Gaining some ground

Wow...busy week. While I was out of town on business, Tom took Hayden back to the clinic to see if his blood counts were high enough to go back on chemo. Still no...but his neutrophils are going in the right direction (whew!). He's at .55 now so he's back in school and we're back at the clinic on Tuesday for another blood test. There's no doubt that we need to scale back chemo levels...but the doctors follow a protocol that says he must start at 100%. The thing is that his wish trip from the Rainbow Society is quickly approaching so we're eager to get his immune system in gear. His weight, on the other hand, is good. He finally surpassed his pre-cancer weight...by about 1/2 a lb. Maybe his new hair put him over the top!

The Kids Fishing for a Cure fundraiser on Friday night was a big success. Thanks to everyone who came out to support this event!!! Great turnout, plus nursing staff from the CK5 hospital ward were there to accept gifts for their patients, including laptops and much-need parking funds for families. Hopefully, we won't be back on the ward but many of the families we know through the CancerCare clinic will be, and we're all too familiar with how that goes.

Speaking of which, we'll be attending a fundraiser this week for Nick Cooper - a 13-year old who was diagnosed with ALL while his family was vacationing in Florida last Christmas. Unfortunately, he suffered even worse side-effects than Hayden from the vincristine (causes the mobility issues). Plus, Nick recently underwent a transplant procedure - tough road to travel but the hopes of getting back on skates keep him motivated.