The End of Chemo!!!!

Well almost 3 1/2 years later we can happily say that Ben no longer needs to take any chemo drugs!! Woo Hoo!!!
The past month has been pretty crazy. Ben was really getting hit hard by the drugs at the end and seemed to stay neutropenic forever but thankfully things started to look up at the middle of August...and just in time too because Ben was cleared for his Make-a-Wish trip less than a week before we were scheduled to leave. What an amazing organization and an amazing trip for Ben. He wanted a cool fishing trip...and boy did they ever deliver! Alaska was truly beautiful and Ben had the time of his life. We returned back home on August 27th with only 2 days left of medications. Ben took the last of his Mercaptapurine on August 29th and we had a little party to celebrate. It was interesting because Ben didn't view it as a big deal on that day - in fact wouldn't even let me take any video or pictures to commemorate the occasion. But then two nights ago he yelled at me from the kitchen making fun of me for not having set out his pills - when I walked in laughing his jaw just kind of dropped when he realized that he didn't have any pills to take!! And then last night he complained that he hadn't had enough dinner and was hungry at around 7:00 and was annoyed because he couldn't eat anything because it was too late and would interfere with his meds - again I gave a little chuckle and he ran into the kitchen to make himself some popcorn. I don't think I have ever seen a kid so happy to have a snack at night in my life! All of these little things that have driven us crazy over the past 3 years have gone away. We are prepared that Ben's immune system needs some time to come back up and he will need to be very careful during the upcoming cold & flu season to try not to get sick because it could still be dangerous for him...but after what he has gone through, I think we can handle it!

Today was the first day of school for the boys. David is entering the 3rd grade and Ben is going into 4th grade. I cannot wait hear how their first day went!