Today was a great day for all of us.  My firm sponsored a blood drive in honor of Oliver and 56 people were able to donate.  We are so thankful and overwhelmed by the support of everyone. While we are going through such a difficult time, God has truly given us the opportunity to see the very best in people.  And there are a lot of wonderful, compassionate people out there, for which we are grateful.  Larry and Oliver came by the office and Oliver held Larry's hand while he gave blood.  Oliver...
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We had a very long day at the clinic yesterday.  All days are long at the clinic -we arrive at the clinic close to 7:00 am and usually do not get out until 6:00-6:30 pm.  We are all just exhausted from the process.  Upon arriving at the clinic, we first have to access his port (which is involves a needle and is not fun), draw blood from the port, meet with clinic doctor, then receive chemo or have procedures performed in PACU depending on the day. Yesterday was a PACU day, which is similar to...

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We noticed a few extra hairs on Oliver’s shirt this week and generally his beautiful thick hair is slowly thinning out; it won’t be long before he loses all of his hair.  We realize, of all the side effects, this one is the most harmless and superficial, but we can’t help but feel sadness over this loss.  It serves as an outward expression of his illness – we know he is sick internally, and have noticed some changes in his appearance, but this one is a glaring indication of cancer.  T...

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There are no major updates, but I will write more when I get a chance.  As promised, for those interested, I have attached Oliver's treatment plan to the site in a pdf file. (I put comments in red to make it easier to understand.)  You should see the plan on the right hand column on this page below the "about me" section. 
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Today we had a lengthy consultation with Oliver’s doctor at Texas Children’s going over his program for treatment over the next 3 ½ years.  We received quite a bit of information – and at times suffered from information overload.  It seems easier to take this treatment day by day then to focus on the long term plans.  But we realize the big picture is important.  Generally speaking, we learned there is a 20% chance the cancer will come back – half of those 20% are able to get rid of ...

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We just received great news - there were no more blasts (cancer cells) in the marrow sampled on Saturday and Oliver's platelet and marrow levels are improving.  And...we get to leave the hospital tomorrow!!  The doctors just want to keep an eye on Oliver for one more day to make sure there are no more signs of infection and keep an eye on his sodium (still low).  Even though he is cancer free, his body and immune system have a lot of rebalancing to do from the cancer and chemo.  We will remai...

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Looks like we are in the hospital for another day or so.  Oliver’s electrolytes are starting to stabilize with help, but the doctors want to make sure he does not have what looks like signs of the beginning of an infection.  He just started triple antibiotics and they are keeping a close eye on him.  He is still in good spirits despite a rough morning of having to drink potassium medicine at midnight, lots of doctors in and out and bandage changes.
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After a very long 8 hour wait at the clinic yesterday, the doctors decided to admit Oliver into the hospital for the weekend.  He received his VCR chemo drug but they were unable to sedate him for the bone marrow aspiration because some of his blood work, mainly sodium, potassium and glucose were low.  After IVs and a blood transfusion, Oliver made his way into the OR this morning where they successfully performed the bone marrow aspiration.  The OR is typically closed on Saturdays, but they ...

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Sorry no posts over the long weekend, we were all catching up on our rest and enjoying our time away from the hospital.  We found out today we are expecting a girl in February.  Oliver is so happy, he has said all along he wants a baby sister.  He seems to be feeling ok and has quite an appetite.  We will keep everyone posted when we find out more information, which will most likely be Friday at our next clinic visit. 
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Sorry I did not write yesterday, it was a long day.  It was our first clinic visit and we really did not know what to expect.  Unfortunately, the clinic was having an off day and our wait time was extremely long - which is difficult when you have a four year old who cannot eat or drink anything.  The procedures and chemo were not long, and Oliver did not need a transfusion.  He is doing well.  He lost about 6 1/2 pounds since this whole ordeal, which is a lot.  His appetite though seems to be...

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Just a quick note, we made it out of the hospital this evening.  Will be back at clinic on Friday for a full day visit and second round of VCR, spinal tap/chemo, bone marrow aspriation.  We are all so happy to be home.
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We are still in the hospital...Oliver received platelet transfusion in middle of the night to give him an extra boost to come home today.  Oliver's platelets are up (67 - the highest since we have been here) and hemoglobin is fine.  However, uric acid and BUN elevated.  We are trying to get him to drink lots of water and retake bloodwork at 3pm.  If the levels come back down we will be discharged.  If not, maybe another night in the hospital.  We are all ready to go home!  The magic trick app...

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Oliver made huge progress today.  His platelets were at 30 and hemoglobin at 10 - so no transfusions two days in a row!  He is still severely neutropenic (can't fight any type of infection) so we have to take certain precautions, but this is expected given the cancer and chemo treatments. This afternoon, he took his "pill class" in his room.  At first, he was explaining to the instructor he could not take his pills because he was allergic to them.  He then said his mommy and daddy would not a...

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