Clinic today...Interim Maintenance II Day 1

We really enjoyed the break we had between his last chemo and the start of this new phase, Getting a routine blood test here, it's so routine now that we didn't even hold him to get accessed, he just layed there and let her poke it in

Ty felt pretty good, we even took advantage of a semi-warm day and went for a bike ride

He still prefers bland foods like plain pancakes which he's been asking for each night at bedtime (yep, he's smart, he knows that if he asks for food we say yes and thus he gets to stall bedtime...but he eats it sooooo win win)

So here we are on our way to clinic at PCMC bright and early.  I told him to look at the sunrise, it makes the clouds pink.  He looked and said in a very you are dumb mom and I am smart way,  'the sunrise makes the sun come up'.

Waiting for the nurse..they have cool water bottle floaty thingys

Here's how I prep his port for the access poke...four bandaids with the cotton thingy ripped off so it doesn't soak up the numbing cream.  Yep Phineas and Ferb bandaids are a must. : )

This is what the port looks like accessed, the port goes right up against the skin so when you access it is is a very shallow poke.  Then you have a tubey that you can get blood from and put stuff into whenever you need.  The sticker that they put on to keep it in place and keep it sterile is the worst part of it...it hurts when they take it off

In infusion getting the methotrexate and vincristine.  You can see the MTX covered up if you look close, it is light sensitive.  This is the part of this phase I wasn't expecting.  Looking at the protocol on paper it looks exactly like the phase he was on right before delayed intensification, called Interim Maintenance I.  Not so we found out today cause they started him today on 2/3 of the highest dose he got in Interim Maintenance I.  Which means as they gradually increase the dose every 10 days we will be much higher than we ever were in that phase, increasing the likelyhood for low counts, nausea, and mouth sores.  Darn!  He did so well in that phase that we were so looking forward to having high counts and feeling ok during the holidays.  We'll see how it goes.  He had a headache on the way home and puked a couple of times, not sure if that is from being sedated or the chemo, or a combination of the two.  Hopefully he can keep something down later today.

Getting ready for sedation, a few extra stickers and stuff to monitor his vitals

He doesn't really like this part, but he tolerates it.  He won't lay down until he is too out of it to keep himself upright.  They give him Versed and Ketamine

Coming off sedation...right here he is telling me I have five eyes.

So now we are taking it easy, watching Phineas and Ferb and hugging the kiddies that we missed all day.  Some very awesome people are bringing dinner, Thank You!!  and we just snuggle with Ty and wait and see how he does.
 On our way home I got a text about an upcoming Idaho moms with cancer fighting cuties dinner...yay!  There is something really therapeutic about being able to chat with other moms who know what you are talking about.
Daddy and I enjoy the drive to and fro cause we get to chat. I retold all of the details of Ty's diagnosis which brought up lots of memories and emotions that I haven't thought about for a while.  Brady told me some of the details of his experience of getting the news abroad as well. It's strange to remember life before I heard the words, "we did see blasts, and it is Leukemia".  Reminds me of how blessed we are, how many ways the Lord prepared us to be able to handle this, how much love and care we have received over the last few months, and how much our eyes have been opened to the great blessings that come from stuff that is hard.  It really does help push out of your life the things that don't matter. We LOVE the little bald warriors and their families and see so much sickness and heartache but we see so much good too.  So much good.  Cancer really does have the potential to bring out the best in people.  We are so thankful to witness it...so thank you!
Oh, and today's stats...Height 92.4cm(pretty much the same as diagnosis), weight 14.7kg (32.3lbs)  WBC 2.1, HCT 26.4, ANC 800, PLTS 256 RBC 3.06
PS  this video was done by Ty's second cousin Sean...for more info on the St. Baldricks event scroll down to older posts..