Great news!!!!

We went into clinic today to get Caines bloodwork done to see where his levels sit before the weekend.  Good news his counts have come up to the point he can go out and be around people (not massive crowds) If you are sick please still stay home until you are better but if you are well and wash hands you can come around.

Also to our surprise the MRD test results were back already.  CAINE IS NEGATIVE!!!  We couldn't be more happy..
Even Caine is telling everyone as he is pretty stoked that all the crap he is going through is working.

We also trial ran Caines live feed from school and he enjoyed being a part of it.  He looks forward to being on line when he cant be at school.

We will find out on Monday if his next round of consolidation starts.  This will all depend how.much more.his levels come up over the weekend.  He is currently at 400 and needs to be at 750 to continue.  If he isnt at that they will hold his start date for an extra week.

Have a great weekend!!!

Getting closer...

We went in Tuesday this week for follow up blood work.  His immunity is still low (not as low) so we are hoping by tomorrow (Friday)  it is high enough he can at least hang out with a friend or two.

His counts were good enough to get his bone marrow biopsy on Wednesday.  He had quite a sore back after but today it seems ok.  They have sent his biopsy off to get the MRD test...should have results early next week.  Please pray for negative MRD ad that will make this all worth it.

We did go out on Sunday (as Brody went to the farm with Grandpa) and Monday to do a bit of 9 hole golfing.  It was good to get Caine out to.enjoy this nice weather before the snow flys :p

Lastly at school they are putting JJ in his chair while he is away.  JJ is a large stuffed monkey from a great organization called Monkey In My Chair.  His class has been having a blast with him and taking him with them wherever they go.  I cant share pics yet as I dont want to put any of his classmates on line :).

Numbers are starting to come back sslloowwllyy...

Sorry for the lack of updates.  We have been hanging at home trying to keep Caine away from anything which may make him sick.  As of today his numbers are still extremely low so will be at home.  He is getting frustrated as he misses hanging out with his friends but no immune system means no visitors until it is back up.

Caine is also doing school work at home daily.  His teacher and school has been accommodating and by hopefully by the  end of the month he will have a private YouTube channel set up where he can participate in classes live or watch replays if he cant watch live.  This will get him reinvigorated with school as me teaching him is only so much fun...although have to say I am getting pretty good at it.

Next week is a no treatment week.  We have formally finished Phase 1 of 2 of consolidation.....so happy about that.  We will however go in Tuesday for blood work and if his numbers come up enough we will have a bone marrow biopsy on Wednesday to see if the MRD comes back negative now.  Please pray that it does.....if his counts arent where they want them we will be delayed a week to get the bone marrow biopsy and then an additional week to start Phase 2.

We are rocking the treatment and pray that he continues to do well through the remainder.

Have a great weekend.

Numbers are down

As we make our way through the week and Caines treatments his blood count numbers continue to drop.  On Tuesday that meant another transfusion ( odd to see a bag of blood there vs chemo or flushes)

He is not allowed to be in crowds now and not around anyone who is even a bit sick. 

He is in good spirits but getting frustrated with all the time.needed to be in hospital to get all of this done.  It will be a LONG few months until we get threw this and the next block of consolidation.

MOM SIDE NOTE:  For me pure panic mode has set it.  When his counts are down it makes him VERY subspectable to infection which means a possible hospital stay.....didnt think I had anxiety but after this pretty sure I do.

Keep us in your prayers and good thoughts.

Hard week

This week as a bit harder in Caine.  He was getting sick once a day this week.  He took it good but get so worked up around taking Oral meds he will sometimes just puke.  We are working on plans to work through this and it is slowly working.  In talking to the doctor and nurses we are trying the dissolvable tablets of Zofran vs the liquid as the liquid gave him alot of anxiety and sometimes puking from it as it worked him up so much.  The dissolvable tablets work great so one less thing to worry about.

Saturday was a non puke day and so far today as well.  If he gets too warm or exerts too much it seems to make him have an upset stomach.  Next week is a light week.  He has one med, Vincristine, that he has had before and did well on and his  Erwina shots which has no effect on him.  So hopefully he will feel good and get to school for most of the week (as long as his counts dont drop).

MOM SIDE COMMENT: This became very real for me this week with him puking and having alot of discussions with him around puke.  I try my hardest to make it as light as possible but so hard when all you want to do is make it go away.  My heart just broke this week. 

Also wanted to mention my great heart friends in Saskatoon being lead by Anna Maton are throwing us a fundraiser on October 5 at the Capital in Saskatoon.  Tickets are $25 before Sept 20 and $ 30 after.  There is a magician at 8 and band at 9.  Starts at 6 stay as late as you like.  Kids are allowed until 8.  We are hoping Caine will be good enough for us to attend....

As we work through our week I will update.  Keep ths prayers coming for Caines continued treatment and health.

First transfusion today...

Caine got though last week pretty well after Monday.  Caine is starting to feel the effect of chemo a bit as he has been sick.a few times.  I know Caine is a silent sufferer so hard to catch him before to ensure he doesnt get sick.  Just have to keep pressing Caine to be honest on how he feels.

Since Sunday Caine has been getting headaches when he wakes up in the morning.

Over the weekend, Caine had a sleepover with his friend Kian and I took Brody on a mini holiday to stay in a hotel over night with a pool (he had his friend Logan join and my friend Tamara joined).  We also went to a labour day party at Bob and Lynn's place in White City.  The boys got to swim and play with their friends...Caine was very energetic that day.

On Monday we had a chill day.

Today was the first day of school and Caine was able to attend in the morning.  He was happy to be back at school with his friends and just be a kid.  It is hard for Caine as he always asks why did I get cancer why do I have to go through this why cant I just be normal.....when you dont have an answer it is tough.

We picked Caine up at lunch and took him to his appointment at the clinic.  They thought he looked pale and took his blood work.  We also mentioned the headaches.  The doctor thought his hemoglobin was low and we did blood work and it was.  That means he had to do his first blood transfusion.  Since we couldn't stay at the clinic we had to go to 4F at the General to.get it done.  It takes 4 hours.

They will be watching his levels.closely this week as he may need another before the week is over.

Also with the drugs he is on, Cybaritine, it seems to be the culprit to his queasiness.  He got the drug earlier today and didnt tell.us his stomach wasnt good and ended up getting sick during his transfusion.  Gave him his vomit cover medicine as we like to call it (Ondansatron) and it seemed to settle down and he could eat.

That is it.....one day at a time..sometimes one hour at a time.