Well Kristoffer's counts went up a little faster than we thought they would. He was able to come home on Sunday. He was so excited. We don't have to go back to Albuquerque for 1 week. This is our favorite time when we can just feel normal for a week.
Well as we feared, Kristoffer started running a fever on Thursday. He has been in the hospital since then. He is very slowly starting to build back up his white blood cells. He will probably be able to come home Monday or Tuesday. He just hates being there. He cries when they hook him back up to the IV because it is a lot harder to shoot baskets when you are tied up to the pole. It looks like this will be his pattern for the next 6 months. Poor guy!!
We took the boys to the aquarium after Kristoffer's treatment yesterday. They had the best time. Kristoffer loved the sting rays and Connor loved the sharks. They didn't seem to really notice the eels, which I think are gross. So last night Connor woke up 5 or 6 times crying because he was scared!! When we asked why he was scared, he said he was scared of the snakes (eels). Who would think the aquarium would cause nightmares? They are pretty freaky looking!! Kristoffer is still doing well with his treatment. He still is just playing like a normal little boy. Next week will be his tough week when his immune system goes down, so we are praying that he does not get a fever and have to take another vacation at SJRMC. Thanks to all who left comments from my last post. It helps so much to feel the support of family and friends. It makes this experience a little more tolerable!!
Kristoffer had his CT scan on Monday. We looked at the comparison between the first CT scan (1/21/09) and the tumor has shrunk 92%!!!! Yes I said 92%!!!! We were shocked. We know that all of the prayers and fasting have helped so much. Even the doctor was surprised and said "that was the best we could hope for." So we will have 6 more weeks of chemotherapy and then another CT scan and then surgery to remove the tumor and the kidney. That will probably be around the 2nd week in May. Then he will have radiation and 18 more weeks of chemotherapy. Then hopefully we will be done and never hear the word cancer again. Right now he is on his 5 day stretch here in Albuquerque!! No nausea or vomiting and we have Connor with us which has helped Kristoffer a ton.
We put a candle in his cinnamon roll and sang happy birthday to him. We will have a better party on Saturday.
Kristoffer desperately wanted a scooter for his birthday.
It was so funny to watch Jonathon try to keep up with Kristoffer with his IV pole. He was running to keep up with him.
The hospital staff brought him some gifts for his birthday!!
Kristoffer learned how to wink in the hospital. It is the cutest thing. His whole face winks!!
Just a little update on Kristoffer. He had to go back into the hospital late Thursday night for a slight fever. He has almost no white blood cells so we are hoping they will start coming up tomorrow so he can come home. He is so bored in the hospital. He had to celebrate his 6th birthday in the hospital. I will post those pictures later because I left my camera at the hospital. Jonathon is staying with him tonight so I can be home with the other kids. It is going to be a long 6 months of treatment. We are just trying to take it a week at a time, otherwise it just feels so overwhelming!! Thank goodness for all of our family and friends and their support and help with our other children. I don't know how we would do it otherwise.
Kristoffer did awesome with his treatment. He never had any nausea or pain. He was a little tired after each treatment but for the most part he tolerated everything real well. He was so excited to get home and see the rest of the family. This next week will be hard because his immune system will be at it's lowest so we have to be extra careful and pray that he doesn't get any bugs. It's hard to do with 3 other children that go to school and have their own bugs. Katelynn has a cold right now. I am hoping that cold and flu season goes by really quickly. It felt so good to be home. I miss my other kids so much while we are gone. We are so fortunate to have wonderful family and friends that take care of our other children for us. That is one less thing I have to worry about and it helps us focus on Kristoffer!
