Here We Go Again...

Insert huge sigh here that today is over.

It was a biggie and seemed way too long for just one measly day.

Finally, finally, our boy made counts.  He was actually just over a thousand (that's normal).

So once the numbers were back, we headed up to the 4th floor to the PICU

for surgery.  Thank heavens, Paula Hogan was there to help keep Kean

entertained and his momma sane.

Step one of Chemo-- Methotrexate through a Spinal Tap into his

spine and brain went perfectly.

This picture was taken just after he went night, night... and before

they actually started the procedure.

I'm a wimp.  I always leave the room at this point.

Once Kean came to, they moved us over to one of our old rooms on the floor.

Here, Kean got two new doses of Chemo.  a drug called Cytarabine and another one

called Cyclophosphamide.  Both of these are supposedly pretty harsh-- causing nausea,

more hair loss (goodbye blond Yoda fuzz) and low Platelet counts.

The Cyclophosphamide is also quite cruel on the kidneys and bladder.

They had to give him another drug, Mesna to coat his bladder since the Chemo

causes bladder lining damage.  The nurses have placed a special pad

in each of his diapers where they have to wring it out and measure every

gram eliminated.  This diaper procedure will go on every few hours

throughout the night.  Fun times, I tell ya.

He's on two anti-nausea drugs so - so far, he seems okay.

However, he didn't eat anything for dinner even though he kept telling

me he was hungry.  Perhaps, it is the hospital food.  We wasted quite

a few dishes in here tonight hoping to strike a chord.

One final blip-- remember how I told you that in boys, the type of Leukemia

Kean has likes to hide in the testicles.  While he was under today,

Dr. Hanson checked his testicles and found that his left one had ascended.

I guess that's a red flag so tonight at 8 p.m., our little boy

earned a trip to the Ultrasound room, where it took three of us

to hold him still to get the pictures they needed.

This picture was taken right before he was de-pantsed and humiliated.

Poor guy.

We won't hear the results until the doc makes his rounds in the morning.

Don't worry.  I'm not.  I've convinced myself there

is nothing to worry about until there is something to worry about.

One Final Ride...

For now anyway.

Byron took Keanut on a last few laps around the neighborhood.

Tomorrow is a big day.

Once again, we head to ol' St. Luke's for blood work.

If his counts are above 750... he wins an overnighter in the

hospital and three, count 'em, three doses of Chemo.

They'll be doing a Spinal Tap to put one of the drugs in

his spine and brain.  The other two will go into his port.

He'll be getting a new med-- a Chemo drug that is

hard on the liver and kidneys, so they'll be trying to flush

the drug through his system with an IV and keeping an eye on the

boy.  As horrible as it sounds, I sure hope he gets to get going

tomorrow.  This putting it off and sitting in limbo is for the birds.

But wow, are we thankful he got to put it off to get us through the holidays.



Brrrrrrrrr

Byron and the girls came rolling in tonight after a great overnighter up in the mountains.

They went with Don and Marcee Cook and family, stayed in a cabin, then snowmobiled

about twenty miles into some hot springs.

This is one of our favorite winter trips.

In one incredibly beautiful setting.

The only downside is having to snowmobile out. 

I was told it was quite cold... especially at speeds topping 50 mph.

For the first time, Holland drove her own snowmobile in and out.

Crazy how big she is getting.

Reese felt bad she didn't get to go.  She has definitely turned a corner

but still felt a bit weak today.

Take a look at what Byron and the girls brought her home;

an icicle as big as she is!

Kean is still holding steady.

Although he seemed quite miffed all day that his dad wasn't around

to take him for a tractor ride.

Now let me tell you what a good husband I have.

Even though he was plumb tuckered out from riding all day and

wrangling girls... he drove home, popped in the shower and fifteen minutes later

went out on a date with his wife.

We went to our good friend, Colleen Rigg's 40th birthday party.

The Riggs' had rented out a private suite at a local bowling alley

where we all tried not to make fools of ourselves on the bowling lanes.



I don't think any of us had bowled much... but boy did we have fun.

The men all gave each other nicknames... Byron was Yapper.

Guess there's no need for explaining that one.

My all time favorite though was for a friend of ours named Var.

His bowling nickname for the night?  Varsectomy.

I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time.

I'm just thankful the girls opted not to do nicknames.

 

     

 

Mush



Today was a mixed bag.

