Hello all! We are on day 8 of this second round of chemo, and things continue to remain mostly stable.

Mason has discovered a joint down the street that makes incredible chocolate chip pancakes, so for the last two days, that has been his staple breakfast item. I told him this morning that we can't continue to get them daily- I will need to make him more chocolate chip muffins to fill the gap next time I go home!

I arrived back at the hospital yesterday around dinner time after a short but sweet 24 hours at home. He was playing Fortnite with his dad and was in a really good mood. He was super excited to eat the requested wild rice casserole for his first dinner and cleaned the bowl completely by the end of his meal. He followed it up with a Core Power protein drink and four ice pops from the freezer in the family lounge. Then followed that up by eating the homemade spaghetti that I brought with me as well. Within hours of arriving, he wiped out every homemade meal I brought in. I'm going to have to re-evaluate the size of the cooler I bring with me each visit.

His choice of movie for the evening was questionable- but it matched Alex's choice the week before- I have now had to sit through Godzilla vs. Kong TWICE. Ugh- I hear nothing but grunts and growling- zero story line- and both boys gave me the same exact deep sigh and eye roll when I brought it up. He loved it and it really did keep his attention. The nurse came in with his 7 chemo pills, and she asked if she could bring him anything. I tell you what- this child did the whole bashful, lowered eye lids, sweetest smile in the world and came out with "Would you be able to bring me a Coke?" His nurse melted and was back with the requested soda, a glass filled with ice, poured it out for him and placed the straw in his mouth within a minute. I mean- we had a Coke sitting on a counter in the room- I just thought maybe it was a little too late in the evening to pour it... clearly I was wrong. The Coke helped him swallow the pills in record time and we settled back into the movie.

I should mention that before the movie started, there was a power glitch. It wasn't more than ten seconds long. However, it caused the AC to go out. By the time we were trying to get ready for bed, it was toasty in the room. I wet some washcloths with cold water and kept a cold compress on Mason's head, just to try to prevent him from overheating and spiking anymore fevers. Normally, the room is chilly, so the only clothes that I pack are pants and long sleeves. It was not the most comfortable night of sleep ever. BUT- we are just thankful that Mason was not hooked up to any machines that would have caused an issue when the power was lost.

Most of the night was fairly quiet. Mason's labs showed that his platelet count was at zero, so they had to give him platelets overnight. Because he has had a reaction in the past, they also have to pre-medicate him before any transfusions with Benadryl to counteract any potential allergies. When they gave him the Benadryl, his heart rate dove low and stayed there for an extended period (somewhere in the 30s). Because everything else (blood pressure and temperature) stayed normal, they did not need to take any action and proceeded with the transfusion, but I can promise you that this mama did not sleep another wink, and I watched that heart rate monitor like a hawk.

He continued to have a low heart rate most of the morning today, which correlated to low energy and a feeling of "ick"- which is also expected based on the high dose chemo he received earlier this week. They did come in to perform an EKG, which was on the schedule anyways (a once/week test to track how his heart is coping with treatment), and I have not heard anything negative about the results. In the early afternoon, he started sitting at a more normal level in the 60s, so they have since removed the monitor.

In talking to Mason's doctors today, the blood counts continue to decline, which is expected. The leukemia blast count remains at zero.

We discussed the feeding tube, as they have not replaced it since Mason threw it up on Saturday. The doctors agreed to proceed for the next few days with just counting calories to see how he does with eating. I know that they want to put weight on him as quickly as possible, so his job for now is to focus on calorie intake. They weighed him today and he had gained another 1.5 pounds from the last time they took his weight.

Mason had a breathing treatment today, which is another regularly scheduled treatment to protect his lungs from infection and pneumonia. It gets to be a lot of different treatments to keep up with, and a lot of activity throughout the day, but knowing that the team is taking care of every part of him gives us comfort through all the hard moments.

I spent more time with the educator, learning this time how to flush Mason's central line and how to change the caps. I can now start helping the nurses in order to learn while here in the hospital for when we take him home.

After that, the physical therapist stopped by. Mason's first instinct was to hide under the covers. When that didn't work, he tried to ignore the request to take a short walk. But we got slippers on his feet, a shirt on his chest, a beanie hat on his head and detached him from the heart monitor so we could walk down the hall. He was tired, but he made it as far as she asked him to go, and following the activity he was in a much better mood and felt a bit stronger.

It also helped kick start his appetite for the day- he had eaten two massive pancakes for breakfast but hadn't wanted anything at lunch time. Following his walk, he ate 14 turkey sticks (gross, I know, but at this point we will feed him whatever he wants!). As soon as he was done with those, he requested a 20-count chicken nugget pack from McDonald's with fries and a Dr. Pepper. At this time, he has finished it all off- and we still have time for him to get hungry for a second dinner later this evening.

Y'all- the Smilegrams he has received the last few days have been amazing- he reads every single one with a giant smile on his face. Thank you for helping him continue to feel the love!