Bye, Bye bologna

Nope. Remember I don't give bologna the spell check recognition it's insisting with the capital letter? We couldn't have just completed another month of steroids without talking about Brayden's beloved bologna again. Yes, he again had an affinity to bologna for this round. And 3am feedings, not sleeping through the night. We woke up yesterday morning so rested...then completely panicked! Was he okay? Why didn't he wake me up for the first time in over a week? It was so good to see him resting peacefully and find out later, yes, he really had slept through the night. He didn't have to take a pain pill the last 2 nights. And the final sign that we knew he was finally feeling better? He was playing football in the house again, diving in the floor, tackling, and laughing. It was the best kind of gift. It had been an incredibly tough week on everyone and so hard to see him in so much pain. It's been a complete 180 the past 2 days and we're so thankful. Hearing his laugh today has been...music to our ears.

We got Brayden's bloodwork done today and found out his counts are too low to have chemo on Monday. He's in the Neutropenic stage, so we'll have to be really careful and continue into the 5th week of Strict Isolation. Dad was great to rent a move for us tonight to enjoy. We have loved getting some fresh air and sunshine in this beautiful weather the past couple of days. And, with football again this weekend to enjoy between the Hogs and Cowboys, we'll keep busy.

We are SO excited about tomorrow. A dear friend gave us an incredible gift and paid to have family pictures taken for us. It's so special and something we've put off for far too long. We've had to reschedule once due to Brayden being so sick from chemo. I'm so glad we scheduled them for tomorrow. His sweet head is going to be bald (I'm guessing) by Monday. It's been falling out SO fast in the past few days. I'm nervous to touch it with gel tomorrow! It might all come out on the gel on my hands!! He's still taking it all in stride and I love that. He knows he's been grateful to have it for the past 6 months. It's still going to take some getting used to for all of us and each day he's looking different as it falls out. I've realized how much better his eyes shine! His sweet, blue eyes that are so full of joy today. It's been a great day.

So we'll try again next Friday to see if his counts are high enough to proceed. He's SUPER happy to have another week off. And, I'm a little thankful too because of starting the next round. Of course we're still nervous about germs and none of us having the flu vaccine yet. But we've done well so far! Brayden's focused on Christmas plans. Thanksgiving is looking very tricky for us, as he'll most likely still be in isolation. Meanwhile, he's looking at every catalog and commercial with big eyes while planning his Christmas list. I guess he's still 9 and a normal boy afterall!