Clinic Check In

Eric is doing great; full of beans! He had his check up at clinic yesterday and his blood counts are somewhat improved. His ANC/neutrophils (germ fighting white cells) are up to 0.4 from 0.1. It is still a risky level, but definitely on the upward trajectory. Unfortunately, his platelets are down a bit. He does have quite a few bruises, but no active bleeding. Eric's energy and enthusiasm don't seem to match his bloodwork. He seems like he's 100% most of the time. His doctor wants to wait for a more fulsome count recovery before restarting the Venetoclax (the oral chemo treatment.) He said there is no urgency to do another round. Additionally, the team has decided to monitor his disease through peripheral blood, rather than doing a bone marrow biopsy after every round of treatment. They are confident they can successfully monitor this way and not put Eric through the repeated biopsies. They took additional blood at his last clinic appointment on July 2 to complete these tests and we got the results yesterday. There is no sign of the abnormal cells that mark his disease and his blood is still showing full donor DNA. It is always hard to wait for these results, but such a relief to get this reassurance. 

We have been busy in the last week. We camped at Bridal Falls Camperland RV Resort. At the resort, we all went in the pool, Chuck and the kids played mini golf and the kids ate lots of ice cream. We were lucky enough to be able to have a campfire and make s'mores of course! On Thursday we spent the day at the Bridal Falls Waterslides and the Blain Family joined us. The kids played hard from 11am until after 5pm and had such a fun day on the slides. We sent a picture to Eric's team at the hospital and they loved to see him having fun and even better, practicing excellent sun safety. Meanwhile, Joel's shoulders and the tops of my feet got burnt. We know better! After the long day at the slides we had dinner and then did the short hike to the Bridal Veil Falls in the Bridal Veil Provincial Park. I've driven past 100s of times, but never stopped and it is definitely worth the stop; the pictures do not do it justice. 

This week the kids have been at a day camp run by WCK (West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation.) It is such a great organization in support of families living with childhood cancer and blood disorders. They stock a freezer full of microwave meals at the hospital and snacks for outpatient visits; they deliver quick and easy freezer meals to our house once a month to make long days easier; they make fresh smoothies for inpatients at the hospital on Sundays and give us cozy family pjs, plus they run this awesome day camp! The boys have tie-dyed, done martial arts and wood working, had a visit from the White Caps and tomorrow they have a dunk tank!