Monday, February 25, 2013

A Case of the Winter Blues

We are ready for the warmer weather to appear. Ezra had a blast playing in the snow, but the aftermath has not been much fun. The cold, wet, dreary days are getting to all of us, and Ezra has not been interested in leaving the house. He is still largely under isolation precautions, especially during this flu season. It's hard to tell if the reason why he doesn't want to leave the house is simply boredom from his limited activities. We do have one thing to look forward to - his 4th birthday, which is coming up on March 8. He can't have a traditional party with other children, but we have some surprises planned that will hopefully make his birthday a special one.

Healthwise, all is status quo for the most part. He has had some bouncing around with his counts, likely due to a new medication. We also found out that he has dental decay from the chemotherapy. We're making some changes to his dental care in hopes that we can stop the decay from worsening. It's upsetting to be left with only damage from the chemo without any of the benefits from transplant. Although, in the scheme of transplant side effects, dental decay is hardly the worst, so I suppose we'll take it.

On a separate note, for anyone in the NYC area who has not yet registered to be a donor, there are several great upcoming opportunities, starting tomorrow, to get swabbed. These drives are being held for another patient named Wendy Siegel who is in urgent need of a match. You might be Ezra's, Wendy's or another patient's miracle, so please come out and join the registry:

Tuesday, February 26
8:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Grand Hyatt
109 East 42nd St (Park Ave at Grand Central)

and

8:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Brookfield Place
Winter Garden
220 Vesey St (between West and Hudson Ave)

Thursday, February 28
12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Central Synagogue
652 Lexington Ave (at East 55th St)