Jonah, 9/4/12

I am sitting here by the window at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital wondering what today will bring. Last week Jonah's oncologist said she expected him to be released from the hospital on Tuesday. That would be today, for those of you who are keeping track. But so far it looks like Jonah's ANC is still too low (55. Normal is around 2-3000.) for him to leave the safe and sanitary environment of the hospital without serious risk of infection. The slower his ANC is to recover after a dose of chemo, the more time he will have to spend away from home, so please continue to pray that his numbers will climb back quickly each time.

Two of Jonah's good friends came to visit this weekend which boosted his spirits and helped the time pass much more pleasantly. He really misses being at school and church and seeing his friends regularly, so these short visits are a very welcome change to the hospital routine.

Jonah has been feeling fairly good, but he is now starting to get some mouth sores, a common side effect of the chemo drugs. They are designed to kill fast growing cells, which includes cancer cells but also includes the cells of the mouth/GI lining and hair follicles, so mouth sores and hair loss are almost inevitable. No hair has fallen out yet, but we expect it to happen sometime this week or next. And the steroids he is on are also making him look a little puffy in the face--also a common side effect.

Just to make life a little more exciting, I woke up yesterday with abdominal pain that was so severe I thought it might be appendicitis. But thankfully that gradually subsided, although it took all day. I suspect that it had a lot to do with stress and my less than optimal eating habits lately. Anyway, thanks to those of you who were praying for that. I would hate to put the rest of my family through having two of us in the hospital right now--although it would no doubt make for some funny stories to tell later. (My grandma had her appendix out at the same time that she was supposed to be taking care of things at home while her mom was in the hospital, so they both ended up in recovery together. Crazy times. It's an anecdote that makes us laugh when she tells it now.)

We would, in fact, love to have none of us in the hospital soon. Jonah has always enjoyed being outdoors, and the closest he can get right now is a third floor hospital balcony overlooking the city. The view is fun, but it isn't the same as having his feet in the grass. So please keep praying for his immune system to bounce back rapidly so that he can leave sometime in the next couple days. He will have to be back here again every so often, but we would love to maximize his time away from the pediatric oncology ward. I will keep you all updated when we find out when Jonah can be released. Thanks for praying.