We had a really uneventful weekend, and week. Eli didn't have to go into the clinic this week, we tried to get the blood at home, but it clotted twice so we ended up without results for the week. Although I really like having those numbers everything looked so good last week that I figured we were alright.

We go in Thursday for our monthly spinal tap, vincristine, and the beginning of steroids. So it will be a long day for us....but at least it is only once a month or so, and this time we get two months in between....YEA!!!

Here is a picture of our kids with the Hucks children and the Valdes kids from last weekend.

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful for Eli's boundless energy!! ( I really never imagined saying that?!)

Happy Easter!!!!!!

I hope everyone had as good a weekend as we did!!!

We went to Atlanta to visit two of our favorite families...the Valdes family and the Hucks family.....and had a great time!!

We went to the Atlanta Aquarium and had a blast.....the boys so enjoy an aquarium. It was HUGE and so fun. We managed to get there early enough to beat the crowds. Then we went to the ESPN Zone...WOW. The boys loved playing with Abrielle and Alan again. It amazes me how they can just pick up right where they left off....but I guess we are all like that with our good friends.

The Hucks live in Rome, Ga. We went to church yesterday and basically just let the kids play. We got to finally meet Matthew, the newest addition to the family, and he is just as cute as can be....a very happy baby.

So that was our first family trip on treatment, and everything went well. I got a little nervous at night just thinking about fevers and whatnot, but not enough to keep me awake.

Eli continues to do fantastically, as we all do.

Gotta run. I will try to catch everyone up more often. I have been really slack this month. But, as I have said in the past, that is a good thing because it means that we are not focused so much on the cancer.....just living our lives and enjoying it....

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful for Easter and everything that it gives us!!!!

Again, a late post....I see this as a good thing, it means that we have other things absorbing our lives other than Eli's leukemia. But I do like to keep everyone in "the loop" so to speak.

Our week last week was finally the week of potty training. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, maybe not the right time seeing as this week was his steroid week and he got his LP on Thursday. But it has all gone surprisingly well. Jennifer Boyle told me about an amazing traveling potty that fits under the seat of the car and completely closes...so we went right out and got one for the times when we just cannot make it home.

The LP was fine, but it was a long day at the clinic. Eli got his LP so we had to get the "sleepy medicine", he got the IV of Vincristine, the IV of Pentamadine, and he also got an IVIG treatment. This is the second of these that he has gotten and they seem to help with the colds and whatnot that are going around. So with all of that, we were there from 8-4. It was a long day, but that means that Eli doesn't need to be accessed again for a month. Just finger pokes...and Eli loves to get the finger pokes instead of the tubie. So it is a good thing!!!

Elis counts:

ANC 1568
Hemo 10.7
Platelets 210

Jacob was sick last week and missed school on Wed, Thurs, and Fri for a fever. He still has a cough, but I am just trying to limit his activity. We of course took him to the Ped on Wed and had a flu test done, but it was negative. I was beginning to think we were the unluckiest folks on the planet. We have a child with Leukemia and get the flu 3 times in one year?! Come on, give me a break. But we kept Jacob away from Eli as much as possible. Now that Eli's counts aren't really low we don't have to leave the house, but we still need to quarantine the sick child until the fever is gone. I cannot wait until cold and flu season is over!!! I think I may have said it before, but I feel I cannot say it enough....

Some of us are going to walk the Bridge Run this year....after 13 miles 10k really doesn't sound that daunting anymore.

Gotta Run, we have to find something for dinner.....

Thanks for checking in.

Maria

I am thankful that Jennifer Johnson's procedure went well and things are looking bright!!

Yes, last week caught me off guard and I never posted. We had our ENT appt on Monday and had labs drawn then too, since we were already at the clinic.

The ENT, Dr. White, was really great. Eli's vocal cords are swollen, but he feels this is probably due to acid reflux caused by the chemo....yet another fun side effect!! He put Eli on prevacid for a while and will recheck in a couple of months or so. He thinks with the prevacid on board the problem will probably correct, but he will have to stay on it until he is finished with treatment. This was something we were hoping to avoid (one more med going into Eli on a regular basis) but now that we have seen that he is having difficulty we have no choice. The good thing is Dr. White said that the prevacid is not usually tough on little guys and there are no real side effects from it. Good.

Eli's ANC on Monday was 1138...yea. Back in the real world. WE are still keeping masks on him, but we are going out. All of his numbers were up. His platelets were 180, and his Hemoglobin was over 10.

On Thursday we go in for our LP and start Cycle 3..Which means we have officially been in Maint. for 6 months. It is amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun.....LOL!! NO really, I can't believe we have been in maintenance for that long. After cycle 12 we will only have to have an LP once every 3 months instead of the first and second months. That will be another welcome change to our regimen. After that....its 2010 here we come!! (Then we will have a HUGE party, I am already planning it in my head when I am at the clinic!!)

Thanks for checking in. I will post on Thursday and let you know how everything went.

Maria

I am thankful for the beautiful weather we had this weekend that allowed us to get outside and play!!!!