Merry Christmas from the Lews! Sorry I haven't updated the blog in a while.

Gary and the girls arrived last week just as Alex was going into his first chemo free week. As you know, the last month has been very difficult with IV chemo 4 times a week and oral chemo everyday. All of this knocked Alex's blood counts way down. The week off was a chance for his blood counts to come back up a bit. As his counts have slowly climbed so have his spirits. It helps to have his sisters here as well. He has been teasing Jessie relentlessly. They have been playing on the Wii non-stop. When the girls aren't around he's always asking, "when are they coming back?". He welcomes the company. And he's loving all of the cards and packages he has received. His AP calculus teacher, Mrs. Ueland was in Utah on a ski trip this week. We drove up to see her and she gave Alex some things from Alex's homeroom and from other friends. Thank you everyone!!!!

With his counts up a bit, he is able to start the next phase of chemo, Interim Maintenance. The doctor said Alex could have another week off to let his counts go up even more and to enjoy the Christmas holiday, but Alex wanted to get the show on the road. So we started phase 3 yesterday. For this phase, there will be no IV chemo. He will be taking oral medication for 8 weeks and have two lumbar punctures, one yesterday and another one in four weeks.

With Alex in remission and only oral meds for the next 8 weeks, this is a good time to transition Alex's care back to Hong Kong. We have one more visit with the doctor on Monday. If his counts are good enough, we'll get the green light to go home!!!! We should be back in HK by New Year's Eve!

Alex has really been struggling with Anticipatory Nausea. Anytime anyone talks about his diagnosis, treatment or prognosis around him, he gets nauseated. On days that we have to go into the hospital, he vomits constantly. If there is nothing left, he has the dry heaves. As we go back to HK and everyone is excited to see him and wants to know how things are going, please know that I won't want to discuss things in front of him. He doesn't mind talking about it himself, he just doesn't like to read the blog or hear me talk about him. It's strange but according to the doctors and nurses, this is very common. I guess he won't be doing pre-med in college. At one point he thought he might like to be a doctor, but now the thought of going into a hospital for work everyday makes him ill.

That's it for now.

May the Peace, Joy and Comfort from Him whose birth we celebrate at this Christmas season Light the way for you always!!!!