Sorry for the late night post- it's been a whirlwind of a day moving back and forth through the city of Atlanta. We made it up to the hospital this morning to provide blood draws for genetic match testing. Then we turned around to head back to the GA Tech campus in downtown Atlanta to move Jack into his dorm (which was a success- although I'm swinging by tomorrow with all the things we forgot). Then Alex and I headed back up to the hospital to spend the afternoon with Mason. Thankfully, Grandma Mary took the night shift tonight to give us a little time to process the emotions of dropping Jack off at school.

Mason had a quiet night last night and a quiet day today.

I was not exaggerating when I said that the last two days were busy in his room- and he let John know last night that he was overwhelmed. So we did ask all the medical teams to meet with us outside of his actual room today, and his nurse asked the therapists (psych, occupational and physical) to check back in tomorrow- he's just tired and frustrated and needed a day of calm. He continues to battle the nausea but has been able to keep down everything that he has eaten the last three days, so that feels like progress.

His fever was down most of the day today, although they were about to give him Tylenol tonight, as they said he was headed to a fever. He does continue to have nose bleeds, and his platelet count continues to be low, so they did give him platelets tonight. We are hoping that helps to perk him up a little tomorrow.

When I talked to him tonight, he continued with the random grocery requests (ravioli, Velveeta mac and cheese, green Gatorade, Prime drinks- and the list goes on from there). I love that he is so focused on his appetite and making sure he has whatever he might want. He was also in a good enough mood to poke a little bit of fun at Grandma Mary's movie tastes- it's been a minute since I've seen that sarcastic wit, so I also took that as a good sign (and Grandma Mary is a champ for putting up with his movie taste up till now).

These last few days have brought on significant emotional blows, with some not great news about potentially needing to stay in the hospital with no break at home between chemo cycles. We put the call out to his lacrosse team to send some encouraging words Mason's way as he continues to battle the ongoing symptoms, and they came through in a huge way. He was so excited to get another large packet of Smilegrams, smiled at so many supportive and sweet messages and genuinely laughed at some of the jokes that were sent his way. I can't say enough about what all the support means to him- and we cannot wait to actually set up times for visits with friends once he starts feeling a little better.

We've been told a lot of things, but tomorrow will be day 23 of the cycle- and we've heard that by day 25, patients can start to see some relief. We are clinging to that right now- just a little bit of breathing room between these symptoms would be great.

Continued prayers for Mason's frustration and low mood, for relief from these symptoms (fever and nausea) and for positive results from the genetic matching tests would be appreciated. Thanks so much!