Jackson lucked out and had a really easy blood draw last week.  It was the best he'd ever had.  They did something called a finger prick instead of going after his vein.  Worked great.  Good job Jack!  He's had a couple of really good days recently.  However, he's had some not so good days as well.  The little guy is just doing his best trying to recover from the surgeries, the chemotherapy, the bone-marrow transplants, the radiation, and all of the physical and psychological effects these aggressive treatments have had on him.  He doesn't speak much, and he's fairly irritable at times, but his energy is picking up little by little.  We do expect another decrease in energy sometime in the next few weeks when the last round of chemo catches up with him, though...

 This week he has a lot more going on than lsat week.  He has multiple blood draws (which will likely require far more blood than a finger prick can yield unfortunately) and doctors appointments in SF.  He will have his first meeting with a special pediatric endocrinologist on Wednesday because his prior treatments cause hormone/growth problems and they want to stay on top of it even at this early age.  He will also have to have another IV put in so that they can give him his bi-weekly immune system infusions at the clinic.  After the IV goes in, though, it's pretty much just sitting there watching "Tigger" on TV until the infusions are done (anywhere from two to four hours each).    

One appointment we are looking forward to this week is with his bone-marrow doctor.  She is the one who performed the high-dose chemo + stem-cell transplants late last year, and the one who has placed all the restrictions on his diet and lifestyle as we wait for his immune system to get back on track.  We are hoping that his blood tests demonstrate enough progress that she can start to remove some of his restrictions!  

Jackson, Wyatt, Keri and I thank you so much for keeping up with us, for being true members of Team Jackson, and for keeping our spirits up by signing in!