Hello! Another really short update- not much new to share. We are on our final week of treatment for this round!

We had a quiet night last night. Mason woke up this morning and was feeling more nausea than he has the last few days. The nurse was able to give him meds when he requested them, which allowed him to eat a donut and milk for breakfast, followed by Domino's pizza and a Dr. Pepper for lunch.

He spent the morning playing video games and watching YouTube videos of funny cats on his phone. We have a grey cat at home, as well as a tortoise colored cat- Mason has declared that orange cats are the cutest and he wishes I had allowed him to get one four years ago when we saw it at an adoption event. I think he's lost his mind. Does being the widow down the street with three cats make me into an official "cat lady"? I'm not sure I can grant this wish he has... especially since the one specific restriction he will have post-transplant is that he is not allowed near a litter box. With that said- if you want to text him funny cat videos, especially of orange cats, please do. He will watch them and laugh loudly.

After lunch, we did complete several laps around the floor, followed by a physical therapy session. Today's session just included seated exercises, as his nausea remained at a 5 out of 10, even with the medications.

He received Benadryl after the PT session was over so that he could receive a platelet transfusion. As always, the Benadryl knocks him out, so he has been napping for the past few hours while receiving platelets.

The doctors remain happy with his response to treatment. They were all impressed that he was walking the halls over the weekend with weights strapped to his ankles. We did discuss his difficulty falling asleep at night so they plan to try some melatonin tonight to see if that helps him fall asleep easier. We have also limited caffeine intake in the late afternoon/evening. The overall goal remains to keep him as comfortable as possible as we finish out this round of treatment.

For this week, we could use specific prayers that his platelet levels remain at least in the teens (he typically spikes following a transfusion to the low 20s, but is back to single digits within 48 hours) at least until Thursday, which is when they plan to take the skin sample for genetic testing needed for the next step of the transplant process. Prayers for continued appetite and weight/energy gain would be appreciated as well.