Thursday, June 18, 2009

Chemo Day Report

Ben's numbers from Sunday were good (ANC 1302, white blood count 3.1, hemoglobin 14.1, platelets 209,000) so they put him back on his medications at a 50% level.

We went back in today for another bloodcheck and chemo (Vincristine). Ben did great as usual and his numbers were good (ANC 1187, white blood count 3.4, hemoglobin 13.3, platelets 314,000). They brought his medications up to the 75% level and we will go back in a week to check his numbers again. He started on his steroids today so we are really hoping that it won't be so tough on him this month.

We have a rehearsal tomorrow to get ready for the big day on Saturday (my cousin Danielle's wedding and Ben and David are ringbearers). We will post pictures of the boys in their tuxedos - they are going to be so cute!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Interesting Week

We have had a jam packed week. The boys finished school just over a week ago and we quickly said our goodbyes at the school before racing to the airport to catch our flight to New York. Ben started coughing like crazy on the plane - it was practically nonstop, but thankfully he otherwise felt fine. We had a great time in NY visiting the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, and of course we couldn't miss the big toy stores (Toys R Us and FAO Schwarz) and the all important NHL store for the biggest kid in our group ;)
The highlights were visiting with family and a wonderful friend from college and her family.

Then we were off to New Jersey on Monday to spend time with Scott's Dad and visit with many other relatives. Unfortunately, Ben's cough stayed horrible so we needed to get him a blood check and chest x-ray. Thankfully, the chest x-ray was clear so pneumonia was ruled out. However, we discovered his numbers had sunk down. Too close to neutropenic for our comfort...especially when so far away from home! We made sure Ben wasn't exposed to anyone sick and bought a bunch of extra Purell! Ben's doctor put him on antibiotics and he was taken off the Mercaptapurine and Methotrexate until his numbers get better.

On Wednesday we headed to Philly. The boys experienced fancy Japanese food at Morimoto (anyone who watches Iron Chef will know about this chef!) and to the Ben and David's surprise...they liked the food! Here again we spent time with family and did as much sight seeing as we could - but trying like crazy to stay away from crowds that were too large. Thankfully, all of the cousins, aunts and uncles were healthy so we were able to spend a lot of time with them which was wonderful!

After some more sight seeing on Friday, we headed to the airport to come back home. Unfortunately, David started to feel yucky and on the ride to the aiport he started to vomit. It was not the nicest of flights but thankfully David felt all better by Saturday and Ben did not get sick!

We are off to the Cancer Center this morning for more bloodwork. Ben still has a cough but it is not nearly as bad so hopefully we will get some good news!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Help Christine Cwiertny Kick Cancer's $#@!

Our good friend Christine Cwiertny and her team is doing a Light the Night event for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Link is in the right margin or below if you want to support her! Thanks Christine! (And everyone please pray for her brother Matt . . .)