Chemo Week #5

June 25th Update:

Isaac had his 5th chemotherapy appointment today.  During Weeks 5 and 6 Isaac gets a break from his normal regiment  and only gets administered 1 chemo drug.  Lucky for us, it is the drug that doesn't take very long to administer.  So his appointment today lasted just under 2 hours!  That made this mamma very happy.  :-)

During the port access this morning Isaac was somewhat fidgety. There comes a time when they have to sanitize the port site and wait 3 whole minutes for it to dry before they can stick the needle in the port and get going.  You might think 3 minutes isn't very long.  However, you are sadly mistaken; it is a very long time to hold an almost 2 year old still while trying to keep his fingers from touching the site, and while trying to keep him from breathing directly on the site.  :-(  We were at 2 1/2 minutes when Isaac decided he wanted to start clapping to the music we were listening to but clumsily touched the port causing the nurse to re-sanitize and wait an additional 3 minutes.  LOL  Can't keep this child from dancing!  :-)

Besides this mishap, Isaac did great.  He received a little care package from Child Life after his appointment.  It was a box full of little toys and trinkets to keep him busy.  It's amazing to see him being blessed each and every week.  It's the little things in life that mean the most. :-)

When we got home he was in very good spirits and wanted to watch Madagascar 3.  Here's a little video of him dancing (once again) to the the music.  :-)  ENJOY!

chemo week #4

June 18th update:

Today Isaac received his 4th dose of chemo. His blood counts rose this past week which was great news (last week they were too low to administer chemo). Nick's mom, Benita, is with us today which made the appointment a lot easier.  Isaac is enjoying having her home from Texas for the summer.

Isaac has continued to be a fighter these past 2 weeks.  A few days ago he had a low grade fever but fought it off before it reached the "critical" zone.  Unlike most children a low grade fever can be very serious for Isaac because of his situation.  For instance when Isaac gets a fever of 100.4 this equates to a 3 day hospitalization for our little boy. :-( Clearly we are wanting to avoid that at all costs.  :-)

This past week I started stripping our deck as it needs a new paint job.  IZ has been momma's BIG helper by helping me "hose" off the paint.  He loves holding the hose and spraying water all over.  

Relay for Life

Relay for Life (June 5th):

Last Friday, June 5th, Nick, Isaac and I participated in Relay for Life which was held in Cedar Rapids, IA.  Nick and I have both participated in Relay for Life in the past but this year was EXTRA special to us. 

 

For those of you that don't know Relay for Life is a nationwide event that raises money for the American Cancer Society.  It's a fun filled night with live music.  Of course, Isaac started dancing right away.  ;-)  People come and walk around a track all through the night. They have luminaries lining the track.  You can dedicate a luminary for anyone that lost the fight with cancer, survived it, or is currently fighting it.  As we walked the track we found Isaac's...

As many of you know Nick works are Target and we were blessed by so many of Nick's team there.  They made Target t-shirts that said "#TeamIsaac" on the back.  They also made Isaac a shirt that said "I am Isaac".  :-)  It was so heartwarming to see so many of Nick's co-workers support us through this fight.  

At one point of the night they honor cancer survivors during the "Survivor Walk" around a track. The American Cancer Society defines "survivor" as anyone who has ever heard the words "You have cancer".  It doesn't matter if you already fought and are in the clear or if you are in the midst of fighting.  Thus, this makes Isaac a cancer SURVIVOR!  So, Nick, and I were able to walk around the track with Isaac during the survivor walk.  This was a special time for us.  They lines us up in groups by the time period which you were diagnosed.  Isaac was in the 1 year or less group.  Each survivor received a medal and 1 ribbon per year you have lived with your diagnosis.  Since Isaac was diagnosed this year he received 1 ribbon. Next year he will get 2, and so on and so on.  We saw some people with a whole lot of ribbons ;-) Good for them!

I have a feeling that this is an event that will be close to our family's heart for a long time in coming.  We foresee our family going each year and it will be exciting to see Isaac grow up and be able to walk as a survivor with an increasing amount of ribbons each year.  :-)

  

Nick's parents were even able to make it for the event.  They drove all the way from Texas and arrived just in the nick-of-time.  Here is a picture of Tom (Nick's stepdad) and Isaac taken by a giant HOPE sign... so fitting.  :-)

Chemo - Week #4

June 11th Update:

Isaac was scheduled to have his 4th dose of chemotherapy today.  However, one of his blood counts were too low so it will be rescheduled for next Thursday.  


Typically before each chemo appointment they do blood work at the University of Iowa to ensure that Isaac's blood counts are high enough to administer the chemo that week.  Last week, there was one in particular that was a little low but not low enough that they couldn't give the chemo so they suggested that for the following week I go to a local lab the day before his chemo appointment to get his blood counts checked.  So yesterday I took Isaac to a local lab in the morning and the University of Iowa called yesterday afternoon and said that Isaac's blood results came back and one blood count in particular was too low.  So, that means that Isaac has today off and we will continue next week with his next dose of chemo. The specific blood cell count that was low helps fight off infections. The lower your count, the more vulnerable you are to infectious diseases. Thus, we will be extra careful till his counts bounce back. ;-)

This past week has been pretty good for Isaac.  He had gotten sick twice but overall no other side effects.  We've loved being outside during these past few HOT days.  Isaac got a new kiddie pool and slide so he's been loving those A LOT!!  Isaac also got to go to Nick's cousin's wedding on Saturday.  He had a ball.  Check out his sweet dance moves...

Thanks for continuing to pray for Isaac.  We feel very blessed that he is doing so well.  He amazes us that he is being so strong throughout this.  We know that God is the reason behind this and He has strengthened Isaac.  

chemo - week #3

IZ is scheduled for his third chemo appointment Friday the 5th at 7:10am.

Then in the evening Isaac, Nick and I will be participating in Relay for Life which is being held at Kirkwood Community College here in Cedar Rapids. This is a nationwide fundraiser event that raises money for the National Cancer Society.  Nick's wonderful Target team made Target T-shirts with the phrase '#TEAMISAAC' on the back (pictures to come tomorrow).  We are excited because Isaac will be able to walk during the Survivor Lap!

Update: June 5th
IZ'S chemo appointment went pretty well this morning.  I was by myself today for the first time so that was a little more challenging but we made it through. Isaac was a trooper for those 4 hours.  We watched some Frozen and Shreck.  Then we took occasional breaks from the movies to listen to music on the Kindle.  :-)