Today's visit went well. Eli and I left VBS early so he could get a bone density scan and that was fine. For some reason Eli had it in his mind that "they will take a picture of my face and spray it with hot peppers"?! So, he was nervous a little at first, but it was no big deal. His clinic visit went fine as well. We got to see our favorite nurse on the floor, Nikki, which was a huge treat. Eli's counts are:

ANC 2500
Hemo 11.9
Platelets 170

All good numbers, too good. So once again, we increase his chemo and see where we go from there. He gets his LP and chemo at clinic next week. We will be going to Atlanta for a few days to visit the Valdes family again. WE have been so busy with swim team and VBS this week that we need another vacation. HA!!

Emotionally this week has been hard. Following such a great week at the beach where I really felt more removed from our "situation" then any other time since Jan 3,2007; I feel I am being bombarded with harsh reminders of Eli's cancer and what it means. We had a little friend, Justin, die last week. I will be going to his visitation tonight. He was just nine years old. Another friend, Zachary, who is less than a month away from going off treatment is back in the PICU with Pneumonia. So, the reminders of Eli's cancer and what it means come crashing into our little world and we are back in the world of Pediatric Cancer. A world that I truly detest being a part of....one that I wish more folks would open their eyes to and help do something to stop. It is NOT fair what these families and children are going through...Again, as I have said before here, I realize many more people get Colon Cancer and Breast Cancer, but these are our children!! Ok...now I will get off of my soap box. Please do pray for the families of these two boys and pray that Zachary makes a speedy recovery and is home soon.

Sam and Jacob are doing really well at swimming. I think it will definitely help them with their Fall sports because they have been getting such good work outs this summer.

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful for Eli's health the past six months and pray that it continues.

Welcome to summer 2008!!!

We just spent the most amazing week at the beach....nothing could have gone better. The weather was perfect, no rain until we went home. Eli is definitely making up for lost time. He surfed all by HIMSELF...and went out in the WAY deep with daddy lots. We got a house on front beach and we are now officially spoiled...We got to see the Hucks family and the Holt family...it was a great time for everyone.

Sam "graduated" from Kindergarten before we left. It was a great little ceremony. JAcob also had awards....straight A's for the year....we are very proud of both of them....

We are doing VBS this week which is so much fun for all of them. Eli even gets to be in a class and learn about Jesus...

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful for this wonderful summmer......

We have been having such fun!!

Summer is just around the corner, and we are ready...we all went to the new Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach with Camp Happy Days on Saturday and had such a fun time. Again, the boys' favorite part was a small water park inside of the park where they could get wet and have fun. We had a great day.

Thursday's clinic visit was uneventful but long. Eli got his LP so there was no eating or drinking, which made for a grumpy guy. But we got home around 3pm. His counts continue to be good:

ANC 2140
Platelets 190
Hemoglobin 12.1

They have come down some, which is good. This week he is on his steroids, so they may take another jump up. We are going to Garden City Beach for our vacation on Saturday, so honestly I wouldn't mind them being high another week. They have switched Eli to Prednisone from Dexamethosone. Everyone on his study got switched...and we are definitely seeing more steroid "difficulties" this time around. I am hoping it is because this is a new drug for him and that he may get used to it with time. Dr. Kalpatthi agreed to do a bone scan although it really won't tell us if Eli is prone to AVN or not, just how strong his bones are at the moment. As I have said before, this is just a side effect that we will look out for. It isn't as though this would have changed any of our decisions in his treatment. Unfortunately that is the big problem with Pediatric Cancer treatments. There seems to be success, but at a cost. These guys are little and in the middle of serious development....any disruption to that can be really hard to overcome. But overcoming obstacles in life will be fine as long as Eli is there to overcome them with us !!!!

Out of the mouthes of babes......Sam got so excited when I told him we were going to Hard Rock Park with Camp Happy Days that he said, "you know mom, sometimes I am happy that Eli got cancer..." I told him then that we would still get to do this fun stuff if Eli weren't sick, and he agreed that we really do spend a lot of time in the hospital....maybe not. What honesty!! We are so blessed that this has not taken a bigger toll on our other two.....I hope that is how they remember this time in our lives, even if my memory will be totally different!!

I will try to check in one more time before leaving Sat morn. Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful for my parents who have loved us and supported us through this!!!