Moody

We went to the hospital on Thursday and Ben had his injection of Vincristine and a blood draw. His regular nurse is on vacation (hope you are having fun in Hawaii!) so I did not get a call with the results. I am sure all is fine otherwise I know I would have received a call. I will check in next week to find out the actual numbers. As always, he was a trooper and everyone commented on how great he looks and how terrific he is to deal with.

Ben is on his third day of steroids for the month. The last dose is Monday evening so we are half way there. As usual, he is moody and a little difficult to deal with but he is actually upstairs playing and laughing with David and Dakota so it isn't too bad.

Go Kings Go!

Today was an awesome day!!! We purchased a package at a charity event (Tip-A-King) a few months ago which included a hockey clinic for the entire school plus a visit from the mascot for the LA Kings. The boys had fun during the clinic and loved the visit to their classrooms from Bailey. Bailey provided pizza, handed out goody bags and gave everyone an autographed picture. Today was a day filled with lots of laughter and smiles!

Busy Week

We have had a terrific and fun filled week of swimming lessons, tennis lessons, and play dates every day. The boys had an event at the school called Poetry in the Park. Each child writes three poems and recites them outside in the grassy area of the school in front of their class and friends and family. The boys did so well. Ben was a bit nervous before his but did a great job on Thursday. Friday morning as we were getting ready for school Ben asked David whether he was nervous about standing up in front of everyone to recite his poems and David responded, "why would I be nervous?!" Many parents commented to me that they were very impressed with his confidence.

David's 6th birthday was also this week so we had a big party yesterday!

Ben is full of energy and having so much fun. The boys seemed like they were getting a bit overtired so I decided to keep the schedule quiet today but Ben had a craving for popcorn so we went out to a movie. After the movie we came home and played with water guns in this really hot weather. Dakota is a bit afraid of water, the hose in particular, but the rest of us had fun getting wet.

(I thought since we haven't posted a picture of Dakota recently some of you might like to see how big she is getting.)

Thank You

Every year Ben and David's school collects items for a charity during the Week of the Young Child. This year the teacher who heads up the program chose the Cedars Sinai Pediatric Oncology department as the charity. I cannot express how wonderful this made Ben feel. The school collected board games, coloring books, journals, crayons, markers and other items kids stuck at the hospital use to help pass the time. The items are lined up in the hallways of the school during the 2 week drive and Ben would come home and report to me the great items he saw in the halls. The drive actually ended last week on the one year anniversary and I was able to drive it over and deliver everything to the hospital the following day. The hospital was so happy to receive everything and I must say it felt pretty wonderful to make the delivery. Ben was very proud to help other sick kids.

Thank you Turning Point!!!

Anniversary

Well, I have been struggling about what I want to say in the post today...I must admit it has been an emotional day for me. One year ago today, Ben was diagnosed with cancer. It still seems so hard to believe that is true...on the one hand it seems like our lives were just normal a short time ago but on the other hand I cannot believe it has only been a year. I think this has been the longest year of our lives.

Ben had brought the subject up about a week or so ago about how long he has been in treatment. This morning I reminded him that today was the one year anniversary and he just smiled and commented that "boy, I am a very brave boy!" He is proud that he has had the strength and bravery to endure everything of the past year and is happy he is closer to the end of all of this (August, 2010).

He had a fantastic day at school. His class went on a field trip - a nature hike (I went with David and his class yesterday), which was right up his alley. After school we played with Dakota and the cats (mostly Shaggy) and then went out to a favorite restaurant. We came home and made celebratory ice cream sundaes (we have a big drawer full of sprinkles and fun cake decorating candy so the boys made some crazy creations!).

Although I think we have been struggling a bit emotionally lately I think today was a positive milestone. Ben is happy and proud!

All Good

Well, we all survived another month of steroids! This month was particularly hard on Ben but he is now back to normal. As I have said before, it is like he changes into another person. I am so happy to have my sweet boy back!

Today was the Hoop-A-Thon at school. The boys had a lot of fun shooting as many baskets as they could during their turns to raise money for their school. I was all smiles watching how happy the boys were. Things just seem to be back to normal which is a great feeling.

Ben looks and feels fantastic so all is good!