Andrew went in for one of his regularly scheduled MRI’s and unfortunately it showed some spots on his spine. There’s not much more to report right now, since we have to wait three months and see how he looks at the next MRI. The spots could be cancer, but they could also just be shadows, we will have to wait to find out.

It’s scary business, but everyone is trying to stay positive and hope that the scan is clean.

Sorry, it has been a crazy week!  Andrew did so well over last weekend, Halloween was fabulous, and he did well during his dr appointment Monday afternoon.  Then around 6pm he got a fever of 103.5…not good, so off to the ER.  He was admitted and his blood counts just kept dropping.  He was feeling ok, just tired. 

He was in still in the hospital for his birthday on Wednesday.  He had a fabulous birthday even though we had to celebrate in the hospital. All the nurses put on hats and pulled poppers at the door while we sang happy birthday (they couldn’t come in since he was in isolation). He got Guido’s pizza Tracey was wonderful and made a 4 layer German chocolate cake! He ate half a piece! His spirits are still high.  His counts finally came up just a tiny bit today so we are hoping to get out of here!!!  I will update soon.

Andrew returned home after 3 weeks in the hospital just in time for a big weekend. Andrew’s Grandpa and I went out to spend some time with him last Wednesday. He came home to find a big box from the wonderful people at the Pinwheel Project. I managed to snap a shot with my phone, and asked him to wait until I could get a photo with real camera, but the temptation to tear in to his new toys proved too great. It really lifted his spirits to come home and find some new toys waiting for him. They also sent his sister Taylor some neat stuff, including body crayons, which make an appearance in just about every photo I was able to take.

Courtesy of the Pinwheel Project

We spent Thursday and Friday relaxing, watching movies, playing with his new DSi and assembling a Lego set he got from The Pinwheel Project. Andrew was feeling a little sick, and didn’t want to tell us, for fear of going back to the hospital. Once we figured out what was going on we gave him some more drugs and he cheered up quite a bit.

On Saturday we had tickets to got to the BSU vs UC DAVIS game at Broncos stadium. We were with the “Bronco’s Bunch”, through St. Lukes. Both Taylor and Andrew were excited, despite the fact it was only about 56 degrees outside. We spent about an hour getting ready to go cheer on the Broncos. After Andrew was all dressed he even tried to tackle me, a rare burst of pure energy.

(Be sure to take a closer look at this one)

As we got to the game we could tell it was cold, but didn’t really mind, since we dressed for the weather. Unfortunately, about 5 minutes in it started to rain, and continued to rain for a good amount of time. Eventually Andrew decided he’d had enough and told me, “If Taylor want’s to leave, we can go.” So that was it. One and half quarters on a cold rainy day is plenty for a sick kid.

The rest of the weekend was pretty low key, although I did get Andrew to draw a picture of Lolo, the purple chinchilla that he alluded to at the end of his last video. Not sure where that one came from, other than a bored kid stuck in a hospital for 3 weeks.

Andrew was released from the hospital about 7pm Thursday night.  Woo hoo!!!!  He wasn’t quite himself but we were happy that he was able to finish recovering at home.  He is doing much better now, at a wopping 66 pounds.  He is scheduled for a follow-up MRI on Thursday, I will update when we get the results back.  He is also scheduled for his next chemo cocktail May 12th, hoping to be released by the 13th depending on how well he tolerates it.  This is the “A” cocktail CCNU which he has done pretty well with the past two times he has gotten it. 

Last night Andrew’s hair began to fall out again.  We think that this time it all will go since his eyebrows are thinning too.  He didn’t believe me when I tried to show him the multiple pieces of hair that came out when I tried to pull it.  To convince him, I had to direct his attention to his pillow which could  pass as a short-haired blonde dog.  Taylor has been asking for a dog…maybe we have found a compromise.  All is well right now, and I will update with pictures soon.

