Today at 4:00 p.m. he will be done with his second round of Chemo and will try to regain his strength and blood counts again in the following 17 days. Hopefully he will be released tomorrow and get to go back to the McDonald house. He has a lot more freedom there and it's more like home than the hospital.
Jackson didn't lose all of his hair yet. He lost all the dark hair, but has quite a bit of blond hair left. His friend Alex came to visit him right before he left for Spokane and had shaved his head. I know Jackson liked it and we were sure touched. We hope everyone knows how much their support has meant to us. The challenge would be a lot harder on our own.
His health has been good this week and his energy is up. Most of his hair is gone now, except some of the lighter colored hair. He is taking that pretty well, but I know it bothers him a little. His appetite has come back again. He has been gaining about one pound per day (seriously).
As for Wyatt, he has been very excited to have us all together and wants no part of his mom leaving again. Jackson and Wyatt are learning to share all over again. Fortunately, there are so many new toys that it's not much of a problem. For those of you who have met Wyatt, you know there is never a dull moment when he is around.
Jackson will head back to Spokane on Friday for his 2nd round of chemo. We know that trip will be tough, but we have reminded Jackson about the trip several times to make him prepared.
Thank you all so much for all of the gifts and your kind words.
We are writing this from home--Lewiston that is. The doctor released us for a few days and Jackson was more than ready to leave. His counts are back up and his fever is gone. We still have to take it easy as he gets really tired. It seems like forever since we have all been together at home. We have to be back in the hospital to start chemo on Friday so we will enjoy the next few days to the maximum.
We love you all--Scott and Staci
His white blood count (WBC) is 1.1 so it's still low, but not so much in the danger zone. His platelets are very low and may cause bruising or bleeding. Other than that, he is feeling good and happy to be out. In fact, we all just got back from the movie "The Crocodile Hunter." Jackson and Wyatt thought it was very good and jumped in their seats several times. The whole family got to go and it was great to all be together again. It's been a long time.
Thank you for all the great messages and words of encouragement. Jackson gets to see them everyday and they give him a smile.
As for us, Scott plans on working Monday through Thursday each week and then going to Spokane with Wyatt for the weekends. Staci is spending most all of her time with Jackson in Spokane.