Updating....

Being at the hospital this round has been harder for me than for Jackson. At first I was very depressed, especially since they stuck us in the same room, so it really felt like we never even left. It has been hard for me to have my family apart... we are usually a do-everything-together type of family, so being apart is difficult to say the least.

Jackson has been doing really well so far. He has to do special mouth wash 4 times a day, and he hates it, but he complies. He is currently on 4 different antibiotics as a preventative measure. He survived the 3-a-day showers that he had to do for the first 4 days of our hospital stay, and thankfully his skin didn't dry out as badly as it did on the last round, and he doesn't have scabs around his central line site.

Jackson's ANC hit zero on day +4 (today is day +6) so this is when things start to get a little scary. The ANC number refers to Jacksons ability to fight infection... zero means just that; he has zero ability to fight infections right now. Because of his ANC being at zero, we are being extremely cautious about hand sanitizing and keeping germs out of his little room.

Even with his ANC being zero, we are still allowing some very special visitors come and see Jackson. Yesterday Jackson was surprised by two of the Utah Highway Patrol who came for a visit. They brought him a little bear and a squishy cop car. He was so excited to see them.

I also have heard that he will be getting a special visit from Santa this week- Jackson is so excited, but also a little bit nervous.

Jackson and I have stayed busy at the hospital crafting. The nurses call Jackson's room "Santa's Workshop" because we're always making some sort of Christmas decoration to hang on the walls. We've made mittens, candy canes, Christmas trees, ornaments, paper chains, snowflakes, reindeer and even a sleigh. We've been very busy doing lots of Christmas type crafts. Yesterday while we were crafting, I was impressed that this time with Jackson is such a special gift. Not many 6 year olds will sit down and do craft project after craft project with their mom. I feel so blessed to be able to spend this time with him. And believe it or not, this time we've been in the hospital has made me feel the Christmas spirit more than if we had been at home. I think this time at the hospital has forced us to slow down and to prioritize what is really important.

Oh yes, one more thing...

We're right on track, and the doctors think Jackson will be home on Christmas! What a wonderful present!