Andrew is still in the hospital, but we are hoping to be released tomorrow morning.  Andrew is still feeling low, and more nauseous than usual.  His test results all came back negative which is good, he doesn’t have any frightening infections that need to be treated.  His neutrophil counts are up as well which is fantastic, right now he is just trying to recoup.  The doctor asked if he thought he was ready to go home of if he thought he should stay another night, and Andrew said he thought he needed to stay another night.  This is a huge thing for Andrew to finally admit that he didn’t feel well and voluntarily stay even a minute longer in the hospital than necessary.  He does such a good job putting on the show that he is ok.  We are hoping that he will be back to himself in a couple of days.  Thank you for all the support and words of encouragement.

So Andrew was released from the hospital around 4 on Wednesday.  He slept from 4:30 until the next morning.  He woke up and said that he felt terrible.  I am really hoping this cocktail wears off quickly.  He did pretty well yesterday, getting around ok, joking around with his sister, and just goofing off.  He only got sick once, and still is nauseous a lot, but not too much to prevent him for doing his regular activities.  He said this morning that this chemo was too hard, and lucky for us, he doesn’t have it for quite a while.  He will have the cocktail he had before for two times before he gets this on again.  He is still an amazing inspiration to me and all those who meet him and the best son I could wish for.

Andrew is in the hospital to get his 3rd round of chemo. This round is a kind that he has not had yet, and we are told will cause him to lose his cute long eye lashes, as well as nausea. So far so good, he has not had any negative side effects thus far. He had a visit from his therapy friend, Rocky, a beautiful golden retriever. He visited for about a half an hour while getting his chemo. He was also able to eat some dinner, which we were very excited about. We will update tomorrow with pictures. Thanks for checking.

Taylor and Rumble

We met some nice guys who were going to be shaving their head at St. Baldricks Saturday as well, and invited Andrew to do the first swipe.  Toby is below with his green hair getting shaved by Andrew.

Andrew and Toby

Sucess!

  Then when Mom went up to get shaved Andrew gave a little speech.  He thanked everyone for coming, and told them that cancer does suck, but we are thankful for the support and thank you for donating.  We will post the video soon.  Then he took the first shave of one of the nurses who cares for him at St. Lukes Andrew #2.

Andrew #1 shaving Andrew #2

Next it was time for Mom.

Locks for Love here we come

Now we are the baldy ones….

We are home from the hospital!  Andrew was such a trooper, although the procedure for putting in the feeding tube was not pleasant, his complaints were few.  They gave him some adavan to help him “chill” and he was very loopy and very funny by the time they began.  Then they used lidocaine to numb his nostril.  They inserted the tube up his nose, down his throat and into his stomach.

After the tube was in, Andrew was  a little loopy and didn’t understand why his nose felt so funny so he kept touching his nose, so I had to capture the moment.

He gagged quite a bit after it was in, but no vomit which was great!  He wanted to see what it looked like….

Then he needed an x-ray to ensure it’s placement was correct in his stomach.

Then I left for about 5 minutes to get some bags out of the car, and naughty Andrew had pulled off the tape and was attempting to pull it out.  No worries, he didn’t get to do it and the medications wore off so that he had better reasoning skills and now leaves his nose hose alone.

Thus far he is taking it pretty well, although he is very upset that it was not able to come out before we left the hospital.  The tube is a little irritating right now, but we are told that he will get used to it and will barely know it is there.  We will keep it in until he can eat well enough to keep his calories up.  We will update again soon.  Thank you everyone!

So today was the deadline to see if we could get Andrew to eat enough food to keep him healthy.  I am not happy to say that he is still not able to eat enough to help his body recover from the treatments.  He will be admitted to the hospital tomorrow to have a feeding tube inserted into his abdomen.  This is safer for him, there is less chance of an infection, and it utilizes his digestive tract which is important as well.  He is kind of scared, but admits that food does not make him happy right now and this will help him a great deal.  He should be released from the hospital Saturday if all goes well.  We will keep you updated.