February 20 - Blood Work

February 20 - Blood Work

We got to the hospital this morning and Levi wanted to visit the blue emergency light, so we said hi to it and looked at it. Then we went inside and Levi saw that his fountain was working and he yelled "MY FOUNTAIN IS RUNNING!!" and went running for it! I swear everyone on the first floor of the hospital probably heard him. He was standing at his fountain when Donut Lady came over to see him and gave him a big hug. He gave her one too, and almost knocked her over. She said that she had something for him and we headed over to the cafe. She had a chocolate bear for him. He was very excited and gave her another big hug and said "Happy Valentine's Day!" and "Thank You!"

We got over to the lab and the door was closed to go inside. Levi was very upset and asked me if they were closed. I said they weren't as I could hear P's voice inside. I signed Levi in and we set down. He took some cute pictures with his bear.

Then Levi wanted to take his selfies. He figured out that if he held the button down it would flash. I didn't realize that my phone is taken constant pictures when he does that until I looked at my pictures later and saw that I have 47 pictures that look a lot like this one, or with his tongue stuck out!

Then he started playing Fruit Ninja when an announcement came over that "Code Red over... Code Red Cancelled". So not sure what that was about, hopefully it was just a drill. Then one of the regular ladies came out and talked to Levi for a minute. Then P called Levi in. He went right into her office to say hi. She opened her snack drawer and he was checking them all out. She said "Do you want one?" and he didn't answer for a minute, just kept looking at them all and then said "Nope" and walked off to the band-aids. It was cute!

He picked out another Rocky PAW Patrol band-aid. There is now only one left in the new box!

Then he climbed up in the chair for the blood draw and to play on the tablet. He played PBS Kids and sent Daniel Tiger into outer space. The blood draw went super quick today and no problems at all. Then we were off to the treasure box. He really struggled to decide what he wanted today. But ended up with a red and blue truck.

Then we were off to school! And the little bugger is super adorable and "convinced" me that he needed to eat some of his chocolate bear for breakfast! So he did on the way to school!

Counts came in crazy early this morning at 235!! Wow a huge increase! We are now 6 weeks out from an infusion and still well over 200! That's amazing! The fax then came in 2 more times! No idea why. The lab is so strange, some days we don't get the fax at all, some days it take hours, some days it comes in crazy fast, and sometimes we get it several times. Their system definitely needs help.

Next Plan: Levi has an endocrinology appointment tomorrow and then blood work again on Thursday, which will probably involve an endo lab to check his counts again to make sure his synthroid level is correct.

February 15 - Blood Work

February 15 - Blood Work

Happy Thursday! This week has been crazy, but at least we are on the back side of it and are sliding closer to the weekend.

We got to the hospital and Levi ran to his fountain.

Today we decided to stop saying hi to the bubbles, and instead to pop them! It was cute. But I had to stop it fairly quickly before he got his sleeve wet.

We got over to the lab and there was a short wait, just one person inside, so Levi set down to wait. He was curious why there was a plastic sheet up. I explained that they are doing construction and he wanted to go see it, and was a little disappointed when he couldn't.

Once we got inside he picked his band-aid and once again picked a Rocky band-aid. This new box of PAW Patrol band-aids isn't going to last long with Rocky band-aids in it, there really should be more then 4 band-aids with Rocky on them in the box!

The blood draw went great as always and then we headed to the treasure box. Levi took a long time to decide what he wanted today, but he finally settled on a toy, and then we were off to see the Donut Lady! He was so excited to see her and he did a great job waiting in line. He ordered and paid all by himself. He is getting so big! The Donut Lady was upset because she had a Valentine's present for Levi but she couldn't find it and felt like she must have left it at home. I said that we would be back next week! Levi lugged his donut to the car!

Today he did something he hasn't done in awhile which is to eat only the top half of the donut. He ate all the frosting and jimmies off and half of the donut. It's cute, but super messy! His face gets covered in chocolate.

Counts came in pretty quick again today and were 218!! Woo Hoo!! An awesome number!

