Working my way through The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede... I started the third book yesterday before I totally zonked out and took an impromptu nap. I think once we get released I'll hit up Half-Price Books and see about picking up the Melissa Marr books I'm missing. I need more reading material if we're going to be spending so much time in the hospital, since I'm not going to school this semester.

I'm in a surprisingly good mood today, in spite of still being trapped in the hospital with Bug... so here are a few good things going on in my life right now:

1. Bug's white blood cell count is slowly starting to come up. Not anywhere near the normal range yet, but it's a sign of progress.

2. We were finally taken off of isolation the other day... so I no longer have to "gown up" or wear gloves when I leave the room. And now I can take Bug on walks or to the play room. Yay!

3. I just finished rereading a really, really old RP from 2005, and now I'm in a very happy mood. Sometimes nostalgia is a good thing. ^^

4. My tablet has been working off and on since we got to the hospital, so I'm finally coloring something that's been sitting in my to-do folder for the last month or two.

5. I'm feeling strangely inspired today. Hopefully I can squeeze some sketching in when Bug naps... if I'm not taking a nap too! ^^;

6. It's almost 8AM already and the usual barrage of doctors hasn't stormed the room yet. It's nice that Bug is getting to sleep in a little, and I'm getting some much-needed peace and quiet. (As quiet as it gets around here, anyway...) Crossing my fingers, maybe they'll stay out for another hour or so. XD

Pffft... for the first time in ages, Duama arrives in a Scratching Post thread and doesn't knock the "newcomer" through the wall (or cause some other type of property damage). I am officially speechless.

Totally marking this day down on my calendar of unexpected things. XD

Damn Arcy, you've got fantastic luck.

Pffft... Nice timing, Nova. (Yes, I do remember you.) Funny how, just as I start thinking about pulling the plug, another forum "oldie" magically reappears. Niiiiiice timing indeed. XD

It's been a long time, hasn't it? Sad how fast time flies by... x____x

Anyway, welcome back!! It's gotten really quiet around here lately, but people still disengage "lurk mode" and pop out of the woodwork every now and then... so grab a muffin, try not to fall through the hole in the kitchen floor (Sal is no longer allowed to play with mechs in the house...), and if a penguin comes out of the basement with a rocket launcher in its flippers... DUCK. >__>;;

Oh, and what Fayt said about initiationings... <__<;;

Yeah. Well. If Duama happens to show up here at some point and tries to "initiate" you... RUN AWAY. And don't worry; I have the penguins on standby with glitter bombs to cover your escape. ^___^;;

Sooo... I guess it's about time for another update.

We are still on room isolation. Apparently it's really hard to get taken off isolation once they put that sign on the door... and since Landen's immune system is suppressed right now we're probably just going to stay on isolation until we go home. Goody, goody.

Landen's fevers have slacked off some this week. They are becoming more infrequent, and most of them have stayed below the 104 degree mark (when he was having temps as high as 104.5)... And after an entire week of not wanting to eat, when we had to resort to using medicine droppers to feed him protein drinks and yogurt, his appetite is finally starting to come back. Definitely a good sign.

In the last 2-3 days we've also done chest x-rays, a chest CT scan, and an ultrasound to make sure that everything still looks good internally, and to make sure that there aren't any signs of infections (or other nasty side effects that can occur from weeks of bed rest and all of the drugs they've been pumping into Bug's system). From what I've been told, it sounds like there isn't anything nasty lurking in any of the x-rays, scans, or ultrasound pictures... so I'm crossing my fingers that we're good on that score.

Additionally, Landen JUST finished his last dose of chemo for this stage of his chemotherapy plan (20 treatments over 10 days)... and now we get to play the waiting game. It should take about 2-3 days to flush the chemo drugs from his system and then we have to just wait and see what happens. We won't be able to go home until Landen's blood counts come back up, and he has to be cleared of any infections and fevers. According to the doctor, it will be at least another week or two before we're good to go... possibly longer.

Keep your fingers crossed. <3

lmao... Well, I have to do something in the wee hours of the morning when no one else is awake. XD

It's going to be a while before we get to go home, because Bug's counts need to come back up before the doctor will talk about releasing him. We've got at least another week or two to go.

So I have some good news, and then I have some bad news...

Good news: I have a finished drawing of Kari to put up, and I have two group pictures (one of Irish's three henchmen characters) that are currently in-progress.

Bad news: I don't have access to a scanner while we're in the hospital... so I have to wait until I get home to scan and post the new stuff. And we could be here for another 2 weeks (or longer), depending on how fast Bug bounces back from the chemo.

