Good news on a few fronts

Good news on a few fronts:

1) Jon last took Tylenol last night at 8pm, and has not had a fever since - past the usual 8 hour spike. This morning his temperature is much closer to normal on its own, and heart-rate is lower as well, following its trend of accompanying the temperature. While the doctors told us fever might return, he seemed to think that wouldn't influence our trajectory for discharge. All things we're celebrating!

2) Streptococcus Pneumoniae bacteria showed up positive in one of his samples - confirming the diagnosis as a bacterial pneumonia. This is good news on a few fronts - it's very treatable with an oral antibiotic and it's commonly vaccinated against in the general population, with the Prevnar/Pneumococcal vaccine (meaning, most likely, the kids and the general population have some immunity to it - Jon was extra susceptible because of his immunocompromised state)

3) Doctors told us this morning on rounds that, assuming Jon's numbers continue to look good and he stays stable as they eliminate the IV antibiotic and switch him fully to the oral antibiotic, most likely, we will be discharged tomorrow morning! [They reassured him, they will endeavor to make sure it's not at 3pm in the middle of the Pats game!] He'll then be on the oral antibiotic for a week.

The only thing we're still waiting and watching to see is whether or not this illness will affect the start date of his final round of chemo - he's supposed to go in for round #6 on Friday. If he's back to normal health, he'll continue as planned - his blood counts are pretty much back to normal . If he is still coughing a lot or still showing signs of the pneumonia, they might push back the start of the final round up to a full week.

We're so thankful for your prayers and practical supports this week - from friends who answered calls at 1am to come and watch our kids when we headed to the hospital, to friends who tag-teamed childcare yesterday, to family members who volunteered to come (and came) up to help cover the weekend, to friends dropping off toilet paper and groceries - you have shown us time and time again that we are not alone on this road. Thanks for walking alongside us.