Pictures!

Finally, pictures! These are a few from Grant's recent hospital stay.

At the top - hanging out with Eden and Jake!

2nd - playing Match with Dr. Romano. We love Dr. Romano!

3rd- Grant's favorite OR nurse, Philly, who was so sweet to come and visit us on her day off!

Finally - Superman in 3D shades! Our new favorite movie is "The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl"! Its in 3D, so the glasses come in handy!


Its been another busy week for us. Eden is enjoying being back at school. I will begin piano and voice lessons at Crystal Coast School of the Arts again today. Grant will do his first day of Kindergarten on Thursday, followed by a clinic visit on Friday! Next week, Grant will start school full time and also start art classes at CCSA! His is a happy boy!

Our wonderful news of the week is that Kyle, my brother in law, Aly's husband, received passing scores from his NC Bar exam, so he is an official lawyer in practice!! Many congratulations to the Dart family from the Nelsons! We are so excited!

I will post school pictures later in the week. Until then....

Watch out Smyrna - Here Comes Grant!

Good morning! We are back at home after a very fine trip! Jacob joined us for our journey this week - I need not say more!

Grant started the week with a home health visit on Monday. His counts look great this week. ANC is 1.2! Wow - this is as high as he's been in a long time! So, with good counts we were set to begin Interim Maintenance. We started off Tuesday with a spinal tap and bone marrow aspirate. Aside from being a grumpy bug following sedation, we had a fine trip and were in and out in 3 hours. The biggest surprise on Tuesday was that we found out that Grant can start Kindergarten! I was checking with our nurse practitioner, Ms. Kristie about paperwork for homeschooling, and she said that Grant's counts are actually high enough right now to at least begin the school year. So, we are all very excited, especially Grant! He even decided that big boys who go to school need to sleep in their own beds, so last night he slept in his bed alone for the first time since he was diagnosed!!! Its been an exciting week!

Yesterday we had a quick visit at the clinic for the dreaded Peg shots, and then started home. Grant did very well, and was only unpleasant during the actual procedure. I think about how brave he is! It has to be so hard to be pleasant knowing what lies ahead of him as we approach the clinic every week He really does a remarkable job....

So, open house at Smyrna is this evening. We will visit with Ms. Vicky, Grant's kindergarten teacher (and Kevin's cousin and one of our all around favorite people!). We are also looking forward to Eden starting 2nd grade with Ms. Beth Montgomery and Aunt Fran! It has been a long summer and school starting again seems like a refreshing beginning!

I have lots of pictures to post, but I need a while to download them, so they will have to wait until later! I promise to post soon!

To help understand the language...

We talk alot about Grant's counts- especially his ANC or his absolute neutrophil count. I found a nice definition on one of the cancer sites, so you can get an idea of this "counts" stuff! We're alot smarter now than we were a few months ago...


Definition of Absolute neutrophil count

Absolute neutrophil count: The real number of white blood cells (WBCs) that are neutrophils. The absolute neutrophil count is commonly called the ANC.

The ANC is not measured directly. It is derived by multiplying the WBC count times the percent of neutrophils in the differential WBC count. The percent of neutrophils consists of the segmented (fully mature) neutrophils) + the bands (almost mature neutrophils). The normal range for the ANC = 1.5 to 8.0 (1,500 to 8,000/mm3).

Sample calculation of the ANC:
WBC count: 6,000 cells/mm3 of blood
Segs: 30% of the WBCs
Bands: 3% of the WBCs
Neutrophils (segs + bands): 33% of the WBCs
ANC: 33% X 6,000 = 2,000/mm3
ANC of 2,000/mm3, by convention = 2.0
Normal range: 1.5 to 8.0 (1,500 to 8,000/mm3)
Interpretation: Normal

Neutrophils are key components in the system of defense against infection. An absence or scarcity of neutrophils (a condition called neutropenia) makes a person vulnerable to infection. After chemotherapy, radiation, or a blood or marrow transplant, the ANC is usually depressed and then slowly rises, reflecting the fact that the bone marrow is recovering and new blood cells are beginning to grow and mature.

In practical clinical terms, a normal ANC is 1.5 or higher; a "safe" ANC is 500-1500; a low ANC is less than 500. A safe ANC means that the patient's activities do not need to be restricted (on the basis of the ANC).

Now- I bet you feel smarter too! Grant is doing fine since getting home on Monday. He is scheduled to begin the next round of chemo next week, if his "counts" are high enough. His ANC needs to be .75, when he left the hospital it was .2, so we hope his bones are producing some fine marrow that is growing like it should.

Emily's sister, Joella, found out Tuesday she is having a baby boy. That will be 2 girls and 2 boys for Joella and James. They are so thrilled! It's always a miracle to be able to watch that little baby living inside Joella move around, wiggle his fingers... oh me, how wonderful!! So, it's been a fine week. My sweet Mike is flying into Raleigh this evening after his summer at BYU studying Thai. We've missed him around here lots and lots. We'll report later, bye for now!

'Tis true!

We're coming home!

Aside from the fact that Grant is freaking out about having to have his port de-accessed, its been a fine morning! Hopefully the needle will be out soon and the "mad spell" will see its end.

We are on strict instructions for no visitors for a while, so please call and say hello. Grant will have his counts read again by home health on Monday, and hopefully after that he will be able to venture out in public and say hello to all of his friends and family!

Love to you all!

*****A glimmer of hope******

I have heard a rumor - although a pretty substantiated rumor - that we may be leaving today!

Dr. Bell and Dr. Marks have both hinted that Dr. Gold, today's Attending Dr., suggested that we may be able to leave. All of Grant's counts continue to rise beautifully with the exception of his ANC, which is a pitiful .2 today. However, he seems to be trending up and has had no sign of a fever since last Tuesday.

So - we are cautiously optimistic at this point!

I will update when I know more!

...until you think...

I've been feeling a little sick this week, probably because of the sudden drop in temperatures we're experiencing in the Southeast. But every time I start complaining or feeling sorry for myself, I try to remember that a few sniffles and sneezes with an occasional cough is really pathetic compared to how Grant feels when he wakes up, or before he goes to sleep, or when he rides in a car...and that's almost every day. Shoot, it's really pathetic compared to just the inconvenience it is for Emily and Grant, and Mama or Kevin to drive up to Chapel Hill every week, waiting in lines, sleeping in hotels, and watching others struggle through the same roller-coaster ride. But they love Grant, as do we, and they show it with the patience and compassion that they show to so many of us that aren't nearly as inconvenienced by all of this as they are.

I fear that sometimes we (I'm included) take for granted how positive and hopeful Emily, Kevin, and Mama (and Grant, sometimes...when he's not growling at me) remain through this ordeal. I don't think we can praise them enough for how they've helped us to remain calm by being happy and cheerful themselves, even though we know that sometimes they're hurting inside.

Yes, it's easy to complain about sniffles, sneezes, and the occasional cough...until you think about SuperGrant and his SuperFamily!

Saturday morning

Well, those ANC numbers just refuse to go up. The doctors say it will be at least Monday before they will let Grant come home. Then he's scheduled to begin the next round of treatment on Tuesday which also involves staying the hospital for 2 days. Bottom line- ain't going nowhere yet.

Give Em a call if you have a moment. They are pretty weary today. 919-966-4335. The cell phones don't get much signal in the hospital so if you try her cell, she probably will not get a ring.

Love to you all. Thanks for all the prayers.