Update: Delayed Intensification Month 2

I've lost count of what week of this process we're on....but we're in the second half of Delayed Intensification (DI). Here's an update on the first half.

• Steroid reintroduced. Just as before, it made Levi withdrawn, extremely hungry (the only thing he'd talk about), easily frustrated, etc. Dex is a tough medicine. 
• One hospital stay. Levi started to have a 99-100 temp one day....and towards the end of the day, it went to 101 (at 5 pm after clinic closed), so we had to admit him. He never had a temp over 100 while we were there, but we always have to play it safe with his port. Luckily, it was probably an ear infection (which he hasn't had since he was a baby?!) and we were out in 24 hrs.
• It snowed/iced. Gave us a great excuse to lay around and watch movies and not stress about missing out on anything.
• Levi lost his hair. Exactly 3 weeks from Day 1 of DI, Levi lost his hair. Basically, he went to bed and woke up with hair all over his sheets and a bald head. He did have a spot left on the back of his head which Drew shaved off....so his hair is officially gone. Levi seemed to notice more than I thought he would. For example, we caught him starring at himself in the mirror. He told us he missed his hair. He asked me if I liked my hair and said I had nice hair - he never talks about my hair. So he thinks about it. He wants it to grow back...and it will. But my heart aches for the Mom's of girls with full heads of hair....yes, it's just hair but it's apart of who you are and what you see every day. 
• We're not living in a bubble. Yes, I would love to put Levi in one and lock him in his room. Actually, I want to put him back in my belly and keep him protected and safe, like he was when I was pregnant with him. But we're still getting him out and about - safely. Example: we go to the park in our neighborhood...no kids are ever there and we pour on the sanitizer. He plays tennis outside (fresh air), Drew takes him to Lowes as long as he stays in the cart and uses sanitizer, he runs to Starbucks with me, he runs around with Nana and Maw Maw during the week ------ so, he gets out and about...even during DI. 
• It's bad (it's cancer treatment) but we're strong and happy. I have been fearing this phase since the beginning. The first month was hard - see steroid bullet above and the last post - but we're staying strong as a family. It takes a strong, united family to get someone through cancer - that I have learned. Levi needs us. We need our family. We are staying strong together.

Part II of DI has begun. We had a four day delay last week due to Levi's counts being too low (likely from a cold). This week he wasn't "count dependent" to receive chemo so he received his ARA-C and we'll administrator ourselves (yes, we have to give him shots!) at home. We actually did this last week as well and it went okay - better than I could've imagined. He also received a spinal chemo last week. And today at clinic he had to get a blood transfusion. I thought we would be in and out in a couple hours today - instead, due to the transfusion, we were there most of the day.

And that's where we are. I cannot say enough about Levi's strength and his positive personality. He is just a ball of energy. If you saw him, you would never think he had low counts and needed a blood transfusion. He's just pushing through. WE ARE SO PROUD of him. He is amazing.

Handsome - with or without hair!

Finding our zen together (figure fours)

At the hospital with a goldie trained to make sick kids happy! And their Mom's too!