The bone marrow biopsy went great yesterday. The procedure doesn't take but a few minutes and Gentry was pretty funny coming out of the local anesthetic again. We are blessed that he wakes up with no problems. Of course he was starving yesterday morning so he was pretty grumpy that he couldn't eat anything until after the procedure. Two of our favorite PICU nurses were working so they told Gentry they would order his breakfast for him and he told them he wanted chicken strips and french fries. Even though it was morning they managed to get chicken strips for him. We only have a few more days on the steroid and then Gentry should be back to not wanting to eat every 20 minutes. Dr. Rosen thinks he might have some results today but if not it will be the end of this week or beginning of next week. The good news is that the dr. thinks Gentry looks fantastic and scheduled us for a check up with him next week. We will go over all his levels (bone marrow, red & white blood cells, blood platelets) and discuss his next treatment of medicines. So no chemo this week or next week! We also see the cardiologist next week so hopefully we will be done with the heart medicine also. What a relief it will be to take a break from having to give Gentry medicine all the time. Dr. Rosen also thinks it will be good for Gentry to get back to his pre-school. The main thing we have to be careful of is other children/people with fevers. Runny noses and coughs are not a threat, especially since everyone has a runny nose right now. We just felt so happy when we left knowing we are done with the first round of treatment.

Also, I went to my OB yesterday. I have not progressed any since last week. She does not think this baby is going to come early. She is going to be out of town next weekend so that is the only time we don't want the baby to decide he is ready to get here. My official due date is Jan. 21. I will keep everyone posted! 

Happy New Year!!!!!!

I emailed this clip of Gentry playing his drums but some weren't able to open it so I figured I would try it on the blog. It is hysterical to watch how hard he concentrates. We check into PICU at 7:30 Tuesday morning for another bone marrow biopsy. We will keep you posted as soon as we get the results. Again, we really appreciate and are grateful for all the prayers and support we have received from everyone.

Here are some pics from Christmas. Gentry had a great time opening all his gifts and helping everyone else open their gifts. The biggest hit of the day was the drum set from his Uncle Kochert. I don't know who was the most excited, Gentry, Uncle Kochert, Dad or Papaw? They were all fighting over the drums! Gentry was feeling really good all day. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!!! 

We started out Christmas Eve with chemo in the morning. I have put some pics on here so you can see how great Gentry does. We just hung out and watched movies and played games. Just like last week, we were in and out in an hour and a half. Dr. Rosen gave Gentry a Santa that talks and a big box of Hot Wheels. He gave me a box of chocolates, they were delicious. Next Tuesday we will check in at the hospital for another bone marrow biopsy. This is a good thing because it means he is ready to see if the chemo has done it's job and gotten rid of the cancer cells. We have no chemo next week. It will take several days to get the results back, especially with the holiday. Chrismas Eve night we went over to my parents and ate dinner and Gentry got to have his stocking and open a present. He was pretty tired and ready for bed early and very anxious for Santa to get to our house.

This afternoon was totally not what we were expecting. Dr. Rosen's office was fantastic! They have every toy, game, movie, game system imaginable for kids. The waiting room was decorated like a winter wonderland and Gentry played at the game table while we were waiting to go back. The entire office is decorated with a jungle theme, which Gentry loved. The room we were in had tons of things for him to play with plus the hallway was lined with more toys. The staff knew who we were without us having to even introduce ourselves. Gentry was hooked up to his central line with a pump for his medicine and the tube was long enough that he could walk around the room to get toys and could even go out into the hallway. We put in a Dora movie and watched it while we worked on a puzzle, then played with a HUGE race track, then played with Legos...you get the picture. It was not invasive at all and we were out the door in less than an hour and a half. He was given nausea medicine before his meds and then sent us home with more that we can administer through his central line. The only thing he complained about afterwards was his mouth hurting. It didn't stop him from eating the Happy Meal he requested on the way home. We will see how he does the next few days, his clock ran down pretty fast tonight and he was ready for bed really early. We go back next Wed. for our next round. Keep up the prayers, we know they are helping!

Gentry has spent the week with his Aunt Angie, having a great time while dad and I are back at work. It was tough to go back to work but Gentry seemed to be happy for someone new to hang out with. I guess we just aren't that fun! Monday Jerry took him to Dr. Mo, his cardiologist, who did another echo-sonogram. He said Gentry's heart is looking good and getting back to normal. We are continuing with the heart medicine he is on and will see Dr. Mo again on Jan. 6. Today Gentry had lots of energy and made cookies with Aunt Angie and played "Don't Break the Ice" many, many times. I saw my OB today and it was great to talk to her. Her daughter was 7 when she was diagnosed with ALL so she is a great comfort to talk to since she knows exactly how we are feeling. She is monitoring me for pre-term labor and said next week will start checking to see if I have started dilating any. I am just starting my 35th week so she said it is best if we can keep this baby boy inside me for at least 2 more weeks.

