Chase completed his chemotherapy last Sunday (6/6) and slowly but surely his energy level and appetite are coming back. Unfortunately, he has suffered a weight loss while his appetite took a hiatus. Just this past week he weighed in at 102lbs. He was 107.8 when we checked in. Thankfully, he is eating now. I don't have to twist his arm to get him to eat, so my mission between now and when his counts come back up is to put those 5 lbs BACK on his bones and hopefully a bit more.
The big news this week....
The TEEN Room opened! Woo-hoo! The day it opened, Chase was the only teen on the Aflac floor so he was given the honor of cutting the ribbon with these huge scissors. David got some pictures on his phone of the whole thing as did the Family Life people. Hopefully, we can get them posted soon. Lucky for him, since there haven't been many teens on the floor, he has had the room basically to himself. Every time a nurse comes in the room looking for him, he's been in the teen room, sometimes for several hours.
They did a great job with the room, too. They have a very nice Samsung flat panel TV on the wall. I think it's about 40". They have a PS3 and Xbox 360 attached to that, which Chase has been playing a lot since he refuses to bring his own Xbox 360 to the hospital. They have a Wii (on a different wall), a dart board, a computer, and a touch screen game system that has a bunch of different puzzle and strategy games in it. And finally, they have a revolving table that has 3 sides with Foosball, Pool, and Hockey - not air, but moving players. I personally LOVE Foosball, but Chase has now refused to play me since I beat him 5 straight games. I was going to "let the Wookie win", but kind of forgot. I even offered to play him one-handed, but he still won't go for it. Oh well. Maybe he'll forget soon enough and I'll get a second chance.
Camp Sunshine starts tomorrow (the 14th), but Chase will not be going. We're not happy about it, but since his counts are nearing bottom, it would be too dangerous for him to be exposed to so many other kids, even if he kept a mask on. Camp Sunshine does offer Fall retreats and other events that he will be able to take advantage of though in the future, and next summer he'll be able to go to camp. It's a bit of a disappointment, but they're supposed to be doing some activities here at the hospital for in-bound patients.
On a bright note, there are teenage volunteers, called Volunteens, working at the hospital this summer. Chase has a 17 yr old Volunteen named Patrick who has been by twice and who comes twice a week. It's great for him, because it gives him someone close to his age to hang out with and play chess and video games with as well. Chase is very interested in becoming a volunteen himself next summer. I think that would be great for him, as well as for other patients, since he's been here as a patient. We'll definitely look into that.
That's about all for this week. It's all a waiting game right now for his counts to crash. I guess it's a good thing, but kind of annoying that his bone marrow has been described as "stubborn and strong" because it's taking its time to crash. He's been in the hospital for 12 days and we estimate that he'll be in here for another 10 to 12 days before he can get a break. So, until that time...we wait.
I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer! God Bless and thank you for continuing to keep Chase in your thoughts and prayers.
The O'Bannon Family
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