5:30 a.m. Bennett’s ANC went from 312 to 435! Amen! His hemoglobin went up from 9.4 to 10.8! Platelets went up from 39 to 43! White blood cells went up from 1.2 to 1.5! And neutrophils went up from 26 to 29. Temperature went down to 99.2! We will have to wait until the Dr. does rounds to see if Bennett can be discharged. I was at peace with this whole stay. We knew it was going to happen eventually, we wanted his counts to drop and hopefully this means that this last hard chemo and radiation has killed all of those nasty leukemia cells! Praising God for his Glory!

His counts bottomed out and are recovering faster than ever before. I was reading the allergic re-actions to a blood transfusion last night, Bennett’s 3 out of 4 symptoms were on the list: chills, fever, back pain. And the very low anc I believe just added to this. The leg pain was probably from the vincristine chemo. He has been on a small dose pain pill of neurontin since he was admitted because he will be receiving one more dose of vincristine on Tuesday.

*9:45 a.m. We’re coming home! God has a way of blessing us. Our holidays have sure been different the past year but we have been blessed by being discharged right before Christmas and Easter. Bennett’s temp was 98.8. I started worrying that the cultures might come back with something but so far so good. They will actually keep testing them for a week to make sure no bacteria grows. We are waiting for discharge papers. This could of turned into something so much more serious so we are thanking God for another successful turnout!

*8:30 p.m. We made it home around 12:30 today. Bennett is feeling good. He didn’t even go to bed! He sat in the living room and in his bed room but didn’t take a nap. I was worried because at the hospital, he didn’t get up for 4 days. We still have to be very careful because his ANC is still very low and praying he doesn’t get anymore fevers.

Bennett noticed today when he grabbed his pillow that quite a bit of hair was on his pillow. I was wondering how long his longer hair was going to stick around! He asked me to shave it tonight. This is the third time he has lost his hair but we are hoping it is the last. He did eat some today. A few bites here and there so he has a ways to go to get his appetite back.

Thank you everyone for being a part of our trying journey. You are witnessing a blessing and miracle from God – his name is Bennett Page!