Good News - At Last!

CJ was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon. He was very happy to be home after staying 2 days in isolation (no play room, no "slushy room" and no walking the halls). The docs let him come home after several tests that showed CJ did not have a bacterial infection. This was certainly welcome news! And it gets even better...CJ's ANC when he left the hospital was over 1000!!!

I should probably explain the "slushy room". There is a room on 7 West that is actually named the Family Room. It is furnished with television, 2 computers, a stove, sink, fridge, dining room table and chairs, and comfortable couch and chairs. It also has 2 slushy machines where parents can access slushies for their kids (or themselves if they like). CJ likes hanging out in the "slushy room" because the hospital staff doesn't go in there. They won't come in the room to administer any type of treatment so CJ has come to use it as his haven.

We've told you about the mood swings the steroids cause. CJ was in a great mood last night. We stopped by to bring dinner to Greg and Sheree after they got home. And Sheree wanted to spend some time with Hunter who has been staying with us. CJ was having too much fun giving Aunt Gretchen (Greg's sister) my sugars! (We have a little thing where CJ stores his sugars for me just behind each ear. He lets me steal some from one ear, then turns his head so I can get the ones on the other side. Every now and then, he lets Gretchen have some of my sugar and I have to remind him that he makes those for me. He loves the game and he loves seeing me fight Gretchen for them.) It was so good to see him laugh and hear that giggle. We've missed that over the past few weeks.

I think things were a little easier on him at the hospital this time, too. No shots! That was a common mantra when he first arrived on Friday. By Sunday I think he finally believed us when we told him we were done with the shots - he didn't have to worry about them any more. And he told us how he is taking his medicine now without fighting Mommy every step of the way. We made a big deal out of this hoping he will continue his good behavior.

After today's chemo treatment - more good news!

Today, CJ went to the clinic for his regular chemo treatment. There was a scheduling error so he did not receive the planned lumbar puncture today, which was really a shame because he had to go 8 hours with no food or drink since they expected to sedate him for the test.

Next Monday will be his 28-day test so he will receive the lumbar puncture and a bone marrow test. These tests will tell the docs whether the chemo is effectively beating the leukemia. If the leukemia cell counts in the bone marrow are still under 5% (as they were a couple of weeks ago) the leukemia will be considered to be in "remission", meaning that the chemo is winning. This does not mean that CJ is healed. He will still have to continue through the next phases of the treatment. If I understand correctly, these tests will let the docs know if he is ready for the next step or if they need to continue this induction phase of his treatment program.

Now for the best news of the day - his ANC is up to 2200 today!!! The doctors are very pleased with anything over 1000, but they will remain cautious since these counts can drop as fast as they rise.

We want to thank everyone for your prayers and good wishes. We feel your support and are so grateful that you are keeping CJ in your thoughts. We also want to thank everyone for your donations to CJ's fund and also for the food donations. Having dinner on hand really helps Sheree to focus just on CJ and what he needs at the moment.

CJ and I have worked on making some "Thank-you" cards. I'm sorry, we've been a little slow getting these into the mail. Please know how grateful we are for your support!