God said 'no'

[Update: James' nasal swab came back postive for influenza (boo). No chemo for a week or until his counts show he is ready again (yaaayh). Hannah read me his counts over the phone, and they *are* excellent--Hgb 11.3; ANC ~4,800; WBC ;Platelets ~650K. He is coming home with Tamiflu--a med that is supposed to neutralize the flu virus, shorten it's duration and lessen it's severity. Tomorrow we will take James to his pediatrician to get one more dose of antibiotic, just in case the fever was caused by something else.

Vern just called and they are finally on their way home from Atlanta. Should be here by 7p.m.]

At least in part. It looks like James is coming down with *some*thing. He's pretty puny. This morning early, he had a fever that continued up, so we called the oncologist on call. He thought James should be seen in clinic under the circumstances. The Lord was merciful as we still had plenty of time for Vern to call in and he and Hannah (who are both feeling just fine) made the run to Atlanta. I was very grateful since I am not up for that just yet.

At this point, they gave James an IV and some antibiotics. His counts look great according to Dr. Keller. I don't have the numbers. They did get blood for cultures and they will swab his nose and check for influenza. He will come home with the IV in place and, at this point, I will take him to Macon for another dose of IV antibiotics tomorrow (because of his fever).

While they were in the room at the clinic, I talked to James on the phone. It helps to have an interpreter. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: You are a brave boy and Momma is very proud of you.

James: Nya. Interpreter: He's nodding his head.

Me: Are you my brave boy?

James: Nya. Interperter: Nodding his head.

Me: You are such a brave boy. Are you my big boy?

Interpreter: He's shaking his head. I think he's feeling pretty puny.

Me: Oh, sweet boy. You are still very brave. I hope you can come home soon and we will snuggle. Would you like that?

James: Nya Interpreter: He's nodding his head.

Me: I've got lots of big hugs for you. mmmmmmmhhmmmmmmm (sounds like a big hug)

Interpreter: THAT got a smile!

We are grateful to avoid a hospital stay. Lord willing, our preference would, of course, be to stay home!

Thanks for checking up on us.

Love, Stephanie