Still testing

Late last night we got encouraging news from Hunter's spinal MRI.  His spine looked completely clear and healthy.  This ruled out many life threatening situations and long term damage.  All his blood tests, chest x-rays, and head CT scans look good.  But he still can't walk a straight line.  Think baby zebra trying to walk for the first time.  His legs lock and unlock and he can't really control it.  I tried to take a video of him walking, but Hunter didn't appreciate that very much.

The neuro team came by this morning for a consult, and put Hunter through lots of strength and sensation drills.  Most of his weakness is in his quads.  He feet have hurt and been numb for a while from the chemo, so that's not really new.  Everything seemed fairly normal until he got out of bed and tried to walk.  He doesn't really fit a pattern for any diagnosis at this point.  She didn't really rule out Guillain-Barr Syndrome, but those symptoms usually progress up your body and Hunter's came on all at once and aren't above his waist.  So, we are still testing.  He will have a Lumbar Puncture and a nerve conduction study.  Some of the LP results will come back within a couple hours, and some specialized viral studies will take up to 48 hours.  We will probably be here at least that long.

Hunter isn't hurting and he is stable.  Hopefully his LP will be today and we will know a little more later this evening, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  We are receiving excellent care here.  Our boys are happy and loving some extra time with Aunt E, Michael, and Aunt Diann.  I dropped them off with 5 minutes warning with Erin with only their jackets and sippy cups and raced out of town.  We are blessed to have lots of people who love our guys.


Not even snow can keep Hanner boys from the donut shop!

There are obviously a lot of unanswered questions for Hunter right now.  We are praying that whatever this is goes away quickly with an easy fix.  We know that God hears our prayers.  It is a comfort to us to know that prayers are being offered on behalf of our family by many of our friends.  Specifically, we ask that the LP goes well and provides some clues as to why Hunter is experiencing these strange symptoms.  We also ask for wisdom for those treating him.  It is a blessing to be a part of a community of faith who has supported us for so long.  Stay warm!