Tyson's Brave Battalion

Tyson's Brave Battalion
Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.” ~Samuel Johnson

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Two more left!!!

Treatment today!  We are getting soooo close to the end!! Ty made most of a frog craft before the game cart came rolling in.  The room we were in is in the middle of an uplift.  There have been lots of changes at PCH lately...not sure when they changed from PCMC to PCH?  They built a huge new addition across the street and added a giant lobby to the main hospital and we finally got to see some of the great additions today.  It looks great!
 His treatment was just Vincristine and they had it all ready at once today so he didn't get to play Lego Batman 2 quite as long as he wanted.
 The ice cream shop is back!!!  Last time we were there it was under construction, now it is back and in the new lobby.  Ty was so happy to get his superman flavored ice cream!
 This one is a better view of what some of the lobby looks like
 We chilled in the lobby for a while so the pharmacy could get Ty's meds ready.  While we were there Ivy the Therapy Dog came to visit, and a new one we haven't seen before named Betsy.  We had fun petting them while their owners got some lunch.
 The new fountain...it didn't have any coins in it so we didn't throw any in.  Throwing coins in the fountain used to be one of Ty's favorite traditions...we haven't seen the horsey anywhere in their new construction so I'm not sure if we can still call it Horsey Doctor.
When we got to Grandpa's house to pick up little sis there were a few fuzzy friends waiting for us.  Ty's counts are a little low so I'm not sure how smart it is to cuddle with baby geese but how could we resist?  Stats for the day:  Weight  20.7 kg  (45.5 lbs)  Height  108.2cm.  WBC 1.5 low, HCT 35.3, RBC 4.20, HGB 12, PLTS 231, ANC 500 !!  That's right on the border of neutropenic and holding his chemo pills that he takes at home so his onc lowered his dose of 6mp to 4 half pills and then 3 days off.  And she took him off his methotrexate.  Ty will do a CBC in 2 weeks to see where his counts are and then we will see what his dosage will be.  Hopefully they will rise a little and he can manage to stay out of the hospital in the mean time...it would be a bummer if he missed his end of the year field trips and stuff!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Happy Cancerversary!!!

Squishy Baff!  The expression on his face is how we are feeling right about now exactly 3 years after Tyson was diagnosed with A.L.L.  Happy and Thankful that we still have our little buddy!  Almost done with treatment and doing great!  I didn't remember that it was Ty's diagnosis day until a friend posted about it who's daughter was diagnosed with the same thing the same day.  So for Ty today was like any other day.  He went to Kindergarten in his new Easter shorts and minion shirt from Grandma, played outside and went to Grandma's to play with cousins.  Right now he is at the park!  Happy Cancerversary Ty!!!  You are officially a 3 year survivor!!! Yay!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Spring Break, Beehive Bears Carving, One more down!!!

A little spring break fun..flying kites 
 Ty using his favorite mode of transportation up to clinic...no not the elevator...dad's shoulders
 Craft time!  Making a fierce one eyed monster...the bandaids are holding the numbing cream on...sort of, it was leaking out the edges all over the place so we took off his shirt
 Still growing!  107.5cm and 20.4 kg (almost 45lbs)
 His onc mentioned to Tyson today that he didn't always love coming there...he doesn't believe her, to him cancer means eating otter pops, playing video games, and getting pokie prizes.  Not to mention Camp Hobe and Make-A-Wish.  Thank goodness he doesn't remember much about those first few days!!  So thankful he is doing so well...that little fear creeps up once in a while of him relapsing at some point but he has a good chance of that not happening so we try not to be scared and just be thankful.  We are heartbroken for another cancer friend Taleah who just relapsed after being off treatment for 3 months.  Same kind of cancer Tyson has. She is in for a very tough fight and her family needs lots of prayers.
 Still doing awesome!!  ANC 900, WBC 2.7, RBC 3.98, HGB 11.5, HCT 34.1, PLTS 245.  His little sis had fifths disease a couple of weeks ago.  We were a little worried that Ty was going to get it from her but it looks like he sailed through that one.  His onc suspects she actually may have gotten it from Ty because last month he wasn't feeling the greatest and his hemoglobin was low.  It can cause severe anemia in immune compromised kids but if Ty had it he escaped any problems from it thank goodness.  Little sis's rash was pretty awesome though...
She didn't have any other noticeable symptoms, so no biggie, just a cool rash...and I guess once the rash shows up you aren't contagious anymore which seems backward...
A very cool guy showed up at our house the other day, a bear praying for Tyson!  Carved by our very talented friend at Beehive Bears Carving.  You should see some of his creations
Starting his monthly 5 day steroid pulse...bring it on!!  This morning (day after treatment) Ty mentioned that he hasn't even cried yet.  Interesting how much more he is aware of what steroids do to him than he was at first.  It is helpful now that he is older that he understands a little and we can talk about how steroids means you have to work extra hard at being nice, it's not an excuse to be mean.  He got up this morning and got 'dressed' in some soft superman jammies.  We spend a lot of time snuggling on the couch when he is on steroids.  That's okay, it's nice to slow down once in a while.  Thanks for checking in!