Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Thoughts from Erica: Levi's blood counts aren't where they need to be for the bone marrow biopsy or to start the next round of chemo so the biopsy and his re-admittance to the hospital has been pushed back to this Friday, January 3rd. This past round has taken his blood counts the longest to recover which the doctor said is common for round 4 and his staph infection most likely delayed his recovery as well. We are praying that his biopsy shows another decrease in cancer cells.
This next round starting on Friday will be his LAST round of chemo and he will receive high dose cytarabine on days 1 & 2, have a break for a bit and then high dose cytarabine again on days 8 & 9 through his Broviac. Previously he's only ever received his chemo through his Broviac, which is a central line that goes directly to his heart, but this time he will also receive shots of Rylaze in his legs. Levi has never been a fan of shots so he wasn't too excited to hear about that, but there's only four shots total - 2 in each leg.
Praying for an uneventful round this time without infection or any complications. Many times in previous rounds when Levi's doing well the doctors have told Levi to "keep being boring" so we will pray for boring 🧡.
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Thoughts from Erica: Mission accomplished: Round four complete and out before Christmas! They are going to load him up with platelets and then he's out of here. His bone marrow biopsy and hospital readmittance for his last round is tentatively scheduled for December 31st. His blood counts need to be at a certain level for the biopsy and to start the next round so if his counts aren't high enough they will reschedule for a few days later.
Thank you all for your support throughout this journey - we are incredibly grateful to be surrounded by people who pray without ceasing and who cheer Levi on as loud and strong as he does for his sports teams. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 🧡. Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Thoughts from Erica: What a day! Levi's classmates stopped by this morning and made his day 🧡. They brought signs to help encourage him and were able to chat over Facetime while they were here. He was able to look out his window and had the perfect view. He also received a visit from the Chick-fil-A cow who brought chicken sandwiches for lunch - yum!
Pastor Colin visited late last week and Levi always enjoys his visits since they are filled with music and singing. They sang and played some worship and Christmas songs, checked in with each other and prayed.
Levi's ANC is currently 13 so he's making some progress in that department. Like previous months they would like his ANC to be 250 before he goes home. All of his blood cultures ended up being negative and he's been feeling much better so the antibiotics did their job. We are just waiting for his ANC level to go up and his platelet count to hold steady as he's needed platelets about every other day. The goal is still for him to be out of the hospital by Christmas.
One of Levi's personal goals is to finish up his last round and make it to a Cyclone basketball game towards the end of the season. Levi's looking forward to watching and cheering the team on tonight vs De Smet - go Cyclones 🏀.
