Tanked

Spent the day at Children's today.  Isaiah's counts tanked even lower.  His ANC was 0.00.  As a result, he did not receive his IV Methotrexate and will have to skip the second dose completely.  Good news: hemoglobin and platelets were up so he was able to receive his VinCristine.  Overall, he's doing great and really enjoyed his day at the hospital.  

Isaiah and Nana 

Low counts

Isaiah did not receive his chemotherapy today due to a low neutrophil count (0.03).  This is the ``infection-fighting`` part of the blood which means we must practice extreme caution with regards to germs.  This means no play dates, no going to the grocery store, etc., until his counts come back up.  Tuesday, more blood work will be done to see if he can receive his next chemo dose.      

During this round of treatment, Isaiah receives chemo every 10 days and each time, the dose is increased.  I`m hoping that his counts dropping low after the first dose is not indicative of how the remainder of this phase will go.  

Isolated in our own room because Isaiah had a little cough

The energizer bunny

My little energizer bunny has more energy than ever.  I wonder how I would ever handle him with normal blood counts.  He was supposed to "crash" today but instead spent 3 hours playing at the park.  He's my little fighter!  I'm feeling optimistic that he's going to be one of those kids that sails through treatment.  Praise God!  

Must touch Adam's ears before playing.

After applying his sunscreen, he thought it would be a good idea to roll in the sand.  Good idea Isaiah.

Wednesday's Chemo

Wednesday's chemotherapy went very well.  Isaiah is doing wonderfully and isn't likely to "crash" until 7-10 days post chemo. 

Auntie Holly helping me out with the kids while Isaiah waits to receive chemo. 

Isaiah and great grandfather.

A day out with Thomas

Train ride

Aaliyah, Grandma and Isaiah

There goes Thomas, puffing down the tracks!

So tired

Round 3 tomorrow

Phase 3 starts tomorrow.  Isaiah will go to Children's Hospital to get two different chemotherapy drugs through his port.  One of them will almost certainly make him sick.  I'm praying that he recovers quickly and can enjoy most of his week.

Blood work didn't go well today.  We were there for hours and then when we finally got home, they called and told us that they used the wrong tube and would have to go back.  Scratch that idea!  I called our nurse at Childrens and she told us that we could just do it there from now on.  We'll just have to make chemo days a longer process.

The chemo isn't prepared until there is confirmation that his blood counts are at a good level.  It takes roughly an hour to get the blood counts back and another couple hours to prepare the chemo.

It's nice to have some normalcy in our lives again.  We have another six days before Isaiah starts round three and will most likely be feeling lousy again. We've enjoyed our last couple weeks.  

Mmmmmm.....

Visiting with Grandpa Burke

Planting our first garden. 

Hanging out with Adam. 

Had to stop the car when we spotted this!

Vancouver Aquarium with cousin Aaliyah.

Treatment schedule

Induction (35 days)
drugs: Intrathecal Cytarabine
          VinCRIStine
          Dexamethasone
          Pegaspargase
          Intrathecal Methotrexate

Consolodation (28 days)                         <--------  WE ARE HERE  Day 18
drugs: VinCRIStine
          Mercaptopurine
          Intrathecal Methotrexate

Interim Maintenance I (56 days)
drugs: VinCRIStine
          Methotrexate
          Intrathecal Methotrexate

Delayed Intensification (56 days)
drugs: Dexamethasone
          VinCRIStine
          Doxurubicin
          Pegaspargase
         Cyclophosphamide
          Thioguanine
         Cytarabine
          Intrathecal Methotrexate

Interim Maintenance II (56 days)
drugs: VinCRIStine
          Methotrexate
          Intrathecal Methotrexate

Maintenance (85 days)
drugs: VinCRIStine
          Dexamethasone
          Mercaptopurine
          Methotrexate
          Intrathecal Methotrexate

Repeat Maintenance for 3 years from when Interim Maintenance I started 
....which means treatment ends in June 2015

Everyone is invited to the celebration party we will DEFINITELY be having in June 2015.

enjoying the moment

We have been so thankful for these past 2 weeks.  Aside from sleeping an average of 15 hours out of a 24 hour day, Isaiah is back to his normal self for the time.  We have been enjoying every moment together as a family.  Yesterday we went for a nice walk around Deer Lake.