tummy hurts

Lots of pain last night and today for the little guy.  The infection is gone but it left a lot of damage.  It is taking much longer than usual to heal the damage due to the chemotherapy and the elimination of the blood cells that usually do the healing.  The pain meds have been boosted and he is able to rest more comfortably.  Last night, I think he had it with me asking him what hurts.  After I asked him for probably the 1000th time he opened his eyes, stared at me, and screamed 'MY!  TUMMY!  HURTS!' as if to say 'now please, shut the hell up and stop asking me'. 

Today or tomorrow is Dr. Colleen Morrison's last day in Children's Memorial HEM/ONC department (she is moonlighting for a while in the ER).   Nicole and I are incredibly excited for Dr. Morrison as she has accepted a position closer to her family that will allow her to spend more time with her little cutie who is just a week older/younger than Matthew.  Over the past 7 months, she has been an integral part of Matthew's treatment and has also become a close friend.  Although she may feel as if its part of her job, her caring and compassion has had an immeasurable impact on Matthew's health and her imprint on my family will be permanent.  In a situation where there is often nothing she can do or say to make things better (aside from feeling Matthew's testicles..I cannot say with certainty that this did not make him feel better), it has been comforting knowing that she is caring for Matthew.  She is a wonderful person and a talented doctor and she will be dearly missed.

Also, here is the page I mentioned earlier for our friend, Jenn Rachmiel. She is running the Chicago Marathon for the Leukemia Society.  Please pass along the link to anyone you feel may be interested in contributing to this cause.

Day 15

15 days matches our longest stay at Children's Memorial which was when the dude was first diagnosed.  Matthew is out of the PICU as of this afternoon and able to drink some clear liquids again which he is loving.  Biggest smile from him today was when he saw his mommy.  Biggest smile from me today was also when I saw his mommy.