Clinic

Nick is feeling much better and back to himself again. The roller coaster of pain, emotions, sadness and then smiling seems to be a vicious cycle at times. You have to keep reminding yourself that tomorrow is another day. Which brings us to the past couple of days. Tuesday, we had fun playing in the snow and 4-wheeler rides with dad. Wed. was clinic day and Colby came with Nick and I. The boys were fairly good during the time there. They each made a Mardi-Gras mask and played the Wii together. Nick's counts were great:

WBC: 5.7
RBC: 11.1
Plts: 350
APC: 4800

Nurse Pat did notice that has thrush in the mouth and he will be on an antibiotic for 2 weeks. This can be painful for anyone, if not caught right away. Luckily, Nick just has minimal amount of the infection and no pain. It is just another pill for him. After clinic I took the boys to Dave&Busters for some games and food. Debbie, Michael and Maggie met up with us and the kids had a blast. Debbie (so bravely) invited Colby & Nick for a sleepover last night. The boys were so excited and I believe were well behaved? They came home this morning and talked about the sleepover for a long time. The imagination of 5-6 yr. old boys is pretty funny and keeps us entertained. Now the boys are off to the movies with Auntie Michele and ice cream after. These are the days we cherish and seeing the smile on Nick's face all morning makes me feel relieved. He is tough and we will keep fighting. Karen

On a side note, below is really good source for kids to understand Leukemia, the medicine, port and how the body reacts. It is simple and to the point. You can read the book online (no need to purchase). I know some of our friends have mentioned their kids had questions about why Nick is sick. Hopefully this can help answer some of them. I know I read this book (a couple of times) to Nick & Colby, during the beginning part of our treatment. It really helped Nick understand what was happening to him.
http://chemo-to-the-rescue.com/