Sunday, Trey had his blood drawn and the other kids got to see it. They'd never seen his port accessed. They were pretty curious to see the needle and how it works. We heard a few oohs and aahs. I think Trey liked feeling tough in front of the his brother and sisters. It was kinda cute actually.

Monday we called the hospital to make sure his numbers were high enough to get the chemo treatments. They were,so off Shane and Trey went to Primary Children's. It didn't take as long as last time, which was nice. They increased the one chemo treatment. Trey felt fine all day until about 3pm. Then he started feeling really tired and said his back hurt like when he got the lumbar puncture. Unfortunately we had to cancel his teaching session with his school teacher because of how bad he was feeling. He slept quite awhile. He hasn't had much of an appetite the last 24 hours. I don't know if that is from the chemo or not. Today, though, he feels much better.

Shane took a picture of Trey and a life sized statue of Spiderman at the hospital. They are both wearing BYU hats! I will have to see if I can download the picture and post it.

We are so thankful for our blessings and that Trey is responding so well to treatments. May we all feel the love of our Savior and His hands in our lives. God Bless!

New Phase Starts

On Thursday, we took Trey in again to Primary Children's. He had a nice two week break. When we got there, he said "I kinda missed being here." Crazy kid. He must of just missed seeing all the wonderful nurses and doctors!

This new phase is called Standard Interim Maintenance. The doctor said it is pretty intense. He will go every 10 days to the hospital for chemo treatments. Trey will get a dose of Vincristine, which he had in the first phase. He will also get a drug called Methotrexate (MTX). He has received this treatment through the lumbar puncture, but never directly into the blood stream. Each time he goes back the MTX will be increased in dosage amounts. The major side effect is that his counts will go down. Once his counts reach a certain level, the doses will not be increased. They don't want his counts to get too low.

The day prior to him going to get the chemo, we have a home health nurse come and draw blood for his counts. The treatments are count dependant, and if his are too low, they don't want to give him the chemo.

This last nurse that we had was a bit confused and didn't seem to know what he was doing. One of the most important things you have to do when deacessing the port is to flush with heparin. Heparin helps prevent the blood from clotting in the port. Well this nurse didn't do that because he said he couldn't find it and said saline would work just as well. Shane and I didn't think that was right and when we asked the nurses at the hospital about it, they said it was a huge no no. We thought about just going to the hospital to have the blood drawn, but found out they wouldn't access his port and he would have to be stuck with a needle. That would defeat the purpose of getting the port, so he wouldn't get poked with lots of needles.

We asked to have a different nurse come the next time. The home health agency was very accommodating and we appreciated that. This experience just reaffirmed to me that as a parent I really have to know whats going on with Trey's medical care. Just because they are professionals doesn't mean they know everything and do everything right. This was a learning experience for me.

His doctor said Trey can still do his normal day to day things and be around people. He said he will let us know when and if Trey's counts get to the point that he won't be able to go out. So for now we continue to let him ride his bike, play at friends' house and have friends over. It's not all fun for him though. He still has homework and reading to do and he still has chores. We want him to still be responsible and learn how to do things. :)

Again we want to extend a thank you for the continued prayers and love. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. It would be horrible to walk through life alone-that's why the Lord gave us such wonderful blessings as friends and family!

S.I.B.S. Day

I know the kids don't look too happy here, but they did have a good time at S.I.B.S. Day. It stands for Super Important Brothers and Sisters. This is a workshop for kids that have a sibling with a life threatening illness. It gives them a chance to meet with other kids who may be going through similar things.

Primary Children's held the program last Saturday. They divided the kids into different groups depending on age. They all had a good time and got to meet new people. I think over all it is a great program to offer.

Alanna came home with a doll and a bunch of medical stuff, like gloves, mask, cap, band aids, gauze, syringe etc. She had a lot of fun. Katrina made a collage of what she loves (of course it was mostly of animals :) She enjoyed joking around with the leaders that were over her group. She really had a good time. Skyler's group talked about feelings and they made masks. They talked about how we sometimes "mask" our feelings to hide how we really feel. He wasn't too thrilled to go, but being the "mean" mom that I am, I made him go. I think that he got something positive out of it, even if he won't admit it. Teenagers for you. :)

I'm appreciate how supportive the hospital is with the different programs that they offer. It has been such a blessing to us. They have so many resources for parents.

Blue and Gold

Last Wednesday was the Blue and Gold banquet for Trey's Cub Scout Pack. Trey advanced to the Bear and I got to draw a bear paw on his face. Each part of the paw represented something in the cub scouts. He earned his Wolf rank and is so excited to start working towards his Bear.

Part of the program for the Blue and Gold was a Polynesian dance the boys worked really hard to learn. They performed it a couple of times for their families.

They did such a great job! Way to go Pack 1050! You guys are AWESOME!

The picture below is of Trey's pack group. There are some Wolfs, Bears and Weblos. Trey is blessed to have such a supportive group of friends and leaders. Thank you!!!

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!