6-4-0-8-22-0

Hummm…. 6-4-0-8-22-0… sounds like a bunch of lotto numbers. Maybe we should play ’em! Jake finished his 7th round of week-long chemotherapy last Tuesday and less than a week later, here we are, back in TCH. Yesterday we went into Clinic to find his hemoglobin at 6, platelets at 4, ANC at 0, and fever at 102. He actually had a really good week in the hospital during his chemotherapy last week. His nausea was completely controlled and he bounced all over the place, chasing the nurses with his dinosaurs, hanging out in the playroom, taking walks around the floor WITHOUT me as he said, “You can stay in the room Mom, I’m fine.” He helped put supplies away and was Mr. Chatty. He really was quite cute and made a couple of new friends. Jake went home in really good spirits and full of energy until Saturday afternoon when he started slowing down considerably. By Sunday he was trending a fever and we were buying time, pacing the floor with constant temp checks and praying to make it to Monday morning Clinic so we wouldn’t have to go to the ER. We went to bed just under 100 and woke to a temp over it… God was on our side for sure! As I was signing into Clinic yesterday and sharing good mornings, I told the front desk ladies that I had a feeling we wouldn’t be going home. They smiled understandingly saying, “Oh no, we’ll hope not. You just got out.” Yep, we just got out. I tried my best to joke and ask my friend, Nurse Shelly, if she thought it might just be the Nulasta shot from Thursday wrecking havoc on his system and if we juiced him up on transfusions and bolus bags of fluids, maybe we could go home??? No such luck! I knew better, but I tried. Today, he’s a different kid. His hemoglobin is 8, platelets are 22, NO FEVER, but his ANC is a big, round ZERO! But he’s happy, goofy, even went outside to play on the Texas Children’s

of hours today in between fluids and antibiotics. If he keeps this up, he’ll be bouncing around as much as last week and driving everyone batty!

(Grins!) Then, maybe they’ll kick us outta here!!! Although the way it works, we won’t be discharged until they make sure the little petri dish didn’t grow anything and more importantly, until his ANC begins to rise. The second one is what will keep us. Last month we spent 20 days in here, 12 of them were due to a neutrapenic episode just like this. (We’ve called this home for 6 days this month already.) For now, we sit and wait. Luckily, Kate is here to play and keep us company so we have three of us to pass the time. In fact, Kate wore a mask around the hospital while we were playing to help Jake wear his.

On another note, so, many friends have asked about Warrior Jacob shirts. We plan to place another order next week as all of the shirts that Danielle organized are SOLD OUT! THANK YOU for supporting Jake and purchasing a shirt. With Childhood Cancer Awareness Month coming up in September we are thrilled that you will be honoring Jake and will have a gold shirt to wear on behalf of all kids fighting cancer. AND… Jake loves seeing all the pictures you have sent wearing your Warrior Jacob shirts. Please send more. We plan to post a picture gallery of all the pictures you have sent and continue to send us, so e-mail or FB me with them. If you missed the last order and would like shirts, please e-mail me at mardon@mardonhickford.com with your sizes and quantities.