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.