Going HOME!

Maggie comes to visit for a pizza party at the doctor's house. We partied so late we had to do bath time here too -- she LOVED it!

Pizza party at the doctor's house! We had pizza's delivered so dad and Mag's could come party with us. Tommy even got a b-day balloon from the record room's clerk.
Here we are this morning with our ICE CREAM, pancakes, yogurt and chocolate milk -- yummy! He's proudly showing you HIS Dr. badge. When mom got her Red Cross badge and looked like the rest of the Dr's & Nurse's -- he was VERy upset that HE didn't have one. We quickly fixed that!

Hip hip hurray! For today is the day we get to go HOME! Tommy's hematology came to visit about 8 AM and said Tommy's doing pretty good and all his counts continue to go in the right direction, so he's going to let us out early (this afternoon) and we'll come back on Monday for another blood check. Tommy's still not "great" so we'll be going home with his G-CSF shots that Daryl or I give him daily (granulocyte-colony stimulating factor) a growth factor that stimulates the bone marrow to make more white blood cells. We'll also be keeping him on the steroids that he started yesterday.

The steroids are almost an instant effect -- which is good considering how tiny my once Chunky Monkey has shriveled down to. Gee (Kim's mom) told him last night he can have whatever he wants at the DR's house all he has to do is call the nurse's and tell them, and includes ice cream. Well, that was giving the kid the "GOLDEN TICKET" like from Willie Wonka! At 10 PM he wanted to buz the nurse for ice cream -- great! Lucky for me (I say "me" because I would have been the one who would have had to go out in the middle of the night driving around for ice cream other wise), they have little ice cream cups in the freezer here on the floor.

Can you guess what he wanted for breakfast this morning?!!! Oh Gee, this child wanted MORE ice cream! So we got ice cream, pancakes, yogurt and chocolate milk. On a diet like this, I don't think we'll have to worry if the steroids will help pack on the pounds.

In the end, we won't be here as a in-patient for his birthday THANK GOODNESS! We'll still have to come down for a finger prick -- guess that's okay. Hopefully by then we can pull off of the G-CSF shots -- there won't be any disagreement from Tommy we know that!

July 27, 2007

Just as we figured, last night about 9:30 PM Tommy and I drove in to our usual parking spot at the DR's house. Tommy had bottomed out on his cell counts and was running a fever of 102. Once we got his Scooby Tail accessed (IV in to the port) we had blood drawn and it confirmed that he needed a transfusion, only this time he needed a platelet transfusion. The DR's were sure he'd bounce up from that and we'd be going home Friday night. Uh well, I knew they were wrong when they said that. They are great docs don't get me wrong, but we deal with the doc's in training on the ward and it's the hemock doc's that really run the orders and know what a cancer kid will do. So when 6:30 AM rolled around (only 3 hours after I fell asleep last night) and Zoe (one of our nurses) said "we're going to give him a red cell transfusion" I wasn't at all surprised. So much for going home tonight! Daryl and Maggie are on their way up for a pizza and movie date in Tommy's room. We'll be here till at least Sunday now - Monday is his 4th Birthday! WOW! Where did 4 years go?!?!?! Seems like we had him just like a couple of years ago. I'm proud to see him grow and do the things he learns from us and shows his tender loving ways too. Tommy has lost so much weight that they are starting him on steroids, 3x's a day. I get very sad looking at him these days and holding him. He's all skin and bones, it makes me so sad! Maggis is bigger (width, not length). Well, it's been a LONG 24 hours...will try to write more again tomorrow. Keep the prayers going <><

CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE PICS PICS & MORE PICS

WOW! Where do I begin - this is Tommy's FAVORITE blanket and pillow. I'm at a lost of words to really express and detail my sincere appreciation for my new friend Tracy. Tracy lives and works in Maine. Her career field has reasons to be in touch with my dad in AZ which is how she learned of Tommy's cancer. Tracy was determined to reach out to Tommy -- she's an advocate in getting more prayers for Tommy. Tracy wanted to do more, so she thought and thought what she could do and would make Tommy feel safe, warm and happy. She discovered Tommy likes Scooby Doo and so she hand made this beautiful blanket with matching pillow all by herself! Tommy nor I have ever met her, heck, neither has my dad! Tracy, thank you for heartfelt and lovely gift -- it's more than a blanket and pillow that Tommy loves.
Tommy has lost nearly all of his eyelashes now - here he's showing I'm really comfy in my new blanket.

Maggie Mae and Grandmother with her party hat!
Tom and Tommy! AKA granddaddy - came for a visit last week while Tommy was in between treatments.
Maggie Mae getting more loves from grandmother.
MAN! Is this picture worth a thousand words or what! Can you see in his smile how much he loves his new blanket and pillow!!
Our favorite mug shot of Tommy!