On the bright side, I should have plenty of time to finish the two WIPs. XD

I'm seven episodes into Hakushaku to Yōsei and enjoying myself so far. I may have to look for translated versions of the light novels and the manga after I finish the anime.

Positive thoughts, Arcy. I'm just taking it one day at a time.

We've started his first round of chemotherapy treatments and all seems to be going pretty well. He is tired and lethargic most of the time (from the chemo and because his platelets were so low), but he's been in good spirits for most of today and I'm hopeful that the longer the treatment goes on the better he will feel.

They have us on room isolation right now, so anyone that comes in has to "suit up" with a protective gown over their clothes and if we go out we have to do the same thing. It's to keep anyone from bringing any bugs into the room for him to catch. One of the nurses said we might be able to get out of isolation in a few days, so maybe next week we will be able to take Landen out to the play room or something instead of being cooped up in this tiny room all day. (I'm beginning to feel a little stir crazy.)

Bug's dad trying to pick fights with me over stupid shit. Not the time, seriously.

Thanks, you guys. I just wanted to post a small update while I have some downtime:

The spinal tap and the initial shot of chemotherapy went very well. Landen also had a catheter put into his chest, so we have been able to do away with the IV in his wrist (and will probably lose the one in his foot the next time they have to sedate him for something). They will also be able to use it for blood draws, so they won't have to keep sticking him. Yay~

We also got the full diagnosis this afternoon.

Landen has acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), which is the rarer of the two forms of leukemia we were told that he could have. It has a shorter treatment time (roughly 6 months), but AML comes with a harsher, more aggressive chemotherapy plan, and there is a greater chance of relapse.

We will start phase one of the chemo plan tomorrow, and it should last about two weeks (which means we'll be living in the hospital for at least the next two weeks, possibly longer)... so please wish us luck, and keep sending those prayers and positive thoughts. ♥

I'm not really sure where to begin... Everything has been in an uproar since Sunday morning.

Landen has been sick for two and a half weeks now. He started running a low-grade fever on July 22nd and his appetite slacked off. We found an ulcer on his tongue on the 24th (explaining his decreased appetite)... and things just seemed to go downhill from there.

The fever never went away. Neither did the ulcer. His temperature started going up and he developed more ulcers on his tongue and sores on his lips that looked like they might be fever blisters.

A week in, we went to the Take Care clinic in Walgreens to see one of the nurse practitioner (it was late Friday, July 29th, so the pediatrician was out of the question). Things didn't improve over the weekend, so we went to see his regular pediatrician on Monday. Still no concrete diagnosis. We went home with a broad-spectrum antibiotic and paste to put on his mouth... and four days into that antibiotic (Friday and Saturday, August 5-6th), Bug's fever started climbing higher, faster, and it was starting to resist the Motrin we gave him to bring it down.

Sunday morning, everything went to hell. Bug's fever spiked again. It was 104.5 when we woke him up, so we dosed him with more Motrin and took him to the minor emergency. From there, we were sent to the local hospital for chest x-rays and paperwork to have blood drawn... and from there, we learned that there was something wrong with Landen's blood (they drew twice--they thought the first sample was tainted, and they said it seemed "watered down"... and then when the second sample came in the doctor said it looked like the blood of a chemotherapy patient). Basically, they said his bone marrow production had shut down.

We were sent to Memorial Children's (downtown) by ambulance late that afternoon... and a few hours (and a couple more blood tests) later we were transferred again--this time to MD Anderson, which is a hospital that specializes in cancers and cancer treatments.

After even more blood testing, our newest in a long slew of doctors recommended that Bug have a bone marrow biopsy to determine what was making him sick... and we did the biopsy yesterday (Monday) afternoon, and the results came back a few hours later.

Long story short, my son has leukemia.

We don't know what type of leukemia he has yet... but we should find out sometime later today (Tuesday) or Wednesday, and once we know exactly what it is we will go from there. He is supposed to go in for a spinal tap (to see if the leukemia has infected his central nervous system) and his first chemotherapy treatment sometime today, as well.

That said... I probably won't be around much for the next few weeks. I will try to keep checking in but things are pretty rough right now and I have so much on my mind...

Please just keep us in your thoughts and prayers.


Edit: Most of my updates will be on Facebook.

"Dear Mr. Alarm Clock,

I so hate your guts right now..."


Of course, that was after about two hours of sleep and waking up to a really bad headache. x____x

The Phineas & Ferb movie.... BEST THING EVER!!!! XD