HE'S HOME!!!!!

That's about all I need to say about this day!

All labs remained stable, and his platelet count is starting to come back on his own, which is one of the last things to come back following treatment. The doctors were pleased to give us the news during rounds this morning- there was nothing else to keep Mason in the hospital any longer.

I'm not sure that he fully believed that he was going to be able to go home- he remained in the bed until he saw the home healthcare supplies arrive in the room. At that point, he perked up and asked what he could do to help me load up. After getting specific instructions on his medication schedule, with two quick signatures, we were released out into the world- as exciting and terrifying as that is!!

The drive home took close to two hours (gotta love Atlanta traffic...). Mason had control of the playlist and he took total advantage of it.

He was welcomed home by a dozen orange balloons, three excited siblings, two cats, one grateful grandma and our old man dog, Sherman. Grandma Mary had cooked his favorite dinner (chicken and rice bowls) and he immediately dug in. Dinner was followed by a giant cookie cake and ice cream, then a little quiet time in his room.

We just worked through his nightly chemo pills (he will continue on the medications at home). He and Alex are playing a PlayStation game together, Jack is tucked in his room reading (he completed finals early and got home yesterday), Kylie is watching YouTube and working on a Spiderman Lego project, and for a few moments everything feels right in this world.

Moving forward, I will be taking Mason back up to the hospital for an outpatient appointment on Wednesday, when he will have the next bone marrow aspiration and lumbar puncture, which will tell us where we are in this fight against the leukemia. We will report back to the hospital a week from Thursday, on August 8, for the next round of chemotherapy- which will likely be another month in-patient.

I want to take a moment and thank all of you, from the bottom of my heart, for being a part of our support system. We still have a long way to go in this journey, but today is a major milestone and a major WIN! All of your encouragement, support, jokes, food, gifts and prayers have definitely helped carry us this far- THANK YOU!