Next Plan: Due to the long weekend and me and Levi's travel plans, and the fact that his counts are still amazing we have decided to push blood work off until Tuesday. Otherwise Levi and I have to rush back on Monday from Grammie and Grampa's house and that just doesn't seem fun. Of course if we think that anything is off over the weekend we will come back early enough on Monday to do blood work, but hopefully everything will go well.

February 12 - Blood Work

February 12 - Blood Work

We got to the hospital and Levi was in a pretty good mood. He was excited that his fountain was working and went running over to say hi to the bubbles!

Then we headed over to the lab. There was no line or waiting so we headed right in for Levi to pick out his band-aid. P had bought a brand new box of Paw Patrol band-aids! Not because the box was empty, but because Levi had used all of the Rocky ones! She really does love the little guy. He was so excited to get another Rocky band-aid!

The blood draw went fairly well. They are getting a little harder as the scar tissue builds up, but they are going well still. Levi loves playing Mr. Potato Head on the tablet. He gets to change him from his normal wear into pirate wear and he loves doing it.

Since there was no one waiting after Levi he was able to finish building his pirate and that made him happy. He wanted to show it off, of course it turned when I took the picture, but this is the back of his pirate.

Then Levi was off to the treasure box. He found a transforming dinosaur! And boy was he excited. He opened it up right away and was transforming him the whole way to the car.

Counts came in fairly early which was nice and he is up to 224!! Which is amazing and exactly what we needed. We have a busy week and having to add a trip to Lebanon in there would have been a nightmare, so thankfully we don't have too!

Next Plan: Blood Work again on Thursday.

February 8 - Blood Work

February 8 - Blood Work

Happy Thursday! With yesterday's storm came crummy roads this morning. The highway was at 35mph in both lanes and you really couldn't go faster then that with the ruts, slush, chunks, and ice. It was a nice mix of everything. And of course this was the morning that Levi's movie wouldn't start, a combination of bitter cold and changing of DVD due to miscommunication and we had no movie! Levi was pretty good once I put on his Pandora songs, but he just doesn't understand that Mommy has to concentrate and traffic when driving. But we made it! Took about 40 minutes compared to the normal 25, so was rough!

We had to feed the blue box again today! Man we use a lot of medication, or maybe we are just cleaning out all the old stuff a lot. Anyways, Levi was excited to feed him, and in his words "He can eat the yucky pink meds! I don't like them!!" He shut it hard to make sure they were gone, and then opened it to peer in and make double sure he had eaten them. Poor guy, little does he know I will be refilling the "yucky pink meds" to take again on Thursday.

 Then it was off to check on our fountain. He was running back and forth and looking up saying "It's the biggest indoor fountain ever! It's so HUGE!"

 We got over to the lab and there was only a small wait. No one in the waiting room, but there was someone inside in the chair so we settled in to wait for a few minutes. Levi smiled for a picture!

 Then he took my phone and took a few pictures himself.

If you like this picture, my phone currently has 14 of them with only minor changes in between. Levi click click clicked the button!

 As we were waiting to get called in an elderly lady came out. Levi said "I have a joke" and she said "You do!" and he said "Yup, Why do fish swim in salt water?" she just grinned, not sure she completely heard him, and he said "Cause pepper water makes them sneeze!" and laughed his little bum off, she grinned too, and told him how smart he was and funny! It made his day! Then he was back to playing PJ Masks on my phone.

Then it was our turn to go in. P wasn't there today, instead we had L. She has drawn Levi before and does a good job with the draw part, but she struggles with letting him pick out his own band-aid, say his own birthday numbers, and get into the treasure box by himself.

The draw itself went pretty easy. We didn't even set up a tablet or phone today, he just set there, and he did really well.

Then he was off to the treasure box. P had told him on Monday that the glow sticks with characters on the top were straws, and he is convinced that they are. He saw the avengers one right one top of the box, but he wanted the spider man one that he had seen on Monday. We dug around in the box and I was pretty convinced it had been taken by someone else and was prepared to convince him to take the avengers or princess one, when I saw that package way at the bottom. He was pretty stoked!

 Then because he has been such a good boy this week and had such an amazing week he got to get a donut. He "pays for" his own donuts now which is a great lesson in money. He knows that he needs one dollar and one quarter and he helps find them in my car in the morning and then pays the Donut Lady. And says please and Thank you. It's a really good lesson for him.

