Rough morning

They have been tracking Ben's blood cell counts pretty closely. As intended his treatment has caused his white blood cell count to plummet to nothing (less than 1% yesterday). So obviously he has no defenses to fight off any infections. This morning he woke up and was pretty pale, very lethargic, and had a fever. Cari and he are checked into the hospital where he is getting a dose of antibiotics and they are working on getting rid of what ever it is that he has come in contact with.

They are waiting on labs now but it looks like they will be in the hospital for a couple of days. We don't yet know if this will set back the timelines for his stem cell harvest or his next dose of medication. It will all depend on how he responds to the antibiotics and how fast his cell counts improve.

I spoke to grandma this morning and it has been kind of unreal to this point. Ben has been so full of life and energy and playing as hard as he can with his siblings. This morning it got real. There he was, a sick little boy looking pretty helpless and resting on his mother’s shoulder. This is not unexpected, just obviously not hoped for.

We extremely grateful for your continued thoughts and prayers!