A day in the life....

Well this week was one of those weeks where chemo didn't go as well as we like. Monday started off with our daycare provider having a kidney stone attack so I had to leave school and pick the boys up. Luckily, Dr. Rosen was able to squeeze us in that morning so we didn't have to get back out later that day since it was snowing. So Tues. Jerry stayed home with the boys while I went to school. We met up for Gentry's cardiologist appt. which went great. His heart is functioning at 100% and it's size is just right. We were so relieved. Then I had to go back to work for conferences. Gentry did great taking his chemo pills last night but really struggled this morning. I figured it was because he was super tired but got a call around noon from daycare that he had thrown up right after taking his afternoon pills. So I call Dr. Rosen and he says he has to take another dose. So I spend more time calling the pharmacy trying to get another dose and get over to Ms. Carol's and Gentry won't take the medicine. He said he was sick of it and wasn't going to do it. Oh my, it was a rough afternoon. Luckily, Mr. Gary told Gentry that he would get him some jelly beans if he took his medicine. Gentry, being quite the negotiator, agreed. So we got his meds in him, I went back to work and finished out the day and now I am exhausted. I wonder what it will be like to not be so tired all the time....

Sorry it's been so long...

With so many people on Facebook I got the impression that most
people weren't keeping up with the blog.
But lately I have had many people ask why I haven't updated it....so I'm back! I forget
how therapeutic it is for me to blog. Right now Gentry is doing great. He is still on the oral chemo round. Every other week on Tues. nights, starting at 6 pm he takes 6 1/2 pills, then again at midnight, 6 am and noon. It is exhausting and we feel like we live by the clock. The battle of a 4 year old and trying to get him to take pills is impossible!!! There are weeks where everyone is crying and other weeks where it goes so smoothly that it freaks me out. A dear friend from school made Gentry an AWESOME poster that looks like a game board that leads to Shamu and he puts a Shamu sticker on it every time he takes his medicine. He is getting very excited about our trip to Orlando in March now that he can see that it is getting closer. He also take a "rescue drug" Thurs. night and Friday morning during chemo week. Gentry is still taking a daily medicine and also has steroids every 12 weeks. His spinal taps are every 12 weeks and the last one (in Nov.) was the best one yet. He barely fought us on it and just cried a little. Dr. Rosen is so happy with how Gentry is responding to his treatment. We see Dr. Rosen every week and his blood counts continue to improve.

Brooks is great and just turned 1. He is very busy and always wants to be wherever Gentry is. We had a great holiday and both boys made it through without any colds/flu etc. Gentry was asked by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to be the "Boy of the year" for the annual Man and Woman of the Year campaign. It is a huge honor and a great experience as we help the fantastic candidates raise money for LLS. So far we have been to several events and it will culminate in June with the Grand Finale which is a huge party! I will definitely keep everyone posted. Keep up the prayers, we still need them! We are so thankful for all the love and support!

We had a great Halloween. Brooks was the best Elvis ever. I should have
found a contest to enter his picture in. Everyone
loved his costume.
Gentry had a great time trick-or-treating. He was so funny because he liked it to pick his choice of candy and he would only take 1. He wouldn't take more than one piece, even if they tried to give him more than one. Brooks is crawling all over the place and pulling himself up to a standing position. His goal every day is to be wherever Gentry is. He is still off the charts in height, 30 inches long! Gentry is still responding well to his treatment. He is very tired of taking medicine but knows that he gets to see Shamu over spring break so that has been a good incentive. He has a spinal tap coming up in 2 weeks so we are starting to get prepared for that. Gentry is also getting very excited about the holidays. Every commercial that comes on tv, he shouts out "I want that". Half the time he doesn't even know
what the toy is. We are so happy that he is responding well to all the medicines and chemotherapy. We are approaching the 1 year anniversary of his diagnosis and cannot believe all that has happened. Looking back I think to myself, how did we do it? We still have a long road ahead of us but we know that we have such amazing support from family and friends. Keep up the prayers for Gentry!

Well we are hanging out at the hospital because Gentry has bacteria in his blood. We went in to the ER at 2 am on Sat. because he had a fever and was throwing up. They treated him for flu and sent us home. Then later on Sat. the ER called and said we needed to come in for IV antibiotics because the blood cultures showed bacteria which is not good. So we went back in and they had to draw blood from his tube and from his arm which did not make Gentry happy. We were told to come back in on Sunday for more antibiotics. Well Dr. Rosen decided to admit us because of his fever. He has still had good energy and has had fun today playing in the playroom on the pediatric floor. We are all a little stir crazy and hoping to go home soon.

We had a great time at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk. Team G-Man raised over $3000! Thank you to all who donated. Gentry is handling his chemo pretty well and Dr Rosen is happy with his progress. This is a chemo week and he will be very tired by the end of the week. We are a little nervous with cold and flu season approaching, fingers crossed we can keep Gentry from catching any colds. Brooks is teething and suffering miserably through it. But he has started to crawl and is quickly learning how to get around and into Gentry's toys. Keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers.

Gentry did great last week with his spinal tap. He stayed a little calmer which helped a lot. We told him it was okay to cry but would go faster if he wouldn't yell and fight so much. He also did great while Dr. Rosen did a quick checkup and checked his central line. We were very proud of him. He also had a great 4th birthday. We had family and a few friends over for sandwiches and cake. He loves his new Better Batter Baseball game. Brooks is growing like crazy. He had a checkup and shots last week. He weighed in at 2o lbs 11 oz and is 29 inches long. He is off the charts. He is trying to crawl a little bit but usually just waits until we pick him up. Gentry has had a lot of fun playing with Brooks. He likes bringing him toys to play with but definitely doesn't want Brooks touching his toys. As long as Gentry's blood counts are good we will have a round of chemo this week. Keep us in your thoughts.

Gentry did great taking his chemotherapy this past week. He didn't
complain at all
which made it much easier on us. It did start to wipe him out by Thursday night. He was really worn out on Friday. These pictures are from the Relay for Life that benefits the American Cancer Society. Gentry was the youngest survivor there. We went to the Survivors Dinner first and then we walked the Survivors lap together as a family. There were 4 teams of students and staff from my school who helped to raise money and walk all night for Gentry. The walk started at 7:oo pm and ended this morning at 7:00 am. It was a fun night and Gentry got to help light the candles that spelled out "Hope", it was very special for us. We also found out this week that we will be leaving on March 13 to go to
Orlando thanks to Make A Wish. This trip is the incentive we are using to help encourage Gentry to take his medicine. We have a spinal tap on Monday so that will be a rough day. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.