Oh yeah...

There's so much going on that I forgot to do a neutrophil update. They're back! Hayden's count was 2.1 on Friday so Dr. Stoffman is inching up one of his chemo meds. Here we go again...

The Falcons won both hockey games this weekend, rocketing them to a second-place tie. H is so excited. Whatever he may lack in experience, he definitely makes up in team spirit. He tries hard out there he's definitely improving. On Sunday, he damned near scored! I think the coach was as excited as we were (without the tears, of course). After the game, he shot out of the dressing room to inform Grandma and I that he got player of the game. Atta boy!

We're back at the clinic for an Iron Man shot of chemo and another blood test next week.

2 years!?

It's true. It's exactly two years since the proverbial punch in the gut. I have to admit, there were times (I call them dark moments) when I privately wondered how we would get through 3 1/2 years of treatment. I wish that I could have had a tiny glimpse into the future...that I could have seen Hayden playing hockey or even just being a little bugger. We've come so far.

At this fall's family camp, a friend reminded me that just last year Hayden had to take one step at a time to climb the waterside. It brought back a mental flash of our frail little bald boy. But at that time, we were thrilled because....we had come so far.

Cancer changes everything. Everything looks different when the world is sideways. We appreciate everything more....especially the family and friends who are helping us through this. Thank you.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we will brave the snow to stand in line for hours to be among the first Winnipeggers who see the latest Harry Potter movie. Woo hoo!

The first Falcon game

It's official - Hayden is a full-fledged Falcon. They won their first hockey game on Friday - 7 to 2. The stands were filled with family and friends who came out to watch Hayden's debut. It was very exciting...but I'm sure the other spectators thought we were nuts (they likely don't know about Hayden's illness). I talked to one parent who said her son started at age 5, and the other kids were skating circles around him. Yikes. Hayden is 9. But he is loving it. He doesn't have great stamina and his skating (actually stopping) needs a little work but aside from that, he looks like any other kid out there. It was a great night.

Hayden had another blood test at the clinic on Tuesday. His counts are good!! Not stellar but totally acceptable numbers - across the board, including neutrophils! So we are holding steady on chemo doses...except for a small increase to account for his age/weight. On Wednesday, he had his quarterly spinal injection of vincristine and he started his monthly 5-day pulse of steroids. So far, so good. No major eruptions but the poor kid is really dragging his butt...even more than when his counts are low. So we'll be keeping an eye on that and maybe taking him back for an unscheduled clinic appointment next week.

More to come...