Qualified... Day 210 10JUN09

Joshua went in this morning and managed to qualify, just barely. His ANC was a little over 800 and it needed to clear 750.

He went to the day hospital and had an LP with IT methotrexate around noon. Everything went well and Joshua did great. After the day hospital they wen to the Hem/Onc floor to spend the night. Josh started his Cyclophosphamide around 5:00 p.m. so he is stuck at the hospital until the same time tomorrow evening. So far he is doing great, when I talked to Renee around 8:30 he was stuffing popcorn into his mouth and watching a movie. This at least puts him back on track with his treatment plan. He will be getting some new meds as well as some that he has taken in other cycles. Like before some of his chemo we will do at home. It will be take a while to see if he is going to have any problems tolerating the new meds but hopefully it will go smoothly.

The house is very quiet tonight, the first time it has been so in many weeks. I am looking forward to the noise returning tomorrow...

The day before part 2... Day 209 09JUN09

Renee and Joshua discovered this morning that Caesar has a special friend that we didn't know about. The turtle and the heron were just hanging out enjoying the early morning breeze.

Joshua's day was normal like just about any other in recent weeks. He played, he rested, he annoyed his brother. We finally got the other liner for his foot splints so he can start wearing them at night. It took us several weeks to work out all of the kinks. Hopefully now he will be able to tolerate having them on for extended periods of time and they can start to do him some good.

Tomorrow is another chance for Josh to qualify for chemo. Renee and Joshua will go to the clinic early tomorrow so they can stick his finger and take blood. If he passes Jarrod and I will load up the car and head for the hospital. If he doesn't they can come back home and we can go into another holding pattern.

I asked Joshua tonight as he was going to bed if he thought he was going to qualify. He told me that he had eaten seven fish sticks and that should put him where he needs to be.

If all goes well Josh will get an LP at noon and then get admitted to the Hem/Onc floor in the early afternoon. It is an overnight stay this time as they have to monitor his chemistry for 24 hours after he gets cyclophosphamide. This will be the first time Joshua has spent the night in the hospital in quite a while. We are been really thankful for the long break, it seemed like we were never going to get him back home for a while there.

Monday, monday... Day 208 08JUN09

Today was a definite Monday. Josh and I got an early start and went off to physical therapy for a while. Joshua did real well exercising, he still needs to get a lot of strength back in his feet. The rest of the day was rather tame and uneventful. The boys played, Renee and I took care of things around the house. A simple day at home.

We are hoping that Joshua will qualify this Wednesday so he will not be delayed any further. It is hard to tell how his counts are doing, he has been acting fine with a good amount of energy but so far his counts have been way down. We will just have to wait for labs to see where he is.

Sushi Sunday... Day 207 07JUN09

It has become somewhat of a tradition that we have sushi on Sundays for dinner. The kids have gone from watching me prepare it to actively being a part of the kitchen team. They really look forward to it and will start reminding us usually around Thursday that we are going to have sushi on Sunday. When I got back from the grocery store this evening Jarrod had already washed the rice and the salmon was out thawing.

Tonight was Joshua's night to work with me. I do all of the prep work and anything involving sharp knives and he does all the rest. He can make some really good maki-mono for a seven year old. Tonight he made crab and cucumber, salmon and cucumber, and salmon with pickled asparagus rolls. It was delicious. We never have any leftovers. As the plates become ready Joshua carefully carries them out to the table, which he set, and arranges them to his liking.

It is a lot of fun to cook with the kids and they are both really fast learners. While I do all the prep stuff and cooking Joshua will sit on the counter behind me and keep me company until it is time for him to get to work. It won't be terribly long before they are in the kitchen by themselves.

For most of the afternoon we just followed Hobie's great example.

Josh had a pretty god day but seemed to be flagging a little bit this evening. He went to bed a little early. Hope it was just because he was a little tired from all the activity this weekend.

Saturday fun... Day 206 06JUN09

Joshua had a fun day today. He started off early with Jarrod building LEGO stuff. They had looked up a design on the LEGO website and were hard at it most of the morning. Amazing what kids can figure out to do with technology.

Around noon we all headed into town to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Gandy. We had a nice visit and a good lunch. Joshua and Jarrod had a good time playing with a bunch of our old puzzles. Jarrod got a chance to help out in the yard for a while and Joshua decided to get a little keyboard playing time in.

We headed back home in time for dinner and a little wood working. Jarrod found a couple of old pinewood derby kits in his closet and he and Joshua decided to build them. They traced their designs out and I cut them on the bandsaw. After that the sawdust really started flying as they sanded everything down. Still got a bit of work to do tomorrow but they made good progress and had fun.

Joshua is still feeling okay and has not had any more headaches since Thursday. His counts may be low but you would never be able to tell by watching him. Hopefully they are on the up-swing and all will be well by Wednesday.

Tomorrow we dodge the rain and I try and get all the yard work done. I am sure the boys will spend the day building something.

Long day... Day 205 05JUN09

Today was a long day. It seemed like it went on forever and ever. We are all really tired after last night. Joshua and Renee slept in a little and had a good day. His counts are still a little low but he is not acting like it, he spent the day playing and having fun. No more head pains presented themselves today. It may have been a residual effect of the steroids, who knows. We will unfortunately have to chalk this one up in the mysterious unexplained worry the heck out of parents category.

I was gone all day and into the night working... I think. Things got a little fuzzy sometime after lunch.

With any luck Joshua will have a good weekend and his counts will turn around and start climbing back up so he can qualify on Wednesday. Until then we will keep a close eye on him and keep making whatever food he craves at the moment.

A crazy night... Day 204 04JUN09

Joshua was having a great day until the pain in his head started. It was severe enough to stop him in his tracks until it subsided. Once was a little alarming, after the fourth time Renee and I were pretty concerned. I was at work when Joshua called me in tears telling me he had to go to the emergency room. Renee had called the on call Doctor and to be on the safe side he wanted him to get checked out. So off Jarrod went with Renee's mom and off Joshua went to the ER. I made it to the hospital after work in time to go with Josh for a CT scan of his head. He got his port accessed for labs and was still awake at midnight. I left to come home and get some sleep as I have a long day at work tomorrow. Hopefully Josh will check out okay and be able to come home later tonight.

Renee just called to say that Joshua's blood work and his CT scan came back all right and they were waiting to get discharged and come home. What a crazy night.