Round 7 of Chapter 3

Wednesday March 9

So today we are back at the treatment room for another round of maintenance work.  Cody of course was not such a great patient for them today.  His port was acting up again and not letting them draw any blood from it no matter what they tried.  This worried the nurses since not even a drop was coming.  This could mean so many different things.  For starter they wondered if the valve had shifted inside and not in proper place, or the valve was completely detached or it just had a blood clot on the end.  The only way we were able to see what was going on was to head down to radiology and have them shoot his port with a certain fluid and see where it went with an ex-ray.  Cody was extremely nervous.  They came in telling us all the worse case sinerials first.  They talked about maybe having to remove his port and switching sides or having to go in through the groin and stripping the valve.  Neither are good this early in his treatments.  Once they remove it and switch to the other side that's your last chance for a port.

As you can see Cody is not thinking this is very fun at all.  He would hardly talk to me he was quit scared of what they would find.

Well everything came back looking good.  It seamed to be a few small lesions on the end of the valve acting like a trap door.  It was letting fluids in, but would shut as soon as you would try and draw any out.  They injected a blood thinner and wa la it began to work very well.  So back to treatment we will go. 

Our dear friends Stacy and her mom Vicky came to visit us.  Stacy graduated from chemo 2 weeks ago from being treated for breast cancer.  They are so dang cute.  They told us as long as we are there they will be coming to visit during our treatments.  We couldn't ask for any better two people.  They have just become part of our family.

So Friday when we went back to get Cody's pump taken off we were told that the Dr. wanted to see us.  Cody's tumor count has dramatically spiked again.  Even though we had a great CT scan 4 weeks ago his tumor count was still going up.  It has gone from a 3.3 to a 8.7.  The Dr. felt like we needed to do another Pet Scan to get a better look at the entire body.



Tenlies first dance comp.

Saturday February 26

This year was the first time Tenlie was involved in the company.  She loves to perform and wanted to be able to perform more.  She was so funny all week long she kept telling me that at her competition on Saturday there is going to be judges.  I asked her if she was nervous about that and if she understood what the judges were going to be doing.  Her response was of course they are going to be judging us on how well we do and I'm supper excited about that.  Most people get nervous, but not my little one she was super excited. 

They took 1st place in their Jazz routine.  Way to go girls!

Their hip hop dance came next and they rocked the stage.  Everyone fell in love with their outfits.  i believe this is my favorite also.

And again first place in hip hop.

They also did a great job in their lyrical dance.  This one has been more of a struggle for these little ones, but they won it over again 1st place in this division also.

Tenlie was supper excited she got her own meddle to take home and show all her family.  I don't believe she took it off all day.

Since this was her first competition she wanted to stick around for the awards.  It was really fun for her since their team won this big trophy.  She was all smiles coming home to tell her dad and little brother.  I was very proud of our little group they are so dang cute.

Loving the snow

Friday February 25

So today we had a great snow storm and the kids couldn't wait to get out there and play in it.  The first thing Tenlie says to me when I picked her up from school was "mom so you think Grandpa would pull us around behind the 4-wheeler?"  I started laughing and and told her she would have to ask.  As you can see she got her wish.  They love playing out in the snow with their Grandpa.  He is such a great sport when it comes to playing with these two.  I believe they thought my parents back yard was a race track.  Around and around they would go. 

Then they convinced Grandpa into helping them roll a large snow ball.  And of course when it was so big they couldn't roll it Stetson decided to jump on it and smash it.  Tenlie was really ticked.

So once that was gone they wanted to build Snowmen.  Again Grandpa was a good sport and helped them get them built.  Tenlie was doing really well on her own and could get them started she just needed help getting them  on top of things.  Stetson on the other hand had to have some help getting his ball started then he could get it going.

Stetson gave up about half way through and found his dozer.  he said he was snow plowing like daddy.

So here is Stetsons final out come to his Snowman thanks to a lot of work from Grandpa.  Stetson lost interest about half way through.  He just wanted to tip them over.  Such a boy!

