Two More Years!

No, we're not asking for people to support our Congressional incumbents -- Ben's chemo has only two more years to go as of today! Needless to say, we're very happy and having a little celebration tonight. Thanks again to everyone for your support.

Countdown . . .

At breakfast this morning, Ben told me that he can't wait until he's 10. When I asked why, he said that he won't have to take his medicine any more -- as of August 29, 2010. He knows the date . . .

Even though we are through the hardest part, there is no question that this continues to be a difficult thing for Ben to deal with. Thanks to everyone for your continued support and encouragement!

Some photos

Here are Ben and David with Dustin Brown, one of the LA Kings.

Good Numbers Again

We went to the hospital after hockey camp yesterday for a blood check and Vincristine. Ben was a trooper as usual and the blood test results came back great. His hemoglobin is 13, platelets are at 234,000 and ANC is 4100. The numbers are so good that they increased his dosage of Mercaptapurine (the medicine he takes every night) by 25%.

The boys had the last full day of hockey camp today. Ben was worried his energy might be too low to do all of the activities but he stuck it out and didn't miss anything. I let the counselors and coaches know his concerns in the morning and they took extra special care of him out there on the ice. He had a fantastic time. Thank you to all the people from the Kings and Toyota Center for making him feel so special and making the experience so great for both boys!

Tomorrow morning they each have a big game to finish of the camp week. It should be a lot of fun.

Hockey Hockey Hockey!!

The boys have been at hockey camp all this week. Ben was a little discouraged at first because things didn't come back immediately...but today was a much better day. They are totally exhausted at the end of the day (although today we went to a friend's house to swim for 2 hours so I guess they still have a little bit of energy left!)

We arrive at the rink in the morning at 8:15 and gear up, which takes awhile with two boys! Then they get on the ice for sessions of power skating, hockey instruction and then have off-ice time for conditioning with one of the Kings trainers. They are done for the day by 2:00. They have skated with many Kings players and are getting instruction from real coaches. It is pretty cool!

The boys have hockey camp again tomorrow and then we are going to head straight to the hospital for Vincristine and a blood check. We will post a number update after we get the results back.

Still having fun!

The boys had another great week of Cali Camp and play dates. It was Harry Potter week at camp and as the boys are crazy about the books and movies it was very exciting for them. We decided today would be a great beach day so we invited a bunch of friends to meet us at the beach and had a fabulous time playing in the sand and waves!

We have a fun weekend planned with get togethers with friends and then next week is hockey camp week.

Ben will get chemo and start steroids for the month on Thursday so we will all gear up for that as it is everyone's least favorite time of the month - especially Ben's!

Birthday Weekend

Ben is 8!!!!!

We had a great weekend with lots of family time and playing with toys yesterday and today he had his party. We went to a family fun center (laser tag, go karts, miniature golf, video games, etc.) and the boys had so much fun...all three of them :)

Ben was happy to see some classmates he hadn't seen much this summer as well as other great friends and of course some of his cousins. He had a great time doing everything possible at the place. The theme was Indiana Jones and Ben's Grammy made an amazing cake which made Ben's jaw drop down to the floor as he said "COOL!"

The day was great and Ben went to sleep with a big smile on his face...and now I can do the same!