Knock 'em Dead

It was toasty warm today in Idaho.

Lucky for us it was about two degrees cooler in the riding arena

versus the outdoor arena for horse therapy today.

We were a little worried in that lately, Kean just wants to

"trot, trot, trot".

With the temps near 100, we weren't 'chomping at the bit'

to run our tails off.

(apologies for all the horse references)

We completely scored in that there were about 8 tall poles

that Kean had the best time reaching out and

knocking over.

 He'd slam them to the ground and then break out in giggles.

Good for him and good for us.

The Wish Grantors

See these darling ladies?

They are the "Wish Grantors" from Make A Wish.

Tonight was our big meeting.

Now that Kean is rounding the corner to the finish line

with his fight against cancer, it is time to start planning

for his big reward, um, I mean trip.

They asked all kinds of questions about Kean's favorite things.

Likely, we will end up going to Disney World as a family.

We figure it would be the perfect marriage of his two great loves:

Maximus (the horse from Tangled) and his need for speed and 

love for all things "rides"

(motorcycle, four wheeler, tractor etc.).

It is so exciting to see the planning begin.

For one, it means we are getting closer to the end!!!!

And second, it will be downright, absolutely, totally 100 percent F.U.N.

Ahoy Matey

We escaped for the weekend.

Actually, we figured Reese and Kean could be just as miserable

up at the cabin on the lake as they could be at home.

And guess what?!?!?

A little change of scenery and change of pace did wonders.

Reese amazed us with how quickly she healed and felt better

and Kean did quite well.

So -- phew!

Our neighbor Joe and his daughter Jaymie met us up in the mountains

with his sail boat.

 Kean and Reese were both banned from getting in the lake

(but we did let them dip their toes in).

 The boat had a little cabin (I thought we'd get Kean to

take a nap-- fail).

 It was just too exciting and too noisy for nap time.

 We had a grand time-- and sailed the high seas,

well, Lake Cascade for much of the day.

 We figured we logged about 25 miles on the sailboat.

 And yes, we were all tuckered out (and a few sun burned too).

 This was our view from the cabin this morning (the day

after the big boating trip).

That's Joe down there just to the left of the big tree.

He went out for an early morning sail.

I think this weekend was just what the doctor

ordered.

Back to the E.R. (Really?!?!?!?)

I'm not quite sure whether I should laugh or cry.

It is really ridiculous  how insane our lives happen to be.

Today, I have Kean crying, whining and wanting to be held

on and off all day.

Yep, the Chemo has hit.

And obviously, since that is not enough,

Reese was out on the trampoline this morning,

doing her gymnastics routine and walking along the metal rim.

She tripped and fell HARD right on her crotch.

Next thing I know, she comes in and blood is everywhere.

We finally got the bleeding to stop and saw that she had a good

little cut.

She stayed on the couch for the next three hours napping.

It was when she got up to go to the bathroom that the bleeding

started again and wouldn't stop.

So we headed back to our "2nd home", the hospital.

 I won't go into the gory details.

Let's just say after she was given a topical gel

and then the doctor started giving her shots in the area

"where the sun don't shine" to numb her up for stitches--

she screamed loud and long enough for the folks two towns

over to hear her!

 We ended up throwing away some of her clothes

they were so bloody-- so she came home in a hospital gown.

She felt pretty darn good while everything was numb.

 Her sweet sisters (who stayed home to take care

of grouchy Kean) made a candy card for her.

They are the best.

But boy howdy, when the numbness wore off

I thought we were going to die watching her think

she was going to die.

Actually, it just reinforced the fact that the Lord

sure knew what he was doing when he gave Kean

cancer and not one of his sisters.

I could not have handled them not handling it!

She is resting tonight, on Tylenol and watching a movie.

She is going to be incredibly bruised and sore.

What a way to kick off summer vacation, eh?

Clearly, we don't do anything without a bang around here!

How Wicked

Life keeps churning doesn't it?

Today marked the final day of school for the Barkette's.

Holland tearfully said goodbye to her group of friends- the ones

she has gone through with from first grade through 8th grade.

Greer successfully kisses 6th grade goodbye

and Reese, geez, she will be in 4th grade next year.

(She still is the size of a kindergartner and weighs only about 4 

pounds more than Kean).

Speaking of Kean, he had a decent day today for as much

junk as they put in his body yesterday.

He wanted me to hold him and cuddle for most of the time-

no complaints here.