Tomorrow afternoon we take Gentry in to Dr. Rosen's office for a round of chemo. After his treatment on Friday we noticed it's the day after that seems to be the hardest for him. Keep us in your thoughts tomorrow that things go well.

We made it home Sat. morning and it was the best feeling. We were practically running out the hospital room door while waiting for the dr. to clear us. Jerry started loading the car on Friday night so we wouldn't be delayed in the morning. It took him multiple trips with a cart to get all the stuff down to the parking garage. The first thing Gentry saw when we came in was the tree all decorated. He was so excited and noticed right away that we need to put some presents under the tree. He also had a cool, pirate ship cake waiting for him because everyone needs a cake when they  get home from the hospital! He has been very tired this weekend but seemed to sleep really well in his own bed. His energy level can only stay up for a short while before he is exhausted. Monday he sees his cardiologist and on Thursday he has chemo at Dr. Rosen's office. Wednesday I go to the OB for my checkup so between the 2 of us and our dr. appointments our calendar is filling up. Again, we want to thank everyone for all the prayers. We really do appreciate it and it helps lift our spirits. I will keep you posted this week on everything we have going on. 


The pirate cake was delicious! And the glow sticks Aunt Angie & Uncle Scott brought him in the hospital are always tons of fun to play with.

We are going home Saturday!!!! Yeah, I don't know who is more excited and anxious...Gentry or us. We have been practicing flushing his lines which will have to be done everyday along with changing his dressing. The home health pharmacist came by yesterday with our first month of supplies. This morning we were up at 6:00 and heading down to PICU. Dr. Rosen told us that he would give Gentry chemo in his spine and he would also have the IV injection today. Both could be done in the morning and then as long as Gentry seemed to be doing okay we could go home on Sat. The spinal doesn't take long at all and afterwards we were waiting to be moved back up to pediatrics for the IV treatment when we found out they were super busy on the 5th floor. So, we got to stay in PICU for the IV treatment. From the time Gentry woke up he was telling everyone how hungry he is. So while he had his IV treatment he chowed down on bacon again. They had to order bacon 3 times for him. He just ate and ate, this is a side effect of the steroid he is on for the next month. We all took a nap this afternoon and he is pretty worn out but is doing really well. His face is really puffy which is a side effect of the chemo. Dr. Rosen has us scheduled to come into his office next Thursday for his IV treatment. We are very excited to get home and some little elves down the street have decorated our Christmas tree and hung Gentry's stocking for him so he will see it as soon as we walk in the door. 

Yesterday Gentry got to meet Miss Kansas. She was here visiting all the kids, of course Jerry said she was here because she heard he was up here. Gentry was too shy to get his photo taken with her but did get an autograph photo. He wore himself out playing yesterday so today was very tired and grumpy. He didn't want to get out of bed today and was pretty irritated with mom and dad most of the day. We are scheduled to see the pediatric cardiologist again on Monday at his office, meaning we should be home this weekend. We were hoping it would be Friday but we aren't sure now. He is having a spinal chemo treatment at 7:30 in the morning and then will have his IV chemo sometime afterward. So we don't know if he will be able to come home tomorrow. I am sure it depends on how he handles all the chemo tomorrow morning. 

We also talked to our representative from Cord Bank Registry today. Dr. Rosen filled out paperwork for me to be able to bank my cord blood for free since we have a child who is ill with a disease that stem cells can help. It's a process that can only be done when you have a baby so talk about incredible timing. It's a non-invasive procedure that my OB will do when I have the baby. Normally it's several thousand dollars to bank the stem cells and then $125 a year to have it stored. If we are approved we will only have to pay a one time fee of $150 and there is no cost to us to release the cells if we need them. We will know in the next 2 weeks if we are approved. 

Thanks for all the messages. We love hearing from everyone. 

Dr. Rosen came in this morning to check on Gentry and was glad to hear how well Gentry did yesterday. He thinks that we will be able to go home Friday, Saturday at the latest. On Friday Gentry will have another round of chemo injected into his spine. If we stay here then we can have it done under sedation. If we go home before Friday then the spinal will be done at his office with no sedation. Dr. Mo the pediatric cardiologists came by today also and did another echo-sonogram on his heart (the first one was last Tuesday). His heart rate has really been slowing down when he is sleeping so he wanted to check on it. He said his heart is doing really well and he just needs to adjust his medicine a little bit. So we feel like we are close to getting home where we know we will ALL be more comfortable. We will keep everyone posted! 

Here are some pictures from the past two days when we were able to play in the play room. Gentry has been very tired today after his injections. We are hoping to hear tomorrow when we might get to go home. 

Today's treatment went really well. The medicine can only be administered through a shot in very small doses so he had to have 2 injections. They used a numbing cream on his upper thighs and then the nurses did the 2 injections at the same time. He didn't flinch or kick at all and just cried a little bit. He held dadddy's hands and of course had Eeyore with him. Just a minute after it was over he said he was hungry. The nurse stayed in here for an hour monitoring his vitals and he did great! Thanks for all the prayers.

