04/26/12 - Hats Off

So, we went hat shopping for Adam - to protect his shiny head.  The results are in... 

Runner up... Skater Adam...

In second place, Funny Face Skater Adam

 

An honorable mention... Athletic Adam

The winner is... (and I had absolutely NOTHING to do with this, I promise!)

GIANTS!!  Say Hey!

Honestly, I am not sure Adam knows who the Giants are.  He just liked the seal. 

Maybe the black and orange is undeniable -  it must be hereditary :)

And his hat choice... Bigger news than Pablo Sandoval matching Willie Mays' 16 game hitting streak to start a season.  Go Giants!  It's going to be a fun summer!!

Happy Sunshine!

 

04/12/12 - Matter of Fact

 While I realize I do not have a lot to compare to, I am noticing Adam being very mature lately for his age.  Grain of salt here comes from the fact that I am with teenagers from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening 5 days a week, so the actual maturity of a 5 year old is not my expertise.  But here's an example.  Today, Josh asked us if we wanted to have lunch with him on the pennisula during his lunch break.  So, I tell Adam we are going to lunch, and he really does not want to go.  He wants to stay home and not go anywhere today.  I say, ok, it's not a big deal either way, so we'll stay.  He overhears me tell Josh we aren't going to make it this time, and next thing I know, he has disappeared.  Upon further searching, I found him in tears.  What in the world is wrong, Adam?  His response (mature analyzation of the situation, I think), "I made a bad decision, mommy." Ok, tell me about it.  He said, "I made a wrong choice about going to lunch.  I didn't know Daddy was going to be there."  I asked if he would like to go now that he knows the details.  He said (back to 5 year old), "<sniffle> uh huh <sniffle>"  So, we made a date with the daddy and had corndogs and hamburgers in Redwood City.  Disaster averted.  What prompted him to take such responsibility for the potential loss of lunch with Daddy, I have no idea.  That, and why didn't he just tell me he changed his mind?  Hmmm.  Luckily, Mommy could pull some strings, and turn the whole thing around!  Adam has been so matter-of-fact lately.  "How was your blood test?" His response, "Not so good.  They missed three times, so Jasmine had to come in again."  Or how about something a little lighter?  "How was your day?" He might say, "Pretty good.  Rachel took my (enter item here), but Grandma took care of it."  Conversations with Adam crack me up!

This is a little overdue, but a couple weeks ago, Adam went to the Warriors game with Grandpa.  Even cooler was that they went early and got to sit sideline to watch warm ups.  Adam was so excited all week asking, "how many days until Friday?"  Even at the game, he stayed until the very end (even when Grandpa was ready to go home early)!  What an awesome treat!  Adam has always liked to watch basketball - even on TV.  It took me 25+ years to sit through a whole basketball game, Adam must be special :)

04/08/12 - Happy Easter!

The sun came out for long enough to have a fabulous Easter!  Not only our first day back to church/Sunday School, my birthday, and a HUGE Easter egg hunt, we were able to enjoy food, fellowship, and a beautiful day to celebrate the LOVE of our God, the sacrifice Christ made for us, and pure HOPE.  HE has risen, indeed.  If we spent every day "looking" for Christ, how bright our days would always be!

Here are some pics of the babes having fun in grandpa and grandma's backyard:

04/05/12 - Maintenance!!

Surprise!  We're in Maintenance!!

We thought we had two more appointments of "Interim Maintenance," but found out at clinic today that this was the last and his next appointment (April 23) is the first appointment in the "Maintenance" phase.  Woohoo!  So, Adam goes in once per month, less intensive, less invasive, hopefully less volatility with his health.  Today went extra smoothly, and he hasn't needed much recovery at all.  In fact, we were having so much fun wrestling that I accidentally gave him rug burn on the back of his head while dragging him by the feet.  Oops.

We are cleared for a lot of things.  For example, church (right in time for Easter), school, soccer, swimming, camping, large crowds of people, parks with sand, etc.  It will always depend on his counts - the risks when he is exposed to different bugs and illness are still a concern, but since his immune system will have time to recover between treatments, there is less caution.  I didn't realize, but it was a huge weight trying to maintain isolation with some degree of normalcy and without Adam feeling like he was being isolated.  We feel liberated, a sense of accomplishment, and EXTREMELY blessed!  We were only admitted (unexpectedly) once in the whole 7 and a half months of these treatments.  We had (only recently) nausea and headaches as a side effect.  We have remained in remission since the 3rd week after diagnosis.  Praise God we can be celebrating these things today!

I am looking forward to 10 days of Easter Break to spend with my kids!  Not sure what fun things we will do, but the options are pretty open right now :)

03/17/12 - Happy St. Pats!

