Hello y'all! Just a quick update before we potentially lose power and internet and all the things thanks to Hurricane Helene.

On Tuesday, Mason had a MRI of his brain as well as CT scans of his lungs and abdomen to check the progress of the antibiotics in fighting against the Rothia infection. The good news is that his abdomen scan was clear and all organs were normal. The lung scans showed marked decrease in the number of nodules from the infection with a very small number left. The brain scan showed no new nodules. This means that his body is responding to the antibiotic treatments. However, the original nodules in the brain were all still present and the same size as his last scan.

The infectious disease team and the transplant team have decided that they would like Mason to complete an additional four weeks of treatment with the antibiotics before we begin the transplant process.

This was not the news we were hoping for, but we all agree that we need Mason to be as free and clear of this infection as possible before jumping into the transplant process.

Due to the impending hurricane in the area, Mason went to spend the night at his dad's house last night, much closer to the hospital so they could easily make it to the hospital this morning for his bone marrow aspiration. His blood counts this morning were lower (due to the antibiotics) so once again the doctors are not sure that we were able to get a reliable sample of marrow to determine leukemia levels. Fingers crossed. If the bone marrow remains too low to test, he will need to be switched to an IV antibiotic, which means he will be readmitted to the hospital during treatment.

In addition, his platelets were very low so he will need a transfusion as soon as possible. Mason's matched donor for platelets is located in Florida, so the medical team is not sure how long it will take to receive the platelets he needs due to the storm.

In order to make sure that Mason would receive any care he needs should something major happen during the storm, his doctors decided to go ahead and admit him to the hospital until the platelets arrive. John and Adrienne were able to pull together everything he needed for the admission, so I am able to be at home with Mason's brother and sister, as Grandma Mary is not set to get back and take over the home front until we know our next stage of treatment.

Mason is in room 556 at Scottish Rite, in case anyone wants to send a Smilegram. We are hopeful he will be home tomorrow, but will need to be patient and wait for the platelets to arrive. In the meantime, it's a little comforting to know that he is tucked in safe and sound for the duration of this storm.

If for some reason the platelets do not arrive before Sunday, Mason will get to be transferred over to the new hospital, which he is kind of excited about.

We hope to have an idea of next phase of treatment sometime early next week. There is a potential for a round of low dose chemotherapy that could be done on an outpatient basis while we wait for him to be ready for transplant.

We continue to take things day by day and will keep you posted as we learn more. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement!