Hello! We've had another good day.

As we woke up this morning, the nurse informed me that we had been in our room for 29 days, and they only allow you to stay in one room for a total of 30 days. She let me know that the room right next door was open, if we wanted to make the move today. We like our quiet corner of the floor, so I told her we would go ahead and pack up.

Mason received two units of blood today, so while he was laid out with those transfusions, I was busy packing up the cabinets of food, treats and drinks, books, games, electronics and clothes; loading everything into a tiny cart, and hauling it around the corner to our new room. We are back to the sunset side of the building, which I am excited about (I mean- if I have to be here, I might as well enjoy the views).

Future Smilegrams can be sent to Mason at Scottish Rite, Room 560.

I spent time today with the hospital's teacher who will be stepping in to help Mason stay on track with his 8th grade classes, as the rest of his peers (and siblings) head back to school on Monday, August 5th. We were able to complete the required paperwork to get the process started- Mason will be considered "hospital homebound" for the 2024-2025 school year. He is going to miss being in-person with his friends, but the requirements to isolate following transplant will not allow him to be in an environment with that many kids in one room, so we will work on classwork at home and continue to look forward to a return to friends in other approved ways- like outdoor meet ups or one-on-one hang sessions.

The most exciting news of the day- for the first time since we got here, Mason's lab work this morning showed signs that his blood counts are starting to recover on their own. Following his platelet transfusion yesterday, his platelet counts remained at 30 this morning, which we have also not seen for quite a while. He does still have another six days on his chemo medication, and we need to wait and see how he responds, but a trip home for a short break is still looking like a possibility in the next few weeks. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Mason continues to plan his "I beat cancer" party- which will apparently include me gifting him an orange cat named Nacho. Fun.

Adrienne is going to come relieve me for the night so I can pick up Grandma Mary, who arrives tonight (hopefully- so far she only has a one-hour delay from this week's travel fiasco) and will be taking over running the house again, helping out when I can't be there once school starts.

We ask for specific prayers that we see these trends in his blood work continue- for count recovery to continue and for platelets to remain strong.