Day 652 – December 30, 2023

It’s been nearly 3 days since our last update and it’s been wonderfully quiet here in Philly! We’ve been taking a break to recover emotionally, mentally, and physically. Harvey was discharged from the hospital on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 28th) and we’ve since been quarantined in our room at the Ronald McDonald House. He remains at risk for infection with his compromised immune system. But as long as he feels well, is drinking fluids adequately, and doesn’t have a fever, he won’t need to return to the hospital. His appetite has markedly decreased since he was hospitalized and he loses his energy quickly. He continues playing happily, but resting often as his body demands it.

He’ll continue to have 2-3 clinic appointments per week, with the potential for them to taper off as he becomes more stable. He’s also scheduled for one more spinal tap/bone marrow biopsy on Jan. 19th before he returns home to Minnesota. We hope to have the luxury of not needing urgent updates and having many more restful days away from the hospital as recovery continues. We continue taking his temperature every 4 hours and we’ve seen him slowly trend back upward to 100º F. today. As long as he doesn’t exceed 100.4 F. three times in 24 hours (taken at least 2 hours apart) or reach/exceed 101.3º F., we won’t need to return to the emergency room.

Walking out of these hospital doors on Dec. 28th…

…and returning to the Ronald McDonald House!

Harvey eating a real meal after escaping the hospital: Pizza!

Keeping watch on Harvey for fevers.

Harv has been inundated with so much love and well wishes! Yesterday and today, he spent well over an hour opening thoughtful, caring, and hilarious mail that you’ve sent us – THANK YOU SO MUCH! The joy all the mail and online messages has brought to his face and spirit is honestly priceless. The care, concern, and love for our boy is awe-inspiring. Being uplifted by others during such uncertain, scary, and downright difficult moments is an absolutely incredible feeling. As Harvey laid in the hospital fighting off serious side effects from the T cells, your cards poured into his mailbox at the Ronald McDonald House and awaited his arrival back to our home away from home. What an amazing surprise!! We want you all to know that he’s received everything you’ve sent to him and just how grateful and excited we are for everything you’ve done for him (and us).

Back in Minnesota, our daughter, Hattie, had the chance to play in 2 Mite Holiday Jamboree hockey games at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Friday. No doubt an amazing experience for her at just eight years old! We were there in spirit and had the chance to watch parts of both games online (until the live stream went down – ugh!). Her team lost their first game and won their second game, with Hattie scoring 3 goals during the first game (a true “hat” trick) and 4 goals during the second game. We’re so proud of you, Hat! (A quick video below: Our #5 scoring a goal, then immediately making an attempt at another.)

A huge thanks to our family, namely grandma Lisa and papa Mike, for making sure our hockey champ has been able to get to countless games and practices over the past month. Meanwhile, grandma Lisa and grandpa Dale have been holding down the fort at home, spending quality time with both Hattie and Henry. We have a feeling both grandparents are in for a long winter’s nap after we return home and they are able to head back to North Dakota! 🙂 Henry has certainly enjoyed the attention and time with his grandparents, too!

We’re just in awe of our family, friends, co-workers, and even complete strangers. Your love and support has not only been a complete surprise, but a loving lifeline for us. It’s given us the chance to be with our warrior during this round of treatment. To remain hopeful. To not feel alone. We wish you and family a happy new year! We wish our warrior a cancer-free new year. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

P.S. – A special thank you to:
Mrs. Lisa Potts (both Lindsey’s and Joe’s high school science teacher!) and her Erik Ramstad Middle School students for sending Harvey cards as they learned more about his cancer journey, likely at more of a molecular level – What a great surprise!

Harvey’s school, Spero Academy, sent him a wonderful care package! He (and we) miss you all more than you know. Harvey was elated to get a package from Spero Academy even before he knew what was inside!

Our Mayo Clinic family! Harvey received a stack of at least 25 cards from our co-workers. What a wonderful, unexpected surprise – he could hardly hold all the cards at once in his hands!