Clinic and Birthday Celebrations

Happy Birthday Ty!  He's using his new birthday shaving set.

On our way to Primary Children's Dec 20th for our clinic appointment, no food today, we were thankful that he slept the last hour of the trip so he wouldn't have to think about being hungry.

The best distraction tool ever...worked again like a charm, he just a kept on playing while the nurse accessed his port

The sterile field of supplies ready to access, you can see the port needle in the middle with it's cover still on

Clinic was extra fun today!  Santa came and brought a little felt snowman full of candy.  Ty was super hungry cause by this time it was 1:00ish and he can't have food or drink before he is sedated.  We prayed at family prayer that morning that he would be brave and okay with not eating.  He really wanted to eat his candy but he didn't throw a fit or anything which was awesome!  He just held on tight to his candy bag and waited

Annie the therapydog came to visit, she is new and we love her cause she is super clean and soft and her owner is very dedicated.

Thumbs up to dad after Ty is all hooked up for sedation...but not sedated yet

And here's a super cool thumbs up to dad WHILE he is sedated.  This surprised us cause you just don't know how aware they are while they are on that stuff unless you've been on it yourself and we have never been on versed and ketamine.  Dad gave him a thumbs up and he gave one back.  That's his oncologist in the background, she is great.

Hugging his candy while he waits for the sedation to wear off.  As soon as he was coherent enough he ate it all!!  We were very surprised cause he usually won't eat much of anything the rest of the day after sedation and chemo. Sometimes he'll sip on pop but that's about it.  He also ate a couple of mini chocolate donuts that he picked out at the gas station on the way...and kept it all down, yay! : ) ...AND he asked me to make him some german pancakes when we got home that night at 9:00 and ate one of those too!!

Spiderman on the third floor, we went to see an inpatient cutie from Idaho in the ICS overflow on the third floor. (Isn't it sad that they have an overflow of immune compromised kids from the 4th floor to the 3rd? That's too many kids with cancer!!)
  We also got to see three other cancer cuties that are associated with our Utah moms facebook group in clinic, and dropped some legos by the house of one who just finished his bone marrow transplant.  It was fun to meet and chat with all of  them a little, it's a 'club' you would never wish to be a part of, but has turned into a support group that has kept us sane through all of this.  A mom who is a part of that group invited us to be a part of her son's birthday who lost his battle with cancer in June by doing acts of kindness.  I thought of her and her son often yesterday and we were happy to bring a couple of smiles to some cancer cuties in honor of him.  His name is Tanner and he would have turned 20 yesterday.

We had such a good day yesterday, I was reminded as I kneeled last night of how blessed we are in so many ways, and how great it is that God cares so much about each of us that he answered our prayer about Tyson this morning and helped him manage the hunger.  It seems like a small thing, but is pretty big to a 3 year old who wants some food and doesn't really understand why he can't have any.  My heart is so full today of gratitude for the goodness of God and the goodness of people who do things like dress up like santa and bring smiles to kids in hospitals, and for families who try to make a day that is so difficult and heartbreaking into a day of kindness for others. While its hard to understand the heartache and pain and unfairness of trajedy, it makes the good extra sweet, and for that I am so thankful.

 Tyson't ANC is 600! Yay for above 500! We will be keeping him home for a major part of the holiday season anyway, just to be safe, but this means he doesn't have to completely stay home. Weight 14.8 (32.6lbs) which is down a little from 15kg (33lbs) two weeks ago, that surprised us a little, but now that I think about it, he was sitting on the scale because he was asleep when we got there and I just kind of plopped him on it still asleep, maybe that had something to do with the weight. PLTS 264, HCT 34, WBC 2.5, RBC 3.87  Interim Maintenance 2, day 36
We got home pretty late so I was really thankful for the dinner brought in to my kids, thank you!!  And thank you for all of the support and love and prayers for Ty