I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!

Ours was great....way too many toys, and too much food!! We went to my mom and dad's on Christmas morning for brunch and then John's family came over for dinner. The boys got a playstation, so we really haven't seen much of them.

Unfortunately Christmas night found us in the ER. (Actually it was John and Eli) Eli had a fever of 101, which is the magic number for an evening of fun at MUSC. He was given and antibiotic and they came home at 6am or so. We went to the clinic on Wednesday morning for the onc to take a look and have labs done. Although Eli's ANC was around 300 on Tuesday night, they were 693 at the clinic on Wed morning. But that was good enough for us to go home again. Well, we thought we were in the clear when Eli hadn't run a fever since Thursday morning at around 3am, but tonight we are at 100.6 again. So we may be back downtown later.

We are hoping to go to Atlanta for the New Year to visit the Valdes family and the Hucks family, but who knows right now? We will have to wait until later to see if it is going to happen or not. The thing that stinks is because we thought it was a go, we mentioned it to the boys and they are WAY excited......uuuggghhhhh!!!! n That will teach me to keep my big mouth shut!!

WE will keep you posted....Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful that we had a wonderful Christmas and this fever didn't happen on Christmas Eve, that Eli was able to have a wonderful NORMAL Christmas Eve and morning!!

Sorry I didn't update on Thursday. John took Eli to clinic and I took the boys roller skating (this time I did NOT put the skates on, although I really wanted to!!) Eli's counts are:

Hemoglobin 10.6 (a little low, but OK)
ANC 1586 This has come up...in time for Christmas
Platelets 54 (No wonder he has lots of bruises!)

The docs weren't really concerned about the platelets but at the same time Eli won't get any chemo until they come up. They said it was prob due to the steroids last week. I hate it when his platelets are low, I get so worried with him playing. So I will be a little bit of an overprotective mom this week. On the good note, it is nice not having to take so many meds every night!!

Eli's liver enzymes are still elevated, and we will continue to watch them...they are the result of the chemo he is being given daily, so I don't know really what we can do.....I guess that is where we trust the docs.

John and I decided that we haven't had enough excitement in our lives and we went and bought a new house!! It is right here on Daniel Island so nothing will really change other than we will have lots more room...the boys will each have thier own space and Eli even gets his own bathroom. (something I have been a little concerned aobut) We will close on Jan 14 and move in the following week. John and I are going to rent this home, not sell it, so we will be able to take our time to move.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and my boys are about to burst. John went to take Jacob and Sam to see a movie and Eli and I are hanging out. I really love this time of year.

We all got to attend church today as a family for the first time in a while. Eli was so excited to get to go!! He loves the children and the atmosphere. It is so fun to watch his expression when we are there. Because his counts are up I think we will all get to go tomorrow as well.

Please take a moment to pray for all of those who have lost a loved one this year. I cannot imagine the difficulty of the season when you are mourning. As I have said before, I have been exposed to the many, many children that are fighting for their lives with various cancers....how hard for a parent who has lost a child to suffer through Christmas without them. I know I will hug mine a little tighter this year!!!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas....

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful for my "wonderful life"!!!!!

Here is our family at the beach...we all went to take pics....what were we thinking? The funny thing is that Judi's family went too and took amazing pics....she has an 18 year old and a 13 year old...haha

Yesterday's clinic went well. Eli's counts are:

ANC 670
Hemoglobin 11.9
Platelets 168

Not bad, but could be better. We thought at first that we wouldn't be able to do the LP, but then realized the counts only have to be 750 to start maintentance, not continue it. So everything went on as planned. Eli had a "bronchial spasm" while he was sedated that the anesthesiologist wasn't too happy about, but everything worked out OK. We got to see Kinsey and Stacey Lewis...Kinsey was such a trooper. She was supposed to have an LP too, but her counts were too low.

The steroids started yesterday. I am glad we are getting them done before Christmas. Eli has been moody enough without them lately, and I think it is caused by the simple fact that he is a three year old boy. I have been putting off toilet training him but I think my time has run out and I need to get it started next week. The thought of having to take him to a public restrooms just gives me the willies, but we will have to manage through it.

Wanted to share this with you.....

JACOB'S PRAYER

As the balloons take to the sky
May we think of the children
Who are fighting the battles of their lives
Hoping for a cure
We hope with them
We send our blessings
And our prayers
To conquer the beast
May they win their battles
May their wishes be granted
May their dreams come true
And for their wishes
Their dreams
Their lives
We send this prayer

To the children
With their wishes granted
Their lives ahead of them
How wonderful it is
To have them on this earth today
We wish them luck
In their journeys ahead
May they be happy
Also pain and sorrow free
Let them have
Luck in their adventures
Let their families
Live on

For all the spirits
The beast has claimed
May they be in peace
For they have faced
The monster
Though not victorious
They put forth valiant efforts
May their families
Though they grieve
Know that their beloved
Are in a wonderful place
They are our heroes
They are our Angels
With this prayer
We send our love
May these Angels
Guide us to the cure

An amazing poem I got off of another blog site..it was a poem read at the funeral of Miles Levin, an amazing 18 year old that died recently of brain cancer after an incredible battle...balloons were released and this poem was read...really is beautiful.

Thanks for checking in. I hope everyone is enjoying this season. It really is magical with the kiddies....have fun!!

Maria

I am thankful for Eli and the smiles he gives me everyday.

Today's visit to the clinic was uneventful. (I like those days) His labs were:

Platelets 232(Normal)
Hemoglobin 11.7 (Normal)
ANC 940 (Low but coming up a bit..)

I am pleased to see the ANC has come up some. The drs are wanting in between 1500 and 500, but I would like to see it on the higher side of that. Especially during cold and flu season!! He is still coughing, but Diane (the nurse practicioner) said his lungs sound great, so nothing to worry about there. He hasn't had any type of fever, so all is well.

Next week we go in on Wed for another LP with Methotrexate. We will do it again in January, then have another MRI to be sure nothing is going on. The dr wants to keep him on the anti seizure med indefinitely just as a precaution and I am fine with that. He feels that as long as Eli is getting the LP's it is a good thing to have.

WE are planning to go to Atlanta for New Years to visit friends. We haven't been on a trip all year and we think the boys will have a blast. John was thinking about going to the bowl game but I think it may be impossible to get tickets...if so, we will just have fun doing other things. Diane said she thought it was a great idea...

Jacob and Sam are doing great and driving me crazy, as usual. I sometimes wonder how they got so big, especially Jacob.

Things here are really starting to settle down and become "normal". It is a new normal for us, but one that we have really been waiting for.

Please pray for the Barber family as they deal with the loss of a dad and husband.

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful that things are settling down for us as far as the chemo goes.....