NED

First off, I need to thank everyone who has been following Nico’s journey and lifting us up in prayer.  We are so grateful that you remain along side us and appreciate your prayers so very much.  As you know, Nico had his 30 week scans recently and he was able to complete the MRI without being sedated.  He did SO GOOD!  He knew that all of you were praying for him and on the way home he told me that all those prayers must have helped him stay extra still.  ❤  The results of the MRI and PET scan came back last week and our team said there is no evidence of disease!!!  The PET scan shows nothing lighting up and the MRI shows a small spot where the tumor was which they believe to be the scar from his surgery (it has gotten smaller from his last scan at week 13.)  They will do one more set of scans at the end of treatment on week 43.  We are very pleased with the results.  Although I have to admit that in the back of my mind there is always the nagging possibility that it could grow back or show up somewhere else.  Nick reminded me that worrying about the future takes away from the limited amount of energy we have for today.  This journey has in very many ways been chipping away and exposing our true natures (they aren’t pretty) while also providing us with plenty of opportunities to practice simply living for today.  #hiddenblessings  Secondary cancers or relapses happen and we are well aware that they could happen to us.  But we do ourselves a disservice TODAY by taking on that stress and worry.  We have surrendered that unto the Creator God who knows the end from the beginning.  We are hopeful that Nico’s story will unfold long past this cancer chapter.

So doesn’t this mean we are done?  I WISH!!  Unfortunately, even though there are no longer any measurable signs of the tumor/cancer, we still need to complete the chemo protocol.  The goal is to kill any single cancer cells that could potentially be floating around which later could cause a relapse.  Tomorrow Nico is scheduled to begin week 31 which is the five day chemo- Irinotecan.  His counts looked great on Friday so we shouldn’t be delayed.  Please pray for him this week and that it would go as smoothly.  I am hopeful that it will since they added a different med that really helped with his nausea last time.  This will be his second to last five day chemo- only one more of these weeks after this week!!!!  It feels so good to be able to say that.

Getting his GCSF (Neupagen) injection to stimulate bone marrow production and increase white blood cell count.

This is an insuflon. They don’t use these in the States for some reason but we are thankful they do here!

In other news, styes are contagious.  Did you know that?  I did not.  V had a stye on his right eye back in July.  Then around Labor Day weekend I got a stye on my right eye.  I thought that was a strange coincidence.    Well, the week before last guess who ended up with a stye on his right eye… Nico.  *sigh*  Of course his was ginormous because of his suppressed immune system.  He ended up at the ER last Friday night due to fever and they wanted him on IV antibiotics to help him get rid of the stye.  So we got to go to BC Children’s Hospital eight times last week!!  But we much prefer that than having him be admitted that whole time.  The stye has since dried up and he’s left with just a little scab now.

Impressive!!

After it had started to drain.

Bright side, we managed to “run into” the Vancouver Whitecaps while we were at the hospital last week.  The boys had fun playing with Jake and Alphonso in the Whitecaps playroom on the 6th floor.  And BCCH Foundation hooked us up with awesome tickets to their home game tonight!  We had great seats and really enjoyed ourselves.  It was a great highlight before going into a long week of chemo.  Thank you BCCH and Vancouver Whitecaps!

With one week left in the month of September, I just want to thank my friends and family who have helped to raise awareness of childhood cancer by sharing on your social media to your circle of influence.  Thank you so much and if you haven’t done so, please consider it!