Riding for Roses

Lance took the yellow jersey decisively today, while Spencer got a green jersey of a different support. Thanks to generous donations from all over, Spencer cross the $7500 (and $8000) barrier in the last few days and qualified for a Peloton Project Green Jersey. That means he is over half way to getting the Polka Dot Jersey he is on track to get, and about one third of the way to the yellow jersey he wants to get. Your donation to support cancer survivors will support cancer survivors all over and help Spencer get his dream of meeting Lance Armstrong.

Spencer just missed a green of another sort, the green unit at Children’s Hospital of Austin, today. He spiked a fever of 101.4 before it quickly went back down to normal. This could be an infection or it might be just a virus. The same thing happened at the same point in the previous delayed intensification round and it all came out fine. Today, we had a semi-emergency oncologist visit to do blood counts, start a blood culture, and take antibiotics in case it is an infection. The possible good news is that the office machine got his ANC as 1300, which means he is doing well—unless it is a spike in the counts due to infection. Over the next two days we will get the official counts done in the lab and the results of the blood culture. We will continue to monitor closely for fever or any other problems. The plan remains the same: Spencer is scheduled for a procedure and the beginning of his next round of chemotherapy on Friday.

Spencer’s spirits remain high. He is very disappointed he won’t be going to Wonders and Worries tonight, but his fever last night make us just too nervous to do that. If things continue as they are now, Spencer will be at Wonders and Worries next week and will also be able to visit the Tour Watch 2005 with me.