Special Guest at School

Rachelle showing them what the different types of blood cells our bodies have.

On Friday, we had a Child Life Specialists come to Trey's classroom to speak about leukemia. She was terrific! She did a great job of talking with the kids about leukemia and what it is and how they are helping Trey. The kids had a lot of great questions and comments. I was really thrilled with how well it went. Thank you Rachelle! We really appreciate all the Child Life Specialists at Primary Children's. Trey's class is also wonderful. All the kids are so supportive of Trey and really care about him. It means so much to us. I know Trey really loves his classmates and is so thankful for them!

Two Weeks Off!

Thursday's clinic went well. He had the usual blood draw and then had the LP (lumbar puncture) again. His counts were up this time so he didn't have to have a blood transfusion. We were told that next Thursday we didn't need to come! Trey was sooo excited! He told me, "This means I have two weeks off!" A couple of days before we are scheduled to go back, a home health nurse will come to our house to draw blood. His next phase of treatment is "count dependant". Meaning, if his CBC's are high we can continue, if they are low we have to wait until they are higher to continue.

Overall, Trey continues to do well. On Wednesday, he went to his cub scout meeting and had a GREAT time with his fellow cub scout pack. It was fun to see him smiling and having fun with his friends. Tuesday night he went to his friends basketball game. He was surprised to see some of his other friends there. So it turned out to be double the fun! Thanks Taylor for inviting him! He loved it! I love seeing him smile and his eyes light up! We are so blessed to have him in our family!

Caps and Hats!

Trey's cap/hat collection continues to grow! It's been so fun for him! Thank you all for the caps and hats! Below is Trey wearing a special cap. It has some of BYU's football team signatures. It even has Cosmo's and the coach's signature! Thank you to his friend Taylor for this cap! He had fun wearing it to his treatment on Thursday-he really showed his BYU pride! :)

Go Cougars!

A Day of Blood Transfusions

Trey has been doing so great! We feel very fortunate that he is responding well to the treatments. He hasn't been very sick - at least the last few weeks.

This last week, Shane and I noticed that Trey was quite pale looking. When Trey and I saw the doctors, they said the same thing. So, it wasn't much of a surprise that his blood counts were very low. I just didn't think he would need a blood transfusion. I guess if the hematocrit (this is the amount of red blood cells in the blood) falls below 24% (normal being 35%-45%) then they want to give a blood transfusion. Trey's hematocrit count was 16%. So we got 3 units of blood. Each unit takes about an hour long to infuse. We went in at about 12:30 pm and didn't get out until after 8pm. Made for a long day! Trey also had another spinal tap. He didn't want to be put to sleep. He is getting tired of going through the procedure. And it doesn't help that he has to "fast" the whole day prior to the procedure being done. He hates not being able to eat anything. Who wouldn't. But overall he doesn't complain much and he handles everything so well.

This is Trey, wrapped up in a "heated" blanket watching one of the movies we saw, while the blood transfusion was taking place. We saw two and a half movies!

I know that this is a strange picture to take, but I wanted to show my kids and whoever else may be wondering, what a unit of blood looks like. After Trey got the transfusions, he said he felt much better. I am so grateful for the medical technology that we have.

Even though his hematocrit is low, Trey's ANC counts are high once again! We are glad about that. He can contiune to visit with friends! That is always a highlight for him. We also spoke with the school and got permission to have Child Life come to his class. I think that will be a great experience.

Overall our spirits are high and we feel so grateful to our Heavenly Father for how well Trey is doing. We just continue to embrace these good days. Thank you again for the prayers and concern we feel from each of our family and friends! Please know that our love is going out to you as well!

Thank you!

Trey wanted to write...

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I had a great birthday and ate lots of pizza and icecream! I am sure blessed to have such great friends and family!

Love to all,

Trey

Valentines Party and Trey's B-day at school!

We got permission to go to the school so Trey could participate in the Valentines Day class party and also to bring treats for the class since his birthday is on the 15th. (there is no school on the 15th) Trey was sooo excited to see all his friends. We got there before the kids came in from recess and I could tell Trey was anxious to see everyone. Then they came in and when they saw Trey they all came up to him to give him hugs! I was not prepared for the tears that came. I felt really emotional and felt silly crying in his class. ( Don't worry I didn't blubber much :) It was just amazing to me all the love and concern the other children showed Trey. All the kids made a Happy Birthday card for Trey and Miss Mitchell had gotten him some balloons. He even went up to the front of the class as the kids sang Happy Birthday to him. I know that it seems silly to get all emotional over this, but when your child has a life-threatening illness, everything becomes a big deal.

He had a great time playing the games and being with his friends. We are hoping to be able to go back in a few weeks, this time with a Child Life Specialist from Primary Children's. Child Life is a program designed to help families with ill children cope with the illness. They have a program where a specialist will come out to the school and for about an hour teach the kids in Trey's class about what Leukemia is and answer questions they might have. I am in the process of getting approval from the school to do this. I think it is a great program and I hope we can get approval. I think it would help the other kids better understand Trey's situation and alleviate any fears or concerns they may have. Hopefully all goes well.

On to the next phase!

Okay, so Trey has successfully moved onto the next phase of treatment! Yippee! He is in the standard risk group and we have the treatment plan laid out for us for the next phase. This next phase is called Consolidation. He isn't on the steroids (at least for now). I can really tell a difference. Trey doesn't seem to be asking me what there is to eat all the time! In the consolidation phase, Trey only gets one dose of Vincristine by IV. Last phase he had it several times. He will still have the back poke ( spinal tap with the chemo). He is also on a medication called 6MP or Mercaptopurine. This helps to destroy cancer cells by interfering with the cancer cells growth cycle. One of the common side effects is that he could have low blood counts. Right now his CBC or complete blood counts are a bit low. His ANC are at 1.5 which is still in the range they should be. (ANC tell how well he can fight infection) His platelets are 140 and normal range is 150-400. At one time his were down to 24, so we are happy with 140. The Red blood counts are lower too. Normal is 4.0-5.20 and his are at 2.61. We are hoping that they stay the same or go up so he won't need a blood transfusion. He may need one if his RBC go down anymore. We just have to keep an eye on him to make sure he isn't showing signs of being really tired.

Ever since last week Trey has been doing so great. His energy level is way up and he is smiling lots more and seems so much more like himself. We are so happy about that! One day he told me that he felt really good and that it was like he wasn't even sick!

While we were waiting to be seen, Trey took advantage of the activities they had there for kids to do. He made a valentine for his oncologist. Now you have to remember that Trey is a BYU fan and always wears his BYU sweatshirt to the clinics. Primary Children's is right next to the University of Utah and many of the doctors and nurses there are Ute fans. Trey gets "teased" about being a BYU fan. So of course to get back at the doctor, Trey made a Valentine and wrote BYU ROCKS! on it. Dr. Barnette got a HUGE kick out of it. The other staff there saw it too and we all had a good laugh!