Another Week

I took Payton into the clinic today to have his counts and an out patient chemo round. Payton’s counts were surprisingly pretty good. His Platelets were 103,000, WBC 8,600, ANC 2,510, and his HGB was 7.8 which is border line of needing a transfusion. Our oncologist said lets give it a couple days to see if his red blood cells can go up on their own. Payton is off of his neuphogen shots which will sometimes cause his counts to drop a little. We are scheduled to be admitted next Tuesday a week from today for another big round just as long as he has an ANC of 750 and Platelets of 75,000. Payton is scheduled for his CT scan this Thursday and scheduled for an Echo Cardiogram (EKG) on Monday which will make sure that his heart is ok since that can be one the side effects of these chemo drugs. I pray everyday that these chemo drugs do not cause any long term side effects. Payton is so brave. He realizes when we put a numbing cream on his port that he will have to be poked. Payton stressed about his cream on his port the whole way to the hospital. He said no cream, no doctor. Poor kid it’s just not fair that any 2 year old or any kid should have to go through this. Payton is getting pretty smart and is very aware of what goes on now at the clinic. He is so brave and I am so proud of him.

Savannah on the other hand seems to be improving everyday with school. I still can’t believe that she is a 1st grader. She is so lucky to have such a great teacher who is so understanding and kind to her. This is the year that we really needed a great teacher. Savannah is starting to make friends and I hope is coming out of her shell a little, she is pretty shy which is surprising since at home she is totally opposite. I hope that she will continue to do well as the year goes on. I worry a lot about her and want her to be happy.

All and all we seem to be holding it together a little better. Since things have slowed down somewhat I have returned to work one day a week on Saturdays. It has been good for me to get out and have some sort of sanity. I hope that we have found our happy medium with these reduced chemo dosages and that we can continue to do well. We are looking forward to next week since this will mark our half way mark of chemo with the large treatments. I am so proud of my family. I have sat back and watched each one of us struggle in our own way and yet we have really pulled it together and been a strong team. I have such great faith that we will see an end to this and that Payton will be cancer free and go on living a happy normal healthy life. I can’t wait for the day when I can see him be himself again. I want to thank all of our friends and family that have helped us get this far. Thanks for your strength, prayers, and words of encouragement. We love you all.

Week 11

We completed another big round of chemo last week. The big rounds are all in-patient. Payton is doing well so far. We are 40 percent done with the big rounds hooray! We are so grateful that he is doing better since Savannah has started school and life feels and little more chaotic. We had Payton back into the clinic today for more chemo, vincristine which is just outpatient and to check his counts. His counts were fine. He still has not hit his nadir yet. We need to take him back into the clinic again at the end of the week to have his counts checked. Next week we have a CT scan lined up. We are praying that all this chemo and radiation has killed any cancer cells and that nothing will show up. Savannah is back in school and has been struggling a bit; although, every day seems to get a little better. I think that it is more a separation thing than anything. She has a hard time being away from her family. Poor girl has been through so much the past few months. We are grateful that Payton is doing well again this round and hope that we continue to do well. We are hoping for no unexpected hospital visits again this round.
We are so proud of Payton. He is so brave.

A Day at Fossil Rim

We picked a day when Payton’s counts were good and drove to Glen Rose, Texas, to Fossil Rim Wild Life Park and Dinosaur Valley State Park. We figured Payton would be ok since you stay in your car to drive through and see the animals. The kids had a blast and it felt so good to get out of town for the day.

Savannah's 1st day back to school.