Day + 21

Matthew's clinic appt. went fine. His counts were okay - platelets were 41 so he didn't need a transfusion. WBC is down to 0.9 and hemoglobin dropped to 10.2. We don't have to go back until Monday, so we have a few days away from the hospital. His weight is still 13 kg, which is awesome. I'm so happy he is maintaining his weight. He is doing so much better than we could have hoped for. He is a fighter!

He's so funny though... he's got the clinic routine down already... first we "see how big he is" (weight and height) and he tells the nurse he is a big boy. Then they take his blood pressure and temperature and he tells the nurse where to put the tempa-dot and blood pressure cuff. Then it's time to check the tubies! It's pretty funny and cute to see. He basically talks non-stop when we are there, whether it's reading a book, talking to the nurse, or reciting a cartoon from memory.

We saw a lot of familiar and friendly faces today... parents and nurses. One of our friends, Olivia, is on J5 now. I talked with her mom for a few minutes while Olivia rode the bike around the floor. She came in for a fever on Monday, and then started having trouble with her port, so they are still there trying to sort that out. Hopefully, they'll be able to go home later today or tomorrow. Thankfully, Matthew hasn't had any problems with his broviac (knock on wood). And Mason's mom, Andrea, stopped by to see us. Mason was in to get his counts checked too. While we were in transplant, Andrea gave me a cookbook, and I have actually been using it. I know, some of you may be surprised to hear that I have actually been cooking, but since we can't take the family out to a restaurant (and Jeremie made me stop making Hamburger Helper years ago), I have decided to start cooking. I've made two recipes so far, and they turned out okay!

Matthew's MRI got moved to Sept. 29th. According to the clinical study, it should be done around day +60. We had one scheduled with Dr. Kosnik (new neurosurgeon) on Sept. 4th, but that was too early. So instead of doing two in one month, we'll just do the one on the 29th. I'm a little disappointed b/c I am always anxious to get a peak inside that brain of his, but I can wait a few more weeks.

That's all for now!

~Jen