We are officially on hold for a second week due to low counts. This can be common in this phase. Plus, Ronan managed to catch Coronavirus (not Covid just a cold virus.) We ended up in the emergency room with a fever and luckily did not have to stay because his ANC was a touch above 500 and his chest x-ray was good. Symptoms were actually quite mild which was a relief. A couple of fevers, (luckily within the same 24 hour period so we stayed home,) a cough mostly at night, and fatigue. So the first half of this heavy phase plus a virus equals count suppression. We will get new labs Friday and assuming we make counts, we will begin part 2 next Monday. 

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Ronan, mentally. His hair has thinned considerably, and what is left is fine and fuzzy and soft, but looks quite different. The steroids really cause his cheeks to puff up, and allllll the eating they make him want to do, caused him to gain some weight. It is weight he will likely benefit from as we enter a part of treatment heavy on nausea and decreased appetite but he doesn’t understand that. He just sees somebody different when he looks in the mirror, and he has talked about his distress over it. 

Behaviors are up for both boys again. I can only attribute it to sooooo much time spent at home together, so much hospital time, intermittently rainy weather that traps us indoors too often, and isolation. We are all so looking forward to spring and next phases with better counts when Ronan will get to return to school! We are very hopeful he can finish out the end of the year with his class, unmasked as the worst of the flu and sick season will have passed. We are also hopeful we can squeeze in a visit to family in Idaho, get a visit from my oldest friends and their new little babe, and move through the very last phase of frontline into Maintenance without tooooo many setbacks. Maintenance is no picnic but comparitively, we are hoping it will allow for more normalcy. 

We did get to celebrate Jack’s 5th Birthday this week. I can’t believe my baby is 5 years old. We just celebrated with family at home but we did go paint some pottery which he loved, and we did have a Star Wars theme as requested. We’re hoping to throw a little shin dig when the weather improves and whhhhe can have some friends over. I think he still enjoyed his day ❤️ 

Send us love and hopes for a smooth second half, a whole lot of patience for Bryce and I, and continued strength for the boys.