Happy Birthday Nick - 5 Yrs. Old

Nick turned 5 today. Yipppeeee! We are so excited for him. He had a great time with Grammy taking him over to the Love's house (getting into a routine now). Eventhough he is weathering the steroids, he was really happy. Autie Lisa showed up and he told her 'I hope you have a gift for me'. He does not completely understand that the hotel was his Bday gift and there will be more to come. He is starting to feel pain again and dragging a leg, but his spirits are good and he does smile. I attached a couple of pictures. One is the breakfast in bed at the hotel. He was not interested in the food but played with the 'sleep number' buttons most of the time. The second picture is tonight and him opening a couple of gifts. Tom was amazed by the flashes....On each picture you will see a pillow of 'Thomas the Train'. We bought this pillow for him a couple of years ago and he never goes anywhere w/o it. It helps him through clinic and hospital visits. Just one of things we LOVE about Nick. All the kids at clinic grab for it and he is so protective of it. Too cute. Keep Rocking Nicholas Andrew Shannon.

The Shannon Family - To Clinic

Hello everyone. I have to start with our weekend. We have not been away for a long time and we were able to take Nick & Colby (Auntie Lisa so generously volunteered to take Tom for the night) to a hotel in Boston. It was a quick and fun trip. We were nervous about being in a 'strange' place and Greg & I cleaned like crazy before the boys could play. We had a nick walk on the Boston commons and then went swimming in the indoor pool. We figured it would be to cold for Nick to swim but surprisingly he loved the pool. He jumped right in (w/floaties) and said the water felt so good on his legs. He told me that he can actually 'walk again' in water and was not scared. We forgot to bring the camera down to the pool, but we will remember the fun forever. Nick & Colby swam to the deep end and played games with each in the water..... Nick was so tired by the end of the night he told us 'lights off' at 7pm. We ordered breakfast in bed when we woke up and the boys were asking to go swimming again. The 2nd time were at the pool both the boys took their floaties off and started swimming around. It was like physical therapy for Nick and his legs, the exercise was so good for him. When we were packing our things up Nick said to us that he wanted to stay for 2 Weeks. The summer can not come quick enough for us and getting Nick outside more and letting him do the things he enjoys.

Today was clinic and Greg took him. They accessed his port and checked his counts. The counts were great because he has been off chemo for 2 wks. He received a lower dose of the Vincristine and doxuribicin through the port and another shot in the leg. Greg said he did not cry about the port but hated the shot. Now we are in the waiting period of how this round will effect him on pain and emotionally. He really just started walking again last week (no running or jumping), so I am hoping he can keep going. His friends were there today to, Sean and Finn (both have ALL). Greg and I have met their parents and they have both been very supportive and helpful during Nick's treatment. They have been a shoulder to lean on when we were in doubt and really scared about Nick's physical state. I know I repeat myself at times, but nothing really prepares you each day and how Nick will respond to the next treatment. He is back on the steroids and we are going to try and taper him off them this time. Since the steroids cause a lot of pain in the legs we are hoping that by tapering him off, will taper the pain to. We'll see, for now I will still cherish the moment we had away this weekend. Nick is turning 5 on Thursday and we are so proud of our son. Signing Out!