BIG dinosaur!
These were mine and Tommy's favorite ones! Maggie did pretty good considering how LOUD the show was. The last 15 minutes or so, she was ready to leave telling me "I wanna go". Tommy had a few close calls himself where he would tug at mom's arm.
Tacoma Dome had a super cool dinosaur show - they were life size and put on by the BBC channel. Daryl and I took Tommy and Maggie and had a wonderful day together.
Grandmother (Daryl's mom) came to visit for a couple of days. Grandmother brought Maggie her first party hat! It's really cute - pink fuzzy b-day party hat and a super soft bunny that she loves.

All is Well

Guess it's all starting to taking a toll on me as you can tell I am failing at keeping up with the blog as regularly as I was. I'm sorry for that and don't want you to give up on checking it for updates.

Tommy surprised us after his fifth chemo treatment because he need a blood transfusion. He normally does really well and recovers on his own. Just not the case at this point. This was the Thursday after the 4th of July, same day as Daryl leaving for a trip. We finally were able to get Daryl off on a trip and have me go solo with the kids - was worried at first, but we fell in to a routine.

Tommy just got done with his 6th chemo treatment and is holding his own right now, but his blood counts are dropping every day and suspect his lowest point will be this next week and fully expect him to need a transfusion and be hospitalized for a few days.

I'm VERY exhausted to say the VERY least! Keeping up with the treatments, side effects, and home life is a ton to manage. I'm also very active with clients and just don't have enough time to get to all things i.e. the blog. But, we're very blessed to have Tommy doing so well and work too.

Will try and do better here, but know we still need your prayers - don't give up. <><

Pictures, Pictures & MORE Pictures click to enlarge

Not a clear picture, but his stance is pretty perfect for his age. He knows Papa's favorite saying, "keep your eye on the ball"
Uncle Jim of Houghton Lk MI picked out Tommy's favorite hat that he's sporting here! Gee (Kim's mom) invited family and friends to join us in a "hat party" for Tommy - we're still getting packages and it's such a fun time for Tommy to try and guess what hat is next. Each day gives him the chance to wear a new hat and have a new favorite! Our hats are off to all of you for your wonderful support, love and gifts!!! I'm behind on everything right now, including thank you notes and b-day gifts, sorry!!!!!!!!!!!

Thought Papa would LOVE to see his boy sporting a family tradition sport -- he's a natural! And so is Maggie -- we might have two golf pro's in this family!!!

Maggie thinks Uncle Michael's mustache is funny

Have a giggle old time with M&M

Maggie takes Memory for a swing
Tommy rides his bike in our backyard while Michael watches
These monkeys escaped and were monkeying around on the monkey bars
Maggie shows how to climb up the jungle jim
Just a swing'n

You guessed it, Mt Rainier & a C17
Another C17 & Mt Rainier view
Mag's & Tommy having fun in the fort
A VERY tired Mom, Mag's & Tommy at his last chemo treatment
This last Thursday, July 5 Tommy needed a blood transfusion - Daryl's sister and brother in law (Memory & Michael) were here for a visit and joined us. Good news was that Tommy didn't need to be admitted to the hospital.

Tommy and Aurora getting their chemo treatments
Aurora just had her last chemo treatment this last week! We KNOW God answers prayers and WILL answer ours, so keep them going please! <>< Tommy @ his most recent chemo treatment
Maggie comes to visit...and eat!
Can you see the C17 in this picture - it's Mt. Rainier ... the view from our window

Happy 4th of July

I know, I know, I know! You all want pictures - they're coming. My computer has been sent off to Gateway AGAIN, so I am working from and on computers that I don't usually use. Hang on, as soon as I get my laptop back, you'll get pictures.

It's been a pretty good week for my Tommy. He's a little on the sluggish side, often wants to be carried cuz he's too tired to walk himself. In the morning, he'll get his cell count test done. I'm sure he's about near his very lowest point, which means we need to monitor him and his actions very closely.

We went to Auntie Grace and Uncle Craig's for an awesome bbq and family get together. Love the food -- it's out of this world, but I also love seeing their family. We feel as if they are our family -- and love them just as much.

Tommy too holds Grace, Craig and their family as our very own. He LOVES being over at their house no matter if it's just himself or the entire gang. There's a comfort there and best way to say it, is that it's love.

We have some great pictures we took at their house today and look forward to sharing with you soon!

Meanwhile, please help us pray that Tommy's blood count is good and that we have a good and easy time while Daryl's gone for the next 11 days. <><