March 24 - The battle continues

There's so much to say, I don't even know where to start! Oliver has been busy making platelets, yesterday they were at 30,000; today they were at 22,000. I mentioned before that Oliver has a blood infection. In order to be declared cleared of the infection he needs to have three blood cultures in a row come back negative. Yesterday the blood culture from a few days ago grew some bacteria which proves his blood is still infected. There is some concern that the PICC could be responsible for the infection so it was removed this morning. He is scheduled to have a new PICC placed tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime he has an IV in his leg. The nurse said he didn't even cry when they placed the IV. He is a tough little cookie!

The results of Oliver's EKG came back and there were some waves in the reading...I have absolutely no idea what this means, but they are repeating the EKG this week. I'd be lying if I said this didn't have me worried-but if there's one thing I've learned through this it's not to get worked up about the 'could have's'...so often the tests come back and there's nothing to get excited about.
< br /> We haven't heard anything more about the Niemann Pick test that's out, or the HLH tests...Jack and Jillian arrived last night. It feels so good to have our family together. I asked Oliver's Doctors how long we should expect to stay in the Seattle area-they can't give us a very good estimate, but the Hematologist said he'd expect to see us stay in the hospital for a few more weeks and then stay outpatient (but close) for a few more weeks...maybe plan on 2-3 more months. All I could do is take a deep breath and let it sink in. It is incredibly difficult to be so far from home. It is even more difficult having our family split up. Sean and I are thinking of ways to have Jack and Jillian finish school from Seattle. Please keep praying for our family. Through all the scary stuff we are still holding strong-keeping our hearts full of love and gratitude for the people we are blessed to have in our lives. We are doing our best to cherish every moment we have together.