Second Birthday (aka Transplant Day)

The transplant is done!!! This morning, Cris had to have a blood transfusion before the transplant since his hemoglobin levels were really low (it's a side effect of the chemo and radiation). Before they do a blood or platelet transfusion, they give him tylenol and benadryl. Any other child would have fallen asleep because of the benadryl, but not Cris. He had another dose of tylenol and benadryl right before the transplant and I thought that he would become drowsy with the second dose of benadryl, but not Cris. The doctors and nurse all said that they have never seen a child go through 8 days of radiation and high dose chemo and have this much energy on transplant day. They couldn't believe that he continued to talk and play throughout the procedure, something they all agreed was extraordinary. Hopefully, his recovery will be equally exceptional and he will be able to come home before September. So far, so great!

Adina

Radiation is OVER!!!

To our great relief, Cris finished radiation this afternoon. Asking Cris to stand completely still for 16 minutes is like asking a river to stop flowing-- not going to happen--ever. He squished, squirmed, wiggled, danced, sang and did pretty much everything except to stand still during treatment. While we were waiting for patient escort to bring us back to the room, an older man walked by wearing a hospital gown, and nothing else. I don't know if he was aware of the show he was putting on...

Being here hasn't been as difficult as I had imagined. Yesterday, Cris played walkie-talkie BINGO. He had a ball playing with the walkie talkie, I'm just not sure how much fun the announcer had. Oh well.
A few minutes ago the candy cart left the room. They loaded him up with about 4 lbs of sugar and chocolate. It's the only food he's eaten in 2 days. He wouldn't drink the milkshake I ordered for him for breakfast, but he has no problem inhaling fruit snacks and sour patch kids. He asked if he could have a bag of Skittles for me and I think he just ate those, too. My kid just ate candy for dinner and I'm happy because he ate something and (hopefully) won't lose too much weight today.

Tomorrow we get to sleep in because chemo doesn't start until 9-10 and he does it in the room. He's used to the chemo so, hopefully it won't be too bad.

~Adina

First Week

So far, so good. We have settled into our new (bigger) room. Cris has started decorating in a Harry Potter/Star Wars mash up theme. One of the girls made him a really cool 3D Harry Potter calendar. As far as hospital rooms go, this one is pretty nice. The foldout bed I have been sleeping on only slightly less comfortable than sleeping on the ground. Cris is happy because now he has more space to play. He's been having fun with all of his new books, games, toys and movies. Thank you for sending them!

Tomorrow afternoon he'll be done wtih radiation and Saturday morning he starts his 4 day cycle of chemo. If it weren't for the bald head and IV pole you would never know that there was anything wrong with Cris. He's been entertaining all of the Doctors, nurses and volunteers.  So far he has been taking it all in stride and having fun while he's here.

Adina

Good News!!!!

Tuesday's scans were all clear!! The cancer is gone!! The transplant Dr. said that he is making great progress. She said that it is rare for them to make a treatment schedule two months in advance and for the patient to stick to it perfectly. Usually, there is a delay in treatment because the patient's blood counts are too low or they will become sick and can't move forward with treatment. Cris sailed through with flying colors! He did really well on the rest of his preliminary exams (echo, EKG, kidney function test, etc). The Dr. also said that since he made so many stem cells during the collection, they will be able to return more than usual during the transplant. This should help to speed up the recovery process. He also has extra stem cells in storage, just in case he gets an infection and needs a "boost".  She also told me that "high energy kids" tend to do better and recover faster than kids who lay around in bed after the transplant. This is great news since Cris isn't just "high energy", he's super electric. To look at Cris right now, the only indication that something is wrong is his lack of hair. He is still running around like a lunatic, trying to get into everything (and giving me a heart attack since he isn't supposed to get hurt or sick right now.)
 
Thanks again for the prayers, kind words and positive vibes =)
Adina

We're Almost There

So many things to do... Tomorrow Cris has to sit still for 2 hours while they prepare radiation forms for his body. I'm bringing a bunch of movies and hoping for the best.  He also has to see the dentist, psychiatrist, and surgeon this week. On Tuesday he's having PET/CT scans to determine whether the chemo got all of the cancer cells. If everything looks good, he'll be ready for the transplant.

As scary as the recovery will be, I can't wait for the transplant to be over. I know that Cris is sick of all of these procedures. I can't stand watching him have go through it. As far as Cris is concerned, he is not happy about having to spend 45 days in isolation. Dr. Trippett said that they have a lot of activities for the kids, I'm hoping that it will help the time to pass more quickly.

Adina

Stem Cell Harvesting

Cris's counts were so good today that he was able to begin the stem cell collection process a day early! He's still having the transplant on the 28th,  but hopefully we'll be able to go home tomorrow (rather than Thursday). If we're really lucky, they will have collected all the cells they need today and we won't have to come back tomorrow. *Fingers crossed* So far, so good.  He's on track for his transplant. Next week's scans will tell us whether the cancer is gone

**Update**  They only needed 1,000,000 stem cells for the transplant, Cris produced 59,000,000!! He is a rock star!! He's doing really well so far! Keep the prayers and positive vibes coming =)