I got a call right after 9 a.m. from the girls' school telling me Reese had thrown up on the bus.

Yikes.

That poor child has vomited more in the past few weeks than I did when I was pregnant.

Well, almost.

Anyway, long story but my good friend Cindy Jones had to go pick up the sickie for me

since Kean was still asleep and Byron had my car for the morning with the car seat.

Reesey must just have some stomach bug.  It is not her strep back, thank goodness.

The challenge, once again has been keeping a very bored and needy little girl separated

from Kean-- who by the way, was very lethargic today.  And not very interested in eating.

I'm oh, so hoping, he is not getting sick too.

(He seemed good at bedtime though)

I tell you, this roller coaster of trying to keep everyone in this house healthy, and especially Kean

is exhausting.

If you remember last night, a group of my friends pitched in to send me for an 80 minute massage and spa

pedicure for my birthday.

They had set it up for today-- and in spite of all the drama at Casa Barker, Calene Borup and her

daughter, Chelsea still wanted me to go.

They held down the fort...

while I was pampered and turned into the equivalent of jello.

It was heaven and I worked very hard to

1.  stay awake

2.  not think about Cancer for even a moment.

 I also have some pretty cute toes, even though it is fr-fr-freezing here.

Byron took the two "non-sick" girls up to McCall this evening.

They are staying in a cabin with our good friends, the Cook's.

Tomorrow they will snowmobile into the Burgdorf hot springs

and go swimming.

Lucky dogs.

This has been one of our all time favorite traditions.

I'm just so glad Byron still took the girls even though half of our family

had to stay home.

We are trying to keep our lives as normal as possible

in spite of our uninvited long term caller-- wicked Mister Cancer.

Time (and the counseling bills our children turn over to us) will tell

how well we have succeeded.

Birthdaypalooza

Today we had quite the birthday theme going.

The girls "face timed" my childhood best friend April's husband Chris

(did you follow that?) for his birthday.

Even Keanut got in on the sista act.

Minutes after that number, I left the family and went out for a girls night out.

A much needed one-- if I do say so myself.

Fourteen of us "girls" laughed and talked through dinner.

We were celebrating my birthday and two other friends; Marcee's 40th and Colleen's 40th.

The girls all chipped in and surprised me with a gift certificate for an 80 minute massage

and a pedicure that is all set up for tomorrow!

I am sooo feeling the love

and so excited to turn into a noodle tomorrow.

I'm tellin' ya... I will be in perfect fighting shape to head to the

hospital on Monday and hopefully start the dreaded phase 4 for Kean.

I'll have to take some notes tomorrow and try a little massage on our boy.

Back to the Grindstone

The girls headed back to school and Kean headed back to work.

Momma Gump (Maureen), his Occupational Therapist came and played games, read stories

and worked on fine tuning several skills.

Then Meagan-- I guess we need to come up with a good nickname for her-- came and

did speech with the boy.

He did great today-- while letting her know he was tired and ready to nap.

Kean is so happy and seems pretty healthy.  He just doesn't have

a lot of stamina.  I swear about half an hour after he wakes up in the morning, he

is signing to me that he is ready for a nap. 

That, is when he is not signing that he wants to go outside and ride motorcycles or tractors.

He is all boy and so different from his sisters.

Holland's track coach, Mrs. Effaw sent us this picture of our girl and her teammates.



Perhaps they should consider renaming their team the 'running blondes'.



Over

The three girls head back to school tomorrow... bringing an all too soon end

to Christmas vacation.

I'm certain Kean will go through withdrawal.

He loves the loudness and silliness that comes with three girls.

Please take notice of his hair coming in.

Personally, I think he's beginning to favor Yoda.

And by the way, his hair is much blonder this time around.

 As a belated birthday gift, Greer gave me a concert on her violin.

 She was sure fun to listen to... but Kean was a blast to watch.

He loves music and was quite enamored with her playing.

 Reese, on the other hand, had a hard time sitting still and

instead commandeered Kean's helmet and cycle for a spin.

Byron took Keanut for his obligatory tractor ride.

This time, however, Kean decided it was high time he learned how to drive.

Watch for him to take the wheel....

On a very bright note, Holland offered to babysit for a couple of

hours so Byron and I could run out for a birthday dinner.

We had Thai food and found this fabulous restaurant (after

finding the one we wanted to go to was closed for New Years).

It was a good night.