We took Oliver to clinic today, thankfully, he has the week off from IV chemo.  Surprisingly, his counts were very good - we are surprised because Oliver has been abnormally tired the past few days.  Some of the counts we know are not accurate because of the steriods and the doctors attribute his extreme fatigue possibly to just all of the chemo over the past few months finally catching up to him.  Oliver will get a short break from the steroids, his last dose is tonight - thank God.  He has developed hand tremors off and on and has had some abdominal pain - the doctors are keeping a close eye on these symptoms and hope that they will go away once Oliver is off the steroids. We knew this phase would be difficult, but somehow that knowledge did not make us any more prepared.  Oliver may be down physically, but his spriit remains the same - sweet, happy, and compassionate.  He truly brings us so much joy. 

Next Monday we have a very long day at clinic - Oliver will receive chemo via spinal tap and also some new, very harsh chemo drugs via IV.  The new drugs next week are so harsh, the doctors want them to go in and out of his body very quickly - thus he must receive IV fluids for four hours after his spinal before he receives the new chemo which takes about an hour to administer.  We pray for strength to get through the next few weeks to maintenance.