Grandpa Bodily treated him to a lawn mower ride

first thing this morning.

Man, that child is spoiled (and loved)!

I still have to struggle through each day getting 

this child to eat.  

At the hospital yesterday, he was down two pounds.

But the good news is he's back on the dreaded Steroids

so his appetite should kick in big time in a few days.

For those of you who have asked, here is the video my friend

Wendy shot of Greer doing her big solo in front of her school yesterday.

She's singing the song "Popular" from the musical Wicked.

I think you'll agree she has a future on the big stage someday.

That girl cracks me up.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw83FGF9BbNdUFQwZEd1OFMwVFE&authuser=0

Ladies and Gentlemen, Can You Say "MIRACLE"?

Grab some popcorn.

We had a huge, huge day

so this will be a long post.

Kean has heavy Chemo today-- his last one sedated.

It didn't start out too well. 

His "persnickety port" wouldn't let the nurses squeeze out any blood

until after he got a dose of anti coagulants. 

I must need to learn more patience.

But thankfully, it got better (much better) from there on out.

The lady in blue-- Fabiana Huffaker was our Chemo date for the day.

In my book, she's one of the top photographers around and a dear friend.

She spent countless hours last week shooting portraits of 20

cancer kids for our Hall of Heroes gallery.

And trust me, they are stunning.  

She brought her camera along today and took some

extremely touching pictures of our little warrior-- pictures I will truly treasure.

The lady in red (the red hair) is my friend Zoe - the head of special

events for the hospital.  We had a mini meeting in the PICU

while waiting for Kean's procedures to start and plotted out 

how we will redecorate the Pediatric Oncology Unit to make

room for all of the portraits and stories of these kids.

 And then finally, it was time to start.

His Chemo went smoothly.  He got two drugs today-- one in his 

spine and brain.  So glad to have this behind us.

His Oncologist can't quite figure out why Kean's hands

(and his feet and torso-- a bit) are yellow.

He ruled out jaundice, some other condition caused

by eating or drinking too much carrots, squash etc.

and then late this evening called to rule out Thyroid issues.

So the mystery continues. 

 Here's the exciting news of the day - though.

After they finished administering his Chemo, they kept

him sedated for another hour plus.

A doc from Elks Hearing and Balance came over to 

give him an ABR-- a sedated hearing test.

 When she was done, she said to me that in all her years 

she has never been able to tell a parent that their child

NO LONGER needs a hearing aid.

That is, until today.

 He got two hearing aids when he was quite young, then it was cut down to just

his right ear.  He has fought that blasted torture device since day one.

His therapists and Byron and I have always suspected his hearing

was better and he did not need it.  

And today, we had that confirmed and had our MIRACLE.

They told me early on his hearing loss was "conductive" and that 

there was a minuscule chance of it being corrected but

that rarely happened and to not get my hopes up.

I didn't get them up but I'll tell you I have been up in the clouds

today over this news.

Somehow, we made it home in time to drop Kean off with 

my friend Calene so I could run to Holland's Middle School graduation.

 I missed the awards ceremony this morning where she got

two awards and where Greer knocked it out of the ballpark

and sang I'm told a killer solo to the school.

 It was so fun to see Holland surrounded by her good

friends and so happy.

They are all scattering to the wind next year and going

to several different high schools.

Kind of a bittersweet day for her.

Bittersweet for her but sweet, sweet, sweet for me!

Shennanigans

Fun night for us.

We went over to the Moomey's for a yummy dinner

and then stuck to tradition and played a rousing few rounds of Bingo--

complete with a huge prize chest.

 Kean won the first honorary prize:

a yo yo that he promptly showed off his mad skills

by threading it through his fingers and toes.

 Elly was the Bingo caller.

Obviously she takes her job quite seriously.

 Greer took the bubble microphone and purple hair (both cool prizes)

and performed the number she'll be doing in front of her school tomorrow

for the middle school awards program.

Kean has heavy Chemo tomorrow so unfortunately, I won't be

there to see her and had to settle for this.

 Then it was outside for massive Silly String fights

and water balloon fights.

 Guess you can tell what all was in the prize center.

 Kean was in heaven tonight.  He ate great, played great

and loved all the antics.

Tomorrow is his last sedated Chemo day!!!!

He's had so many of these procedures where they

put the Chemo into his brain and spine that I have lost count.

And to think tomorrow is his final Lumbar Puncture

is quite mind boggling.

We are getting there, yes we are!