Hello! We are so thankful to report that the storm veered slightly further east and we were able to weather the amount of rain and wind that we did receive without any issues. Mason spent a night safe and secure in the hospital followed by a day playing college football video games with his dad.

The platelets arrived Friday evening, and Mason was released and back home by 10:30 pm. I am not sure that they typically release folks to go home so late in the night, but I'm sure they were doing everything possible to have the fewest amount of patients to transport in the big move to the brand new hospital this past Sunday.

Mason has been thrilled to be home, but we have been struggling with a lot of nausea, which has impacted his ability to eat, to take his medications and to do schoolwork.

I spoke to his main oncologist today, and they confirmed that this second bone marrow aspiration proved to have the same results as the first one- no evidence of leukemia but also too low of a sample of the marrow to produce a reliable reading. SO.....

We report to the brand new, beautiful Arthur M. Blank children's hospital tomorrow afternoon to be admitted for further treatment. They will switch Mason from the oral antibiotics he is currently on (that are keeping his counts too low) to an IV antibiotic to finish out his prescribed month of medication. The doctors expect this change in medications to allow Mason's blood counts to come in fully, for a successful (third try) bone marrow aspiration to confirm that leukemia levels are still at zero (please), and to allow for a further treatment plan to be determined while we wait for this infection to clear before we can move to transplant (potentially low dose chemo while we are in the hospital that wouldn't suppress his immune system as much as it has been the last few rounds). We have been told to expect a minimum of two weeks inpatient, but more likely three weeks or longer.

Mason was pretty bummed about this development as he has gotten very comfortable in his room. BUT- he's also a little excited to check out the new hospital with a bigger basketball court, football field, coffee shop, larger TV and lots of outdoor space.

I have no idea yet if Smilegrams are available at this new location, but we will definitely share information on how to keep him encouraged as soon as we figure that out.

At this time, we would ask for specific prayers for Mason's body to clear this infection in his brain and lungs. We are all ready to move onto the next steps of treatment so we can move closer to the finish line in this particular race, and we cannot do that until this infection clears. We would also ask for prayers that Mason's blood counts will recover the way they are expected to on the new antibiotics so that we can get confirmation that the leukemia remains in remission.

Thank you so much for your continued support!