I'm thinking of a #...

...between 1 and 1.5.

That's the ideal neutrophil range for Hayden. He's at 1.4. Yay! Awesome because: 1) he has an immune system; 2) we don't have to adjust his chemo doses; and 3) we don't have to go to clinic next week.

Hayden went to tae-kwon-do class on Monday. It must be a day to hit the restart button because it was exactly a year ago that he returned to grade 2. I know that because I went back and read old blogs - yikes. People used to say, 'I don't know how you do it' and I remember thinking how the complete lack of choice rendered the remark absolutely pointless. But, looking back...I don't know how we did it. It was a nightmare for all of us - many of you readers and certainly all of Hayden's family. I'm not going to say that we're out of the woods yet, but there's no denying that things are immeasurably better than a year ago.

And now the young lad wants to play hockey. Maybe his buddy Dane can can give him some pointers. Dane was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after Hayden and he's playing 8A1 hockey...most impressive. So, we got Hayden new skates and we've been out at St. Vital arena with Jesse and family once so far (also friends through CancerCare) and we're hitting the rink again this Sunday. Hayden didn't skate at all last year so he's got some catching up to do. But I'd say his mobility is at about 90% so the rest will likely come with a little work. And he's still in archery.

As the archer dudes (and Grandpa) say...until next time, tight lines and straight shooting.

PS: my sincerest apologies to all of the snowmobilers (which now includes my son) for wishing for warm weather...who knew? Even deeper apologies for loving this heat wave.