neutropenic...

for those of you who were taking notes last time...you will remember that being neutropenic is a good thing but a scary thing. a person with a normal white blood cell count will have around 10,000 white blood cells to help fight off infections and stuff...once someone receives chemo the white count is supposed to drop. tim's white cell count is now 300. so...the chemo is doing what it is supposed to do but in the process it puts tim at high risk of getting an infection. we are now living in the world of "no germs" and "masks" and "purell".

tims stomach issues are finally getting a bit better. he has been able to keep some food in his system and has gotten back some of his color.

tims pain level is still up there in the higher levels. we have been getting IV pain medication everyday this week to help lessen the pain. even though the tumors seem to have shrunk some, the level of pain has not. we are meeting with the radiation doctor on monday to discuss trying pain intervention through radiation therapy. it would be in addition to the chemo, but may help with the shrinkage and pain levels a bit.

ashley is feeling better. on thursday night at soccer practice she "passed out" and scared the coach and athletic director so bad they called in the paramedics. we have been dealing with her a bit. friday we took her to the doctor and had her checked out and they ran tons of blood work...looking into possible anemia, low iron, low blood sugar, abnormal thyroid, unbalanced electolyes, or just plain 'ole being a 13 year old female who occasionally passes out.

hopefully tomorrow we will find out what is going on with ashley and meet with the radiation guys and set up the radiation appts. this week is a better week...only one soccer game and three softball games. today the twins are having a few school friends meeting them for an ice skating party (early birthday party). we really are trying to keep life in the dewalt household as normal as possible BUT tim will have to sit this one out (he is bumming because last year their birthday was the day before his transplant and he had just finished receiving his 14th chemo in a 5 day period-they came in to see their dad that day and it was a very scary sight). ashley had a ton of questions for me tonight...lots of "what if" questions. the older they get the more they want to know...and the older they get the more they understand. sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it makes things harder. keep our girls in your prayers...it has been tough on them.

well it is 3am and i had best try to get some sleep.

thanks for checking in.

tim and tammy