Update:

Nicholas finished treatment on 11/18/2010. He will continue to go for blood work for the next 3 years. He is still in remission.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Off for Vacation

Nick had his 6wk clinic visit. I booked the appt. with our actual Oncologist doctor. In the past we have been the nurse practitioners because we go on Monday and our doctor is in clinic on Thursdays. I am glad I made the appointment with her and she answered all our questions and made us feel at ease. Nick has lost a pound and he does not eat a lot. The doctor mentioned that she sees kids actually keep eating once off treatment, as a habit. He did grow .25 of an inch so there is not a huge concern about his height & weight. Everyone has mentioned to us how different he looks now.... he looks like a 7 yr old boy, so we just need to work on him eating some more. We also brought up fatigue and his muscle strength but again, as we move forward he should improve on this. His were ALL normal:
WBC: 11.5
RBC: 4.17
Plts: 359
ANC: 3,000
We go back in 6wks again.

We are so lucky to see how well Nick is progressing but cancer never leaves my mind. A quick story. I was at Whole Foods the other day (a place I do not go to often) and as the woman was ringing me out at the register I noticed they were taking donations for Make A Wish Foundation. I decided to donate and the woman was so excited and stated that between Whole Foods and their customers they are trying to send a child from Bellingham on a wish trip. I explained to her that I am a Make A Wish Family to and how much our trip meant to all of us. She said to me: "My son passed away from AML and all he wanted to do was see Mickey." They took their trip and had a wonderful time. The woman then said to me: "When we got home, my son said to me, now I will prepare you, for when I die." The boy was 5 when he passed away and the mother said she started the Make A Wish donation at Whole Foods so she can give to other children. She showed me pictures of her son and she was smiling through our whole conversation. (as I was trying to hold my tears back). I of course lost it by the time I got to my car but knowing another child will receive their wish is comforting.

We are leaving this Saturday for our vacation to North Carolina to see the Wykoffs (Karen's sister and family). We are driving down and really looking forward to the cousins spending some time together. We have not been in over 3 years due to Nick, so this will be fun. We will stop at Hershey Park on the way and spend 2 nights there. The kids are very excited and Greg & I are looking forward to family time.