Another week or so gone by....

Well it been over a week since our last update, lots has happened, but not much has really changed. Eli is now finished week 3 of 8 of the current phase of treatment. The first week was pretty rough in terms of side effects and we were bracing for the second week to be as well but he ended up just sleeping lots. This past week's treatment came with the warning that there could be an anaphylactic reaction which caused some anxiety for us. The doctor told us its not really common but happens enough that they are ready for it and the whole team gets the heads up. Some doctors don't give the heads up to limit anxiety ahead of time, some give the heads up to limit the panic from parents in the cases it does happen. So its kind of a low level stressor for every parent or extreme stressor for a few.

Eli's counts have been too low to even allow him to go outside for the last while. His numbers are starting to go up but are expected to drop again with each round of treatment. He & Dana are pretty much staying in the room but trying to get out and walk around the ward. The days are getting long. K & I are home and trying to keep up with life. I'm working a number of contract pieces at the moment while continuing to teach at the college through the end of May.

This past couple weeks we were blown away by the love and support we've seen from our community. The PAC at the kid's school arranged on online silent auction and it was an incredible success. We are so grateful as we don't really know when or what the unexpected expenses will be on this journey but they do keep popping up and it has taken a huge stressor off of our family. 

At present, we are waiting on Eli getting strong enough and his immune system to recover a bit so he & Dana can go back to Ronald MacDonald House, even for a few days here and there. We are also waiting for the current health orders and visitor restrictions to be lifted before K & I can return to visit.

From the list of things that we really didn't want to deal with right now, Dana actually broke a tooth over the weekend. Fortunately the amazing nurses on the ward helped her find a dentist and then my sister was allowed to come and sit with Eli for a few hours while my brother-in-law took her to her appointment. It was the first time in 2 months Dana left the hospital. Fortunately the tooth was an easy fix.