He shoots....

...and, woo hoo, he scored!! Hayden got his first goal last weekend, and an assist too. He is definitely coming into his own, with a little help from his very supportive teammates. But they're not just great kids, they are great hockey players too. The Falcons are currently ranked in the #1 spot for 9A3. Can you believe it?

Hayden's blood counts are still going strong. His neutrophils were at 2.06 nearly 2 weeks ago but we're holding steady on the chemo doses so far. He sees his pediatric oncologist, Dr. Stoffman, on Tuesday so we'll see if he wants to try an increase. While at the CancerCare Clinic, Hayden will also get a shot of vincristine via his Iron Man port and start another 5-day round of steroids. Then on Wednesday, we head back (this time to the Children's Hospital - pediatric day unit) for a spinal injection of methotrexate. Everybody cringes when I say that but, really, it's no big deal for Hayden. He's totally asleep for the procedure and he doesn't mind missing school to play DS and watch cartoons. Plus, he gets a little gift from the cart and all the nurses love him. You might even say that he looks forward to the quarterly (used to be monthly) PDU visits. Once again, I so wish that I had some idea 2 years ago that this would get easier. Or maybe someone told me and I just couldn't believe it...who knows.

I have been told though, by more than one person, that today's procedures are a far cry from the way they were done a few years ago - with the child awake. ugh. We've been through some pretty ugly stuff but that procedure would be absolute hell under those conditions. I'm so thankful that treatment for childhood leukemia has progressed to the point we are at today. There's still a long way to go but the advances are very encouraging. I hope we can do the same for all cancer treatments. Even though we are more than a year out from our last hospital stay, our hearts are with all of the brave kids battling on ward CK5...and, of course, all of our friends at the clinic.