch my fingers.  So what if my platelets are low and I might hurt myself really bad.   The doors and drawers make FUN noises. not to mention if I do it just right everyone jumps!!!

OH Mama!!

 He has been a busy bee!  Add that Teen & Tween were not thrilled to do more than the basics... Things got a bit hairy, but we all survived and made it to the point where I could assign their homework.  That made everyone's day

BUT...

I am more than ready for a quiet evening!!

*Evening edit*

Joshy is more congested this evening, but still into everything.  Kei now has a sore throat...

I am attempting to snatch memories from the seasons.

This morning when Joshy & I arrived at the hospital I was amazed at how much things have changed in 1 short week.  The bushes around the hospital we a riot of color, the dogwood tree was in full bloom.  Just down the street a wisteria was coming to life and starting to show off it's beauty.

I LOVE spring!

Now if we could just get Joshy's blood to blossom and bloom like the plants all around us!!

Joshy's levels seem to be on a plateau... which wouldn't be so bad if they weren't on a plateau that is sitting well below "sea level"    We are almost to the 5 month point without making much progress.  Next month we will need to evaluate everything and decide where to go from here.  If levels stay where they currently are we will end up back in club med for another extended "vacation".

Please PRAY that Joshy's bone marrow will decide that it's spring!

BTW ~ Joshy's bone marrow might not know it's spring, but his body felt that growing a cold would be springish.  He had a bud of a cough this morning, which he hid from the doctor.  As the day has progressed he has sprouted more coughing, a very runny nose, and congestion... all accompanied by lots of seizure activity.