This is just a random picture that was taken of Joel the day before Christmas.

It really looks like he is arguing with Mrs. Clause.

Anyway, it made me laugh.  Howl actually.

Yesterday Joel spent the day at the hospital getting a couple of transfusions.  It took about 8 hours.  His count have started dropping rather quickly.  A week ago his hemaglobin was at 104 and yesterday it was at 89.  After 2 transfusions it was back up to 101.  Last Tuesday his platelets were at 176 and by Monday they had dropped to 32.  After the transfusion they were up to 58.  His white cell count went from 2.2 to 1.8 which is still alright.  They don't do white cell transfusions anyway cause those cells only live for up to 48 hours.  His ANC has gone from 1.72 to 1.16.  His weight has gone up a bit but he also seems to have shrunk????? Maybe they just measured wrong.  He had two more kinds of chemo today so his counts will continue to drop but the ANC is still above 1 which means that he is ok to go to the hockey game tonight.  The game is just for all the teens so Grant will drop him and the other kids from RM house off at the Hospital.  From there they will all take a shuttle to the game.  Because all of the kids are immune compromised to some degree, they get to watch the game from one of the boxes.  They also have several nurses who attend with them which makes me feel better as Joel will need to be monitored for any reactions from the chemo he received earlier in the day.

Then on Wednesday, if the weather behaves, Joel and Grant will head home.  His chemo treatment for next week has already been booked and will happen in Vernon.  This is the part of treatment we have been looking forward to.  He has at least 2 whole weeks at home, maybe longer if his counts don't recover on time.  We will take what ever we can get.