8

Hayden is 8! He had a great birthday on Monday - we celebrated with family and friends and he got lots of amazing gifts.

Eight is considered a lucky number in more than one culture...not ours, but at this point, what the hell...let's go with the lucky 8 thing:

• Hayden's neutrophil count yesterday was .44 (4+4=8)
• His next appointment is July 28 (8 is the last digit in 28)
• His name starts with the 8th letter of the alphabet0
  

I may be stretching the limits of numerology here but maybe we're on to something. I guess we'll find out next Tuesday - that's when we go for another blood test and get the results of today's bone marrow tests. If his neutrophil count is at least .75, he'll be admitted to begin the second round of chemo in this ever-lasting Delayed Intensification (DI) treatment phase. The bone marrow tests are more of precaution to make sure there's nothing funny going on in there. It's hard not to worry, but we've had delays before and they did similar tests that turned out fine. Today's procedure was painful because they did a biopsy, but morphine fixed him up and he was riding his bike a few hours later.

We have about 4 weeks left in DI - one measly month until we're in the maintenance phase! Everyone is eager to get going...except Hayden. He's quite content to stay chemo-free for a while longer. For him, the only downside is that he's neutropenic so he can't go out - which means he can't see Transformers. Plus we had to re-schedule his kids' birthday party because laser tag at FunFX is out of the question right now. But still, I wonder if he's somehow holding out on us...