This post is coming to you remotely...

We've had a bad 24 hours - I am posting this from Michael's hospital room in Syracuse tonight. His fever spiked to 103 degrees about 2:30am this morning. About the same time, he started coughing and "couldn't breathe". So, as my panic level was rising and I was considering calling 911, he settled down and the coughing subsided. We gave him some Tylenol and after a while his temperature came back down to 99 degrees. He slept very fitfully for the rest of the night (and Mom and Dad didn't sleep at all.)

First thing this morning we called Dr. Swan's office (Michael's pediatrician) and took him to see her around 10:30am. She didn't like the way he looked so she ordered some tests. He had black circles under his eyes, his color was terrible and as she said, "Michael's spark just wasn't there". So we took him to the hospital to have some blood work done and a chest x-ray. The chest x-ray ruled out pneumonia but the blood work showed he was fighting an unknown virus and he had become severely neutropenic. He is also dehydrated.

Dr. Swan called Dr. Kennedy and they decided that Michael needed to be admitted so that he could receive an antibiotic and some fluids through his port. Both doctors agreed Syracuse would be better for him than Watertown. When they admitted him, the nurses took some blood to do some blood cultures to see if they can identify the virus he is fighting. So, we are here until either: 1) Michael's fever goes away, 2) his ANC stops dropping and climbs back over 500 (currently in the 400's), or 3) they identify the virus and come up with a sure fire plan to treat him at home.

I will post when I can to keep everyone updated. In the meantime, please say an extra prayer for Michael tonight, JoAnne.