One month in....

Well we’ve passed the one month mark on the leukemia journey. Hard to believe that long has passed sine that morning phone call that upended life as we knew it. Eli has now nearly finished his first round of chemo known as the induction phase. On Thursday he will get another lumbar puncture when he has his bone biopsy. Things have been mostly stable as he responded to the treatments. His ANC which is the white cells that go on the offence in your immune system needed to hit zero and then start recovering. They hit zero last week and then started the expected rebound. He needed to hit a certain number to be able to relocate to Ronald MacDonald House and was on track to move Friday but then the numbers dropped again. This is not unusual but it we sure disheartening to take a step backwards. His count has been moving back up and we’re hopeful he’ll hit them tomorrow. 

The side effects are starting to show now. He’s losing hair, some folks shave their heads to show solidarity with loved ones going through chemo, I’ve been practicing for over 20 years 😜 Other side effects will surely come. We’ve been told some of them will build with each round of chemo as his body reacts to the cumulative impact of the treatments. He’s also tired and losing muscle from not being nearly as active. It’s hard when most days he hasn’t been able to even go for a walk outside and you can only walk the halls around the ward so many times. 

Today his vitals pointed towards needing a transfusion which he received this afternoon. He kinda just needed a bit of a top up to keep him going in the right direction. It’s a little emotional to know someone who we’ll never know gave him this precious gift. I’m sure it won’t be the last time he gets a top up of O+ so I’m immeasurable grateful to those who give it. 

This journey isn’t easy but we have a lot of support and trust we will make it through. Some days are harder than others. We’re taking just a day at a time  and trying to just keep looking ahead. We know there will be a lot of tough days but we know we’ll have folks cheering us on.