No where to go but up

Joel had blood work done again on Monday to see if he was ready to start treatment again.   The results were interesting, to say the least.
Hemaglobin was 118, up from 97 the week before.  Anything over 100 means his mood is good.
Platelets were 444, up from 235.  They are almost in the normal range.
White blood count was 1.3, up from 1.1.
ANC dropped again to 0.03, down from 0.2.  They needed to be above .75 in order to start treatment.  Joel's nurse said that they can only go up now….. but I think she said that last week too.   So, with the ANC this low he is at a very high risk of catching any kind of infection and getting a fever would be extremely dangerous.  I am doing my best to keep him close to home and if he goes out he must wear a mask (please yell at him if you see him out without one).
So, on the positive side, Joel gets to spend at least another week at home.  He will have blood work done again on Monday March 28th to see where he is at.  The nausea started to disappear on Sunday so he is back to eating three meals a day again.  This morning he even cooked himself breakfast, always a good sign.
The side effects from the vincristine seem to be wearing off.  This morning he ran up the stairs two at a time.  He tried that once shortly after getting chemo and it didn't work very well.  He has also gotten the feeling back in his fingers so he has been playing his guitar more.  His hair has grown another 1/8th of an inch.  It is all good.

Adam convinced his brothers to join his diabolical plot to take over the world.  It ended in a three way tie.  They agreed to peacefully walk away and work together……. for now.   Joel put up the trampoline and now Adam is up to his old tricks, jumping out of the tree and onto the trampoline……..