Gearing Up

A little more than 24 hours from now, we will herd the family and the dog onto a plane for a long overdue vacation. We’re headed to Portland, Oregon to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with our extended family. Jordan is very excited.

It has not been an easy couple of weeks. After Jordan’s last dose of Cytoxan, her counts dropped dangerously low. Fortunately, she seems to have resilience at the cellular level. A few days after she went neutropenic, her white cell counts and ANC began to rise again. Her immune system has regained its strength and it shows.

Unfortunately, the seizures have become more frequent. One day earlier this week she had four seizures in the same day. As a result of this neurochemical instability, she has been reluctant to go outside, go to school, or do anything where she might suddenly feel “that funny feeling.” You can imagine how excited we all feel about boarding a plane.

The neurologist adjusted Jordan’s prescription and it seems to be working. In the last two days she has occasionally felt the pre-seizure feeling, but felt normal again within a few minutes. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

None of the setbacks have quelled Jordan’s excitement about traveling. Like me, she loves to fly. She’s not very happy that we’re requiring her to wear a face mask, but she hasn’t made too much of a fuss because she knows it’s a fairly short couple of flights and the payoff at the end is a long visit with her family.

After the hustle and bustle of the last several weeks, Jeanette and I are eager to shift gears and wind down. The time spent with family will be fantastic, but we’re also carving time out for the two of us to check out from the journey and recharge our batteries. We are unapologetically planning to veg.

Every year at this time, we are reminded of how lucky we are to have so many loving friends and family with us on Jordan’s Journey. We are grateful to all of you who have sent us encouragement and love from so many corners of the world. Thank you for reminding us that we are not alone. Thank you for cheering us on. Thank you for finding your own ways to wish for Jordan’s good health.

Of course, we are most thankful for the amazing doctors, nurses, volunteers and medical support teams who provide Jordan with such excellent care all year through. It is tragic that every day so many children battle the demons of pediatric brain cancer. But there is a legion of people who work tirelessly to keep them healthy, and without those good folks, Jordan wouldn’t be here today. If you are looking for a cause this holiday season, please join us in supporting your local Children’s Hospital.

Happy Thanksgiving.