Day 433, On his own

Hunter has felt great the past few weeks.  We had a checkup in Houston last Thursday, and his blood counts looked perfect.  He has also been able to put on a little weight.  His platelets were 400, which is the very high end of normal.  Dr. Carrum reduced his steroids in half to 10 mg and stopped his Nplate shots that were stimulating his marrow to make extra platelets.  He said to expect his platelet count to come down without the shot, and it was 199 yesterday.  We are praying he does well on his own!  

Before his ITP episode his platelets always ran right around 150, so hopefully he levels out around there without the boost of the Nplate.  Just to be safe, Hunter is going to stay on his 10 mg of steroids instead of reducing again to make sure he's not destroying a little bit.  Right now the plan is for him to stay on a low dose of steroids even as he weans off his rejection medicine in the upcoming months.  We are trying to not look too far ahead.  Hunter has been to sleep before midnight for the first time in months, so he's not too upset about staying on the same steroid dose for a few more weeks.  

The only picture from our trip...waiting in clinic we watched the USA vs Ghana soccer game.  Hunter will be mask free soon!

Right after his checkup we hit the road back to Abilene.  Summer is typically one of the most busy times at the dealership, and this year is no different.  Add in that half of Abilene was hit by baseball size hail and had their vehicles totaled, and that makes for lots of people needing something to drive.  Benton also had his end of season baseball tournament.  He was very sad for his season to be over.  The rest of the family....not so much.  It's hot out!  Benton played the last few games at catcher, which was really good for his {lack of} attention to the action on the field.  He is very proud of his medal and wants to play again next year.

 The boys and I have been enjoying all our free time this summer.  Most days we end up at a park or in the water, so you can't beat that!  Benton will be back in school before I know it, so we're making the most of our days together.

rides with Poppa!

pizza with their toes in the water

there's a good reason we're not wearing clothes for this meal

 The boys and I sadly said goodbye to Erinn for the next month.  Last year she didn't go home to Tennessee much during her summer break and took care of our guys while we were still in Houston.  Thankfully, this year is much improved around here!  It's awful quiet in our guest house without her!

 The twins also got their first taste of Chuck E Cheese tagging along to a birthday party with Benton.  Safe to say they think it's the best place in town.  Caleb has suggested we go there every day for the last week.  No thanks, buddy!

 In other medical news, our puppy Booger was having some digestive problems that resulted in exploratory surgery.  Two days later, our vet found the culprit.  No more rawhides at our house!  Thankfully he feels fine, but still hasn't figured out how to avoid walls and anything else in the path of his cone.

rare moment--all touching, no one screaming;)

 Lots of cousin fun has been had!  Two hours on the water slide, a little rest, ice cream social and church, then the playground.  I wish I had their energy!  I was tired just watching them.

Thanks for our cute shirts Honey!

    God bless the USA!  Land of the free because of the brave!