May 8, 2009

We feel that all of the prayers for Bryce are working – he seems to be making steady improvement each day. We know that he has a very long ways to go, but progress is exciting to us! Today he looks about the same as yesterday, but the good news is that some of his lab values for his liver have improved today. These labs are not affected by the dialysis and demonstrate that his liver function is improving – the doctors said this could be due to the chemotherapy, but said it is still too early to tell . His white blood count has decreased even lower so we are all being very careful around him so he won’t become more ill.

Bryce’s sedation was reduced somewhat today so he was a little more awake today – this caused him to be quite agitated due to pain and also because of the endotracheal tube being in his throat. It is still hard to look into his eyes and see the pain he is experiencing. It is amazing to me how expressive Bryce’s eyes have always been.

The medical staff are basically keeping him on the same plan – ventilator, continuous dialysis, medications, and monitoring him. They also are no longer trying to pull off fluids because they want to maintain his blood pressure – he still requires some medication to keep his blood pressure up.

We are hopeful that in the next few days there will be more evidence that the chemotherapy is working to destroy the cancer cells.

Thanks for everyone's prayers and support.

Ken and Kendra