Then we were off to preschool. We spent a few minutes in the parking garage and I got his movie going now that the movie player had warmed up, which made the drive to school less stressful. The roads were still just as crummy.

The fax never came in today. But at least the numbers were faxed to our doctor and Nurse J called us around 11:45 with the counts. His numbers are 184!! Woo Hoo a 20 point increase since Monday! Hopefully we will stay up for quite awhile.

Next Steps: Blood Work again on Monday.

February 5 - Blood Work

February 5 - Blood Work

Happy Monday! The start to another week! Levi was so excited to see his fountain this morning that he put his fingers right in! He told me the water was warm.

 Then we went over to the lab. There was no line so he went right in to pick out his band-aid.

 P was back! Levi was so excited to see her. That also means the tablet was back. Levi spent today playing Mr. Potato Head. I love how they have made real toys into tablet games now.

The blood draw went pretty quick and easy. P is good with him. It went so fast he didn't have time to fully dress his Potato Head. He was very upset by this and wanted to keep playing, but I told him it was treasure box time. He protested a little but then headed to the treasure box. While Levi was digging thru it and literally pulling everything out and putting it on the floor, P and I talked about how it had gotten full in the middle of her vacation she said "Yea, I came over Wednesday night, I couldn't leave it empty for my Levi!" Oh! So cute! She really does love him. Finally Levi settled on another spinner and we were out the door.

He asked for a donut, but I said no, and he didn't protest at all. It was great! And then we were off to preschool.

Counts came in really early again which was great! However his count has fallen to 164. A large fall since Thursday, but still a good number. All of his other numbers (WBC, RBC, HCT, etc) were normal so it was interesting to have such a large drop. We shall see what Thursdays counts bring. Hopefully its just a short drop and we will be back up next week and avoid an infusion for a few more weeks!

Next Plan: Blood Draw again on Thursday! Fingers crossed our counts stay up!

February 1 - Blood Work

February 1 - Blood Work

Happy Birthday Daddy!!! Hope you have a great day!!

We got to the lab and his fountain was working! He was very happy! Here he is pointing to tell you where the water comes from!

 We got over to the lab and there was no waiting, but Levi had climbed up in the empty waiting room chair so I snapped a quick pictures.

 He got inside and picked out his band-aid.

 Then he climbed up in the chair and I asked him to smile so I could take a picture of his astronaut shirt. He said "Hold On, I gotta put this down" It made me giggle cause with the arm down I can't really see his sweatshirt, but he was so proud of himself. And it does show me how big he is getting!! I remember when I had him curled up on me for blood work! And now he fits in the chair!!!

 Since P is still on vacation we had S today. She has done Levi before and is very good with him. We couldn't get the tablet working, but Levi happily played puzzles on my phone. The blood draw went ok, but he did say "ouch!" she looked concerned and asked me if we had been having issues. I told her that there is some scar tissue building up and it is bothering him a little more lately. She was still so proud and amazed at how he did.

Then he was off to the treasure box. Wait a minute! The treasure box is full! P must have snuck in during her vacation to refill it!! She really does love Levi and the other kids that come in. It took Levi a few minutes to pick but he settled on a table game of pool. This should be an interesting choice!

 Then we were off to get a donut! Levi did so well in the morning and has had such a good week I told him we could get one. There was a bit of a wait, so it gave me a second to get a better picture of Levi's sweatshirt. I present to you: Astronaut Levi!

 When we got up to the counter there were no sprinkle donuts. But since the Donut Lady and I had been texting yesterday she knew we were coming in today so I was shocked. I told Levi to get low and look in the case under all the display racks, and sure enough there was a sprinkle donut on a plate hidden under there waiting for him! He was so excited! The donut lady really likes him too!

Then we were off to preschool with our donut.

Counts came in crazy early this morning!! And his counts have gone up!!! WOO HOO!! Hopefully that means we are going to have a nice long wait between infusions! That will be really good for all of us all around. His counts today were 207.

Next Plan: Blood Work again on Monday.