The man likes his monocytes

Andrew is a big fan of monocytes. He's really good at making them. Those and platelets he seems to make in abundance. He made enough that they let us go today (day 22), which is certainly very early for round 4; however, he's been eating great, and he hasn't had any fevers for more than a week. For some reason, though, last week he seemed to be in pain again for a few days, so we put him back on dilaudid (again because tylenol and oxycodone weren't cutting it). We talked to the people next door (the Smiths) and apparently Tanner sometimes gets pretty bad joint and muscle pain when he recovers. It's nice to have people around who know what Andrew's going through and can give me hints as to what's going on.

Kim's funeral was beautiful. Just about everyone on the unit was asking everyone else to get time off so they could go, and I saw at least 20 nurses and techs there in Logan. I continue to be impressed with the faith of her family and inspired by her life. She leaves such a legacy behind her--one that will be hard to live up to.

I've heard of 3 more AML diagnoses this last week. It's something I'd never wish on anyone, and it's hard to see the same things happen to these people. I just want to tell them that even though things seem to be going very very badly that it really gets better, and in the end, it's really okay to have a kid with cancer. You really can be happy again. It's just so much to take in, and I think we had it easier than most because we had a whole week and a half to let it simmer in our minds before we were admitted.

Omi taking care of Andrew. You can see where he gets his pretty brown eyes from.

There was one week where it was pretty obvious that Andrew was feeling crummy. He really showed it in his face.

Andrew was getting his top two chompers down this time around. It was hard to distinguish that from chemo pain, but it was SO nice to see him feeling better.

We really just love the staff at Primary's.

Thanks so much for your faith and prayers. I've really been feeling it lately, and it's helped me get through some pretty emotional times these last few weeks.