We visited the eye doctor today…and Andrew’s surgery was a SUCCESS!!!!  It looks like his eyes are almost perfect, and he is even walking better now.  He read 4 chapters of Percy Jackson last night, we could not be happier!  Thank God for miracles, we have had many!

Andrew is able to open his eyes now, but they are watering a lot, and he does have pain so they don’t say open for long.  It looks like the surgery was successful, but we won’t know for sure until he can keep his eyes open.  There is blood in his eye, but other than that everything looks good. 

Bloody eye, gross

Andrew had the surgery to correct his crazy (lazy) eye.  They moved the muscles on both eyes to try to make them both work together.  He is not able to open them yet, and therefore we don’t know if it was successful but we are hopeful.  His eyes do hurt, but he says he is okay, just like always!  He has slept a lot and is getting pain meds every couple hours.  We are hoping he will be able to open his eyes tomorrow and I will update once he does!

It is way overdue for an update, but no news has been good news.  Andrew is going to public school full time, and is absolutely loving it.  He is still eating well, in fact he eats a ton, but isn’t really gaining much weight so obviously he is still healing.  He has a full head of hair now, it is kind of bitter sweet no longer being able to call him my bald boy.  He still has some balance problems, but he also still has his crazy eye (lazy eye).  He will be having surgery this month on both eyes to move the muscles around and hopefully correct them.  With that, we are hoping he will have a little better balance.  He has successfully taught himself to write with his left hand and it is amazing you would ever guess he wasn’t left handed all along.  His fine motor skills are getting better as well, he was bragging that he didn’t need my help to play his DSi anymore.  He will be having his port removed on the 27th, right before we leave for Colorado.  Some friends and family are running (and supporting) the Bolder Boulder in honor of Andrew and his fight with cancer.  His quote is “Yeah, I had cancer…but I beat it.”  He still has an amazing attitude and we could not be happier with the ways things are going.  Thanks for all the love and support!

I am so sorry for the delay in updates, but no news has definitely been good news!  Andrew has been doing wonderful!  He is eating really well, not gaining weight, but not losing, so his body is still stealing a lot of calories to heal.  He is still bald, but we are beginning to see some little hairs starting to grow on that cute head.  His balance is still very wobbly, but we are working on getting him to exercise more and get his strength back up so that he can go back to school hopefully by April.  He was able to go on a field trip to the Boise Philharmonic with his class from Monroe in January and he was so welcomed and had such a good time, he is so excited to be a part of the class soon.  We have not had to go to the doctor’s office since the first week of January, and will be going in on the 25th for a psychological evaluation.  We are beginning to see a great improvement in his reading and comprehension abilities, and he is loving reading the Percy Jackson series.  I will try to get a webcast from him this weekend so he can share some of his own sweet thoughts and humor for everyone following his story.  Thanks!

Andrew had all of his post treatment scans yesterday and I met with the doctor for results, and it is time for celebration, they all came back clear!  He has not had any more hearing loss, MRI looks clear, everything looks good.  He also gets to take out his feeding tube tonight!   We discussed him going back to school and the doctor says it will be 3 months at least before he can go back.  So we will be pushing physical therapy and he will get an MRI in three months, still see the dr very frequent and his counts are still not so fabulous, but things look good!

Andrew is getting his scans today…holy cow lots of scans.  We will meet with his doctor tomorrow to go over the results so I will let everyone know the outcome.  He is doing really well, bald as all get out, and ready to be done with all things chemo.

Andrew is doing great!  He lost his hair again, hopefully for the last time starting on Sunday of last week.  He still a couple patchy spots but it is getting reallllly smooth!  Christmas was fabulous, he felt great and we enjoyed spending time with friends and loved ones.  Christmas night we brought turkey dinner to Andrew’s friend Raegan, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatments in the hospital right now.  We decided cafeteria food was unacceptable, and enjoyed our dinner by light of her beautiful purple Christmas Tree.  We are preparing to have the end of treatment scans including a MRI, audiogram, and many more.  Those should take place the first week of January, and from there we will begin a new course.  I will post pictures soon.  Thank you so much for the love and support!

So I am sorry I have not updated, I went on a get-a-way this weekend and got back late Tuesday night.  So Andrew’s blood counts dropped to nothing on Tuesday and he dropped 2 pounds as well.  He also developed an infected sore on his nostril.  Apparently, I am not allowed to leave again!  He got a transfusion on Tuesday as well as lots of antibiotics.  The very sad thing was that he just pulled out his nose hose on Sunday night because he was eating ok, and had to have another one put back in.   He is incredibly weak and is not able to walk for more than a couple steps before his legs give out.  His spirits are ok, he is very happy to have me back and is looking forward to Christmas!

Andrew completed his last hospitalized chemotherapy on Friday the 4th!  While he was in the hospital he got a surprise visit from some Storm troopers and jawas.  All the kids were so excited, and were discussed for days later!  Thank you so much Pinwheel Project for helping it happen, it truly made our day!  So in regards to his chemo he did so well, and aside from a little nausea he is still doing fantastic!  He has so much hair, and I am so sad it will fall out one more time and I will have to shave it soon.  We had a lovely “You’re Done” party on Sunday and he partied with some close friends and family.  Our wonderful friend Nadine who has been fighting breast cancer finished her chemo and radiation as well last week and we are so happy for her.  Andrew will continue to go to the doctor every week until his blood counts drop and recover, then they will be less frequent.  He will get and MRI soon, then every 6 months, and he is starting a couple more therapies as well.  We are still hoping he will be able to go back to school and a semi-normal life by the end of February…YAY!!!  Thank you for all the love and support!  Enjoy the pics. 

Yay Star Wars!!!

Andrew's Buddy Rocky

Finishing Chemo with Tamra

DONE!

Kickin Cancer's Butt and Taking Names: You go Nadine and Andrew