u-turn

Matthew, after sneezing out more carrot, is being sent home from the hospital today.  His counts dropped a little bit so it looks like we will start the final round next week.

Numbers

Matthew has been doing very well and had a great weekend although his appetite is still pretty weak compared to what it used to be.  His sister recently introduced him to carrots dipped in ranch which he loves.  Actually, it is just the ranch that he loves.  He licks the ranch off of the carrot and then discards the carrot before taking a new one.  Except for this morning when he took a carrot with ranch and stuck it up his nose.  It took a sneeze to get it dislodged. We are also missing a blue crayon that seems to have disappeared. 

His latest cbc (complete blood count) taken this morning revealed that his counts are back up so he will be going back to CMH on Wednesday to begin round 5.  We were kind of hoping to have another week of him home.  This upcoming round is the final round of chemo for Matthew and allegedly, also the strongest.  Unlike his prior rounds which have been over consecutive days, this round has a few day break in the middle assuming he is feeling ok to go home.  He is scheduled to be in for 3 days, home for a few days, then back in for another 3 days.  Until then, he will be attending the nu-nu festival with big sis Claire (left)

back at home

Matthew is back home today after a few nights at the hospital.  He is on a new antibiotic that, although is offered as an oral medication, is undigestable by anyone with taste buds.  It is nasty %$#@.  So we have these little hand grenade looking things that have medicine in them and we hook them up to his tubies and let it go for 30 minutes.  They are pressurized and they slowly compact and push the medicine through.  It is surprisingly easy. 

Benadryl

Siesta

Breakfast

Syrup

March madness

Fever today so we are admitted. 

Hopefully for not more than a few days.

3/16

The month-long festivities devoted Claire's birthday are coming to an end and she had a blast spending time with many of her friends.  Yesterday, Matthew and I spent the day at Edward Hospital due to some crazy bruising and nausea.  We got some platelets, watched 3 movies (first was Bolt due to Rhino being one of the greatest characters on the big screen, Madagascar 2 which both Matthew and I felt was forgettable, and Monsters vs Aliens which, when paired with platelets and fish crackers, is entertaining) , and were home by bed time. 

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks. 

Claire turns 5

Claire, along with Nicole and her Aunt Jen, went to the American Girl Doll store on Michigan Avenue last Saturday to celebrate Claire's 5th birthday.  To say that Claire was excited was a slight understatement and she had a great time.  She even got to pick out her own doll; Kitt Kittredge.  Here are some of the photos of their day and the delicious fun-fetti cake we enjoyed afterwords.  There is one picture where it looks like Claire's hair is about to catch on fire.   I am happy to report it did not.

@ home

little duder is home and happily eating soup

What the @#$%&?

What was looking like a perfectly fine evening where I was going to get a little bit of reading in, very quickly turned into a very long and messy night.  It started with an innocent enough rash on his arm.  Nothing to be alarmed about...it happens all the time.  A little while later, he rolled over onto his side and thew up phlegm all over the place.  That is a little bit of a bigger deal, but still, it happens sometimes and we move on.  After gettting some new bedding, we took his temperature and he was @ 94 degrees (98.6 = normal).  Apparently a low temperature can mean the same things as a high fever.  You can think of it like a Toyota with its accelerated stuck.  The body thinks it is doing something different than what is actually happening (try finding that analogy in JAMA).  We packed his little body with hot packs and stayed up late.  The last thing I remember is watching Handy Manny reruns on the laptop.  Handy Manny is digestible but not my first choice.  Phineas and Ferb is the gold standard when it comes to adult tolerable children's television.  I talked to Nicole this morning about taking him home today as scheduled.  We have kind of learned that the simple act of asking that question (Should we go home today?) is indication enough that he needs to remain in the hospital for a little bit longer.  Matthew has an enormously strong spirit and an admirable fortitude.  So much  that it is sometimes easy to forget how sick the little man is.

Quick update

Quick update on the mdogg.  He is almost a done with round 4 and is doing very well.  For the last few days, his chemo has been blue and we were warned that it could turn his urine and the whites of his eyes blue.  Def blue urine.  Not so much on the eyes yet.  I hope to have some more photos soon and also of Claire's birthday which was yesterday.

Want to say a special and continued thanks to the staff and nurses of 4 West at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  They care incredibly for Matthew and I am grateful for them.

2000 Visitors!!

The Furi-Blog just enjoyed its 2,000th visitor since I started keeping track in late January using Google Analytics.  469 unique people from 30 states and 10 countries (including Australia, Iraq, and Taiwan). 

Round 4

Matthew is back in the hospital and is already on day 2 of his chemo treatments.  This round is expected to last 8 days.  So far, everything is going well and he is feeling pretty well by all indications.  We are trying out a new idea which is using a high chair for Matthew to eat in.  It should make it more difficult for him to dip his chicken tenders in ketchup, then peanut butter, and then wipe it all over his socks and pillows.

March 3rd

For Meghan Rose who we love and miss...

How Very Softly you tiptoed into my world.

Almost silenty, only for a moment you stayed.

But what an imprint your footsteps have left upon my heart.

-Dorothy Ferguson

The mission of Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support is to serve those whose lives are touched by the tragic death of a baby through early pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or in the first few months of life.