Tate’s blood test results are in, and they show his body should be able to metabolize the Mercaptopurine normally. There is no explanation for why his immune system crashed so hard for so long. His doctor instructed us to resume giving him nightly chemo, but at half the dose....

The Nurse Practitioner Angie called this morning with the results from Tate’s bone marrow test. He is still in remission! “Everything’s all clear” is what she said exactly. No evidence of cancerous cells was detected. Not only that, the pathologist noted that the kind of cells Tate needs to...

It finally happened. Tate got sick. He started coughing in the early evening yesterday and said his throat tickled. This morning his cough and sore throat were worse. So far no fever! So far nothing, actually. I talked to his nurse today, and she said to treat the symptoms...

The good news from Tate’s appointment yesterday is that the pathologist did not find any blasts (bad cells) in Tate’s blood. Hooray! The concerning news is that his ANC has dropped to 50. The oncologist has ordered two tests to try to figure out what is causing his ANC...

Easter was pretty silly at our house. My mom brought over ham, hash browns, and mimosa ingredients (so basically everything), and we had a late, leisurely brunch. Scott and Tate pulled bottles of ridiculously spicy hot sauce from the fridge, and we tried them all, not stopping until until,...

Things didn’t go how we wanted them to this week, and we do not know which direction Tate’s treatment is headed. Tate has an appointment with his oncologist Monday morning. We hope to learn more. We hope the news is better. Tate is doing awesome. He had school lessons...

The way the Tate’s appointments are structured, a nurse draws his blood shortly after we arrive, and the results come in while the doctor or Nurse Practitioner is performing the exam. Today I knew something was wrong when the Nurse Practitioner glanced at her laptop and quickly excused herself....

Months ago, when Tate was hospitalized for 11 days, I had a very emotional exchange with one of Tate’s friend’s moms via text message. Tate was in so much pain he could barely move; he couldn’t raise his arm off the bed, he needed help to get into a...

Tate’s ANC is 300 today, which is 6 lower than it was two weeks ago. If you’re keeping track, you know that means it went the wrong direction. The Nurse Practitioner Angie assured us she didn’t see anything alarming in his blood work. His hemoglobin, platelets, and monocytes (a...

Greg and I were hoping Tate would bounce back a little quicker after his last chemotherapy appointment since it didn’t include a spinal tap, but he did not. It still took a full eight days for him to look and sound like himself. We have treatment weeks pretty well...