Not much new to report.  Cutler continues to please the doctors with his progress.  Thanks to the steroids his mucisitis seems to have cut back.  He still has a lot of slobber/mucus, but is not choking and vomiting it the way he was before.  The doctors do plan on tapering him off the steroids over the next few days and potentially the pain meds as well.  He isn’t on a high dose of the pain meds as it is, so it will be a quick road off of them.  His blood tests have shown 200 white cells the past two days, but this is virtually zero and could possibly drop to zero again without concerning the doctors.  Dr Lenarski did mention that this could be a sign that the transplanted cells are starting to grow, but we still won’t know more for another week or two.

Tonight when I got here he was in a great mood and showed a lot of the old playful Cutler from pre chemo times, but does tire quicker than before.  This doesn’t alarm us at all considering all of the medicine he takes and the fact that he isn’t eating.  I am sure the TPN bag gives him the necessary nutrients, but probably doesn’t give him the energy that his bottles used to.  The one thing new that he has started to do is give a really good strong hug.  I am not sure if it is what he intends to do, but he is quick to grab on and lay his head on my shoulder and just squeeze.  For now I will believe that he knows he is giving his dad a bear hug.

Big day tomorrow for Mason and I as he has his second indoor soccer game of the season and then we have a Stars game at 2 and then back to the hospital for me.  Plan on bringing Mason up here with me so that he can see Cutler through the window.  We haven’t told him yet, but I am looking forward to the excitement and unfortunately the disappointment when he sees that there isn’t a play room like there was in the other building.  🙂 

By the way, here is a link to Lucas’s web site for updates.  He is Cutler’s “cancer twin”.  He has been through a much rougher road than Cutler, but it looks like the transplant was a success as they did a test on the blood and his new cells are from the transplanted cells and he is leukemia free.  His biggest obstacle to get home now is starting to eat again.  Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lucasgebert