And then there is Tenlies Snow woman.  She is so funny she was very particular on how she wanted it. What a girl!

 

Thanks dad for being such a trooper and playing with the kids.  They just adore you.

Round 6 of Chapter 3

Wednesday February 23

Well today is kind of a bitter sweat day for us at chemo.  Our dear friend is graduating which we are so excited for her, but sad that she will be leaving us.  We can not even say enough about this great family.  Cody has been looking forward to his chemo treatments ever since we met these great people.  We have quit the party in the treatment room.





This is the bell that you get to ring when you graduate from chemo in celebration.  Its so much fun watching people ring this bell its quit a milestone in their journey. We dream that maybe someday it could be Cody's turn.



We were so lucky this day it was just the two of them for most of it.  We had such a great time.  This Family has literally changed our lives.  We are better people and we look up to them in so many ways. 

Stacy we love you so very much.  We are so excited for you in this milestone in your journey through life.  Your positive attitude is so catching and the joy you bring to every ones life's.  You are very dear to us and we are praying for you in the remainder of your journey.  Good luck with the radiation and we look forward to many more visits.

Day off School

Monday February 21

Since the kids were out of school for presidents day we decided they deserved to do something fun.  Tenlie has really wanted to go skating for a while so we thought what the heck lets go try it.  It was a lot of fun.  I have to admit it took a minute for me to feel really comfortable on skates again.  Tenlie was quit fun to watch.  She was very determined to figure this out.  Many times on her bum and knees never discouraged her. 

Stetson gave skating a good try, but decided he could burn up the skating rink faster on his scooter.  After a while of scootering he would come back again for a try of skating.  Then back to scootering he would go.  He definitely burned out some of his energy.

I tell you roller skating became a hit in our house.  The kids have both asked for skates.  This is a great work out and also a fun way for them to get their energy out. 

Tenlies Growing up

Sunday February 20

Tenlie has been awaiting this big day for quit sometime.  She has been so excited to loose her first tooth.  It was a big day around our house.  She made us put it in a Ziploc bag so she could take it to church and show her teachers and friends.  She has 3 more teeth that are loose and can't wait for them to come out now.

I'm not sure how excited I am for this stage in life.  It just means my little girl is growing up way to fast.

She was so cute when it was time to go to bed.  She had to put a treat in with her tooth so the tooth fairy could enjoy.

Codys CT

Monday February 14

Well the results from Cody's tumor marker came back with a count of 4.8 so here we our spending our Valentines in Radiology getting Cody's CT done.  Cody wasn't very happy about these results.  Its still in the normal range, but just barely under.  He's starting to get a little nervous with these results.  I have to keep telling him that its still extremely good numbers. I mean heck when we started this whole process his numbers were well above 200. 

Here he is again being spoiled getting the very cozy lazy boy chair.

Thank goodness for phones with fun games.  I don't know how he would get through all his treatments without it or should I say how would I get through it without something entertaining him.

He did have to give the poor nurse a hard time for not having any Coke to mix his drink with.  Poor kid he had to settle with Bargs rootbeer. I mean what a hard life.  I told her she should make him drink it alone if he was going to keep giving her a hard time.  I guess why not have a little fun while you are at it.  Cody has become quit the torment with the nurses.  He still has no feeling in his hands and feet so when the nurse went to poke his finger to get a blood sample he jerked and quit loud said OWE.  She felt so bad and was apologizing for hurting him.  Then she was having to squeeze his finger quit hard to try and get some blood to come out.  He replies to her well aren't you going to squeeze?  She looks at him with quit the look and replies I'm squeezing quit hard. I was afraid I was hurting you.  Cody starts laughing and tells her he has no feeling in his finger and can't feel anything.  I think the nurse was about to kill him. 

Well the results from the CT came back that things are holding their own.  No growth has accrued and a couple of the tumors have actually shrunk a couple of millimeters.  So the Dr. says we will just keep pressing forward with the maintenance chemo for now.