I love this time of year.  Today is St. Patrick's Day, time for our once per year corned beef and cabbage!  It's March Madness, and I love bracketology and stats (and competition, of course).  Plus softball season, Spring weather, Easter coming up.  Not to mention, my birthday is three weeks away (yep, on Easter this year!).  So, I have been horribly sick and cranky for over a week now, but counting my blessings and especially today when I could wake up and watch the rain for awhile.

Adam had his third clinic appointment of Interim Maintenance II on Thursday.  Three down, three to go!  The surprises included a chest x-ray for his coughing that won't go away (still no news or concerns other than that he has a cold), nausea (threw up just once on Thursday), and fever (Friday night, but seems to be gone now).  He is still taking the antibiotic for his ear ache, so that could be affecting his stomach, but I am thinking that the accumulation of chemotherapy treatments is harder on his body.  He didn't react to anything in the first 5 months, but the past 3 months it seems he has (and none are new, just the second time around).  It usually lasts a few days, and then he feels better.  His ANC is still high at 3500, so we are thinking he can go to his cousin's house tonight (date night, yeay!) and a birthday party Sunday.  Double yeay!  Still plugging along and getting positive reviews from the doctors.  We are even starting to see some peach fuzz growing back on his head.  Hard to see, though since it is pretty white!  Glad to see he will still be a blonde when it all comes in :)

03/11/12 - So Much for That

Just kidding....

So, Adam got a fever Thurs night.  It was only at 100, and went down to 99 in a few hours, so nothing to worry about.  Except...
Friday afternoon he is complaining of an earache. Off to Dr. Ross who asks about the wheezing in his lungs.  Since that has been going on for weeks, he starts a breathing treatment.  Come to also find out, Adam has a raging ear infection!  Again...
So, we're on antibiotics and an inhaler.  Hoping this is enough to nip it this time.  Last time we were admitted for 2 days.  As long as there is no fever, we don't have to go to Children's.  Even Adam, despite the toys and room service, is begging not to go there! 

We are having serious trouble shaking the bug that entered our house in, like, January!  That was the first ear infection.  I got the cough (still not gone).  Josh got laid out sick a couple weeks ago.  Rachel had a low grade fever Thurs.  I am hoping I don't have a sinus infection now, but can't check until next week.  We have taken cold medicine, vitamins, airborne, you name it!  Maybe should try rest? Hmmm...  Now that's a thought...  Health is such a blessing-taken-for-granted!

03/05/12 - March On

I think we are in the clear for awhile.  No sign of headaches for 4+ days now.  No known soda addiction.  Cold/cough is on the mend and almost gone from our household.  The one thing that remains... Nightmares from the Lorax.  For the first time, Adam saw a commercial on TV and asked for the product.  He wanted to see the Lorax in the movie theater.  We were a little worried that it was PG, not G, but it is Dr. Seuss - rhymes, cutesy characters, cheesy songs!  We were actually more worried about Rachel for the rating, and an hour and a half is a long time to sit quietly for our bouncy three year old.  But she was fine and enjoyed the movie from the previews to end!  I should have known when they showed a preview for a new chimpanzee movie (documentary with a story line), and Adam asked, "what are they running from?"  I said, "I don't know, we have to see the movie to find out."  His response?  "How about you see the movie and tell me what happened."  He wanted to know what they were running from, but it looked to scary to watch himself.  So, Adam was frightened by the darker-colored, suspenseful parts in the Lorax and wanted to go home about half way through (and we didn't even see it in 3D).  So, as a parent, what do you do at that point?  I have two thoughts, "be careful little eyes what you see," and the good guy always wins in these movies, if he doesn't see that I won't be able to convince him.  I decided on the latter.  Not sure about the long term damage yet.  He still didn't like the movie, and he woke up early this morning scared of his dreams. The rest of us enjoyed the movie though.  Bright, whimsical, not the same as the book, very reminiscent to Despicable Me with some debatable underlying messages, but if you can stick to the "save the trees," I would recommend it.  

You would think that today would be more scary for Adam than an animated cartoon (maybe it was the embedded political messages)?  We have a clinic appointment for an IV chemo, Mexathrexate.  But at this point, it's just routine...  Going through the motions.  We'll bring the Ipad and some card games and hang out.  Besides the yellow fluid running through his IV for awhile, it's great bonding time.  Plus, we'll stop for lunch on the way home (my favorite is Genova's deli, but I guess I'll let Adam pick). These appointments don't usually wear him down.  If his blood counts are affected, it will take several days.  So, on with the show!  Wishing you a bright, whimsical Spring week!