Home sweet home.

After a short blood transfusion delay at the hospital, we came home to our new house on Thursday! We've been up to our necks in boxes and projects the last two days, but can't stop admiring the smooth, popcorn-free ceilings (thank you, dear friends!), enjoying the extra space, and working our poor family members like dogs (thank you guys!). We love it and feel very, very blessed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sweet Watts has been all out-of-sorts the last couple of days. The steroids are doing a number on him as are the lingering effects of the chemo and he is just an angry, irritable, weepy little guy most of the time. Prayers, of course, are appreciated. While it is to be expected, it is still hard to watch as parents and to know how to help.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy birthday to my best friend and lover, Michael. There are truly no adequate words to say how much you mean to me. I love you and am so thankful to be partnered with you on this crazy journey. You are the best of the best.

Nap today

He'll sleep as long as I'll hold him this afternoon... And I'm happy to oblige. He is still irritable but no major fits like yesterday.  So thankful that he's resting right now.

Divide and conquer.

It is a busy week this week... It leaves my head spinning, honestly. What a crazy life this is! The kids and I are in Winston for Watts' treatment (with my mom and sister, Suzi) and Michael is in GSO, running point on all the moving and house stuff. Yesterday the closings both went well and we are now homeowners of the house we've been eyeing for over a year... and passed on our beloved whitewashed house to young newlyweds. We brought both our babies home to that whitewashed house and put in a lot of hours of sweat and tears into it, so it is bittersweet to move on. That being said, with the new house we'll have almost twice the square footage with a smaller monthly mortgage payment, so it's only a little bittersweet;)

Michael told me that there was a small army of people over at the new house yesterday to scrap the popcorn ceilings and another group of people signed-up to move all the boxes and furniture today. Thank you guys!! What a huge, huge gift to us. I can't wait to see everything.

Happy baby during chemo.

Sweet Watts has had a hard time this stay. In the course of a couple hours, he went from smiling and babbling and pointing at helicoptors, to screaming nonstop for 30 minutes immediately following his Cyclophosphamide dose. He finally calmed down after some Tylenol, Benadryl, and a visit from Piper (and silly Gigi), but his mood is definitely more subdued and irritable. We are not sure if his fit was in reaction to the CPM or irritability from the steroids or exhaustion. He has gotten a lot of drugs in the last 72 hours and it seems to be catching up with him. For those that are curious, on Monday and Tuesday he got Daunorubicin, Vincristine, and Dexamethasone. Yesterday and today he will be getting Cyclophosphamide, Dexamethasone, and (only today) PEG-ASP shots. Oh, and he also had Triple Intrathecal Therapy on Monday and received Methotrexate, Hydrocortisone, and Cytarabine. And a bone marrow aspirate.

Post-chemo and crying fit.

He is a trooper! We are hoping and praying that after his 12:30pm (and his last 12:30am) dose of Cyclophosphamide that he will not have any reaction and that he will nap well today despite the steroids coursing through his system. 

We are scheduled to go home (to our new house!) on Friday and should be outpatient for the next 17 days. Once again, his counts will bottom out in a few days so we will need to be extra careful and isolated to keep him from catching a virus or infection. After the 17 days, we will start the Consolidation phase of our protocol which is almost all inpatient... But, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Thank you for all the support during this crazy time in our family's life. Words can't express how much we appreciate it.

Back for more!

Admitted...or not.

We have found that it is best to hold very loosely to plans these days and to learn to laugh when things change at the last minute. Or at least try to. Michael dropped Watts and me off at Brenner this morning at 7:45am for our scheduled lumbar puncture, bone marrow aspirate, and chemotherapy. We had been told repeatedly that we would be admitted for four days, and had, obviously, planned accordingly. As of last night, our house is almost 100% packed up, my mom, Suzi, and Josiah are up to keep Piper, and we have a Ronald McDonald room reserved for the next four nights. We even took a last family photo in front of our soon-to-be old house.

After arriving at Brenner, however, I was told that the doctors had taken another look at Watts' protocol and decided that he can do outpatient chemo for two days and only admit for the last two. I laughed when they told me. Of all the hospital stays, this would be the stay where they send us home.

So, we are back home. We are going to go buy some milk, unpack the silverware, and enjoy two more days at our house. I'll go to clinic with Watts tomorrow morning for more chemo then will admit for two days starting on Wednesday morning. At least I think that is the plan;)

Please pray for logistics of the move (close on Wednesday, move on Thursday), for Watts' little body to stay strong during this chemo round (while all leukemia cells die, die, die), for Piper's transition to the new house, and for supernatural strength and peace for Michael and me.

Good counts.

Watts' counts look good so we are planning to admit for chemo on Monday. In the meantime, we are packing, playing, and watching our boy LOVE his time at home.

Just hanging out.

Packing.

Finally making our staple granola.

Sharing my Chipotle beans and rice.

A little tent wrestling.