Well, yesterday Gentry was pretty worn out from all his activities on Sat. He is starting to rebel against taking his oral medications. Luckily the nurses here have started mixing the different meds with cherry syrup. That is helping some. His appetite is back and every morning he has been chowing down on bacon, his weight is up a little more than half a pound from last Sunday which is a good thing. He had some visitors in the morning but slept through most of the afternoon visitors. 

Today he woke up happy and ready to play. Medicine went down pretty smooth and then we were able to go to the play room they have here. He is walking really well and had a great time checking out all the toys. He sure was ticked when we had to come back to the room to get his antibiotic through his central line. But we watched some of the Cars movie and he fell asleep pretty quick. This afternoon we spent more time in the play room, it's so nice to be outside of this room. 

Tomorrow we have a round of chemo that is an injection in his leg. It sounds like the side effects can be really severe and happen quickly. He has to be monitored very closely afterwards. As soon as it's done I will post and let everyone know how it went. Please keep praying. Everyone seemed to love the pictures so I took some more today and will get them posted soon.

Today was a great day. Gentry felt really well and was even up walking by early evening. It was so good to see him out of bed. He was pretty bored with mom and dad today, we just aren't enough fun. He had a great appetite and we played every game we have over and over. He also enjoyed the visitors he had today. Dad did a great job changing the dressing over his central line, I was the assistant. We are really hoping he continues to feel good for the next few days. Our next round of chemo will be on Tuesday. Dr. Rosen told us today that after that we will have chemo once a week after we get home. The treatments will be at his office, so we won't have to come back to the hospital every time. Jerry slept really well last night since he managed to convince the nurses in PICU to send up the recliner he liked while we were down there. He is such a smooth talker. Keep up the messages we love reading them and of course keep praying.

Well today was our first round of chemo and very emotional. Late this morning we went back down to PICU and Gentry rode on Jerry's lap in the wheel chair. Jerry loved getting to hold him, even for a few short minutes. He looks so little in his hospital gown with a little mask over his face to protect him from germs. It didn't take long to prep him for the procedure and he fights the local anesthetic. It is so funny because he looks like someone who has had too much to drink. He sways back and forth, slurs his words and insists he is "not tired". Then the dr. just slowly lays him back and he is out. They drew another bone marrow sample because Dr. Rosen needed just a little more to help him develop a chemo treatment plan that is specific to what Gentry needs. Then he administered a chemo drug through a spinal tap that travels up and down the spine. The whole thing took 10 minutes. By the time I went to the bathroom and got something to drink he was done. Gentry slept for awhile after that and when he woke was not nearly as fussy as we expected. He just wanted some chocolate milk. He spent the rest of the afternoon playing games in our room. He is the Hungry Hippo champion.

We started to see some of the possible side effects by late afternoon. His teeth hurt when he was trying to eat, which we were told could happen. Then he got sick right about dinner time. But just once and when he was done asked what we had done with his dinner. About 6:30 he received the next dose of drugs, 2 different chemo drugs, steroids and antibiotics. The chemo drugs are administered through the central line in his chest so it is not invasive at all. But he had to take the steroid orally and apparently the taste was horrendous. He has to have it twice a day for the next 28 days so it may be a battle to get him to take it. After that he has been playing all night and feeling good. He could start losing his hair any day now, and that can happen quickly or slowly. We also need to get him up out of bed and trying to walk some. His little body just aches so he doesn't want to stand much. We also learned how to change the dressing over his central line. It has to be changed and cleaned every single day. Unfortunately the nurse who changed it yesterday used some tape that was very difficult to get off. It hurt and was one of the few times he has really cried. We used different tape tonight so it should be better tomorrow.

So, it has been a long and emotional day. We feel like we are on overload trying to keep up with what each medicine is for and when he gets it, how often, etc. It looks like his next chemo treatment will be on Tuesday. Hopefully the next few days we can relax and rest some. Everyone has been so generous and we appreciate everything that has been done for us. Keep up the prayers and good thoughts. It really helps us get through the day!

So far this is how our week has gone:

Sunday 11/30-ER visit and admitted to PICU. Gentry's blood levels were dangerously low and he struggled to breathe his own, running a fever and had been throwing up for about 24 hours.

Monday 12/1-Series of tests, including tons of blood drawn, cat scan and xrays. He has IV's in his left hand and both feet plus is on oxygen.

Tuesday12/2-We learn that his heart is enlarged and that there is tons of fluid in his right lung. Bone Marrow biopsy along with more lab work and chest x-rays.

Wednesday 12/3-Central pick line put in near his heart and fluid pulled from his right lung.

Thursday 12/4-Finally got to start a morning where he could actually eat and drink something. We are told that he has ALL-acute lymphoblastic leukemia and will start treatment tomorrow. 4-6 weeks of chemotherapy. He should be in remission at the end of treatment. We are moved out of ICU to a regular pediatric room.

Friday 12/5-First day of treatment...we are optimistic and need everyone to keep us in their thoghts.