DONE

Three Reasons to Celebrate this Weekend

1) A MASCAC Championship
2) My God Daughter's Christening
3) Only one more day of Chemo to Go!

I have been trying to not let myself get too excited about the end of chemo, but obviously it's not working. Tomorrow marks the end of a long eight months; even with all the speed bumps, we were only one day off from the schedule set last summer, but even with this accomplishment, there are still many more milestones to go........

Saturday

Got an early start today to make it to the game on time.

Two more days to go......

Friday

Did I mention that I figured out how to blog and upload pictures right from my phone?

Day 2 in progress.

One down, four more days to go...

On our way...

Sleeping through treatment

Waiting for the pharmacy...

The first day of Liam's last cycle is underway

Spending the day in Boston, then heading to Salem for the big game tonight.....

Think Pink

Tuesday was "Think Pink" night at BSC.

The kids all had fun...

No news is good news - right?

Well, pretty much.

January wrapped up fairly uneventful, and February was starting out the same, that was until the Patriots lost the super bowl, then it all went down hill from there. The kids continue to take turns with the cough and cold, ultimately Liam ended up with RSV and Troy a double ear infection. That meant a number of trips to the Dr.s this week, including a 27 hour stay at MassGeneral for Liam. We'll pick right back up on Monday with follow-up appointments for them both. During his stay, seems Liam managed to cause issues with his port again, and needs a good dose of drain-o (TP-a) to clear things up.


Liam will kick off his last cycle of chemotherapy on February 21st. The usual routine, day 1 in Boston, 2-5 at home. Then the following week (March 3rd) he'll have another scan... that's all we'll say about that for now... (My world kind of stops when I think about that day).


We have allowed ourselves to do some planning for life after treatments. When it gets just a little too crazy around here, I think spring and a trip to South Carolina... 15 hours in a minivan with 4 kids - why not? For years my sister and her family have been doing it. Last year we planned to join them but had to put that on hold. I've driven it once before...as a college kid with a passenger van full of softball players, and literally I was driving. For some reason I managed to convince my coach, that since my family owned a van, I was very qualified ay the age of 19, to take turns with him driving to Myrtle Beach. There was only one scarey part on the Jersey turnpike where I wasn’t sure if we belonged in the Car or Truck lane... I'm waiting for that question to be answered on "Are you smarter than a fifth grader".


So other news, Liam had his first real injury (besides all the health issues) falling mouth first into a chair a few weeks back. Three popsicles and 24 hour later he still had a fat lip, we are still not sure if he chipped a tooth, or just pushed it back into his gums, but there's a definite gap on his lower left side.


On a sad note, during our travels over the past year, we have met a number of other children and families also fighting various types of cancer. This morning, we learned that one little boy, very close in age to Liam, recently lost his battle. This is the first time someone we've crossed paths with has passed away. I can distinctly remember sitting in the playroom with he and his mom last summer. They will be in my thoughts for a long time to come.

Liam took his time bouncing back from the chemo this time; He's just about back to himself now which gives him a few days to get ready for his second to last treatment. There's a reason these treatments go in three week cycles, give you just enough time to recover before they hit you again.

The good news is that he's eating more solids again... it's been a back-n-forth with Liam, every time it looks like he'll break free of the bottle, we hit a stumbling block. I think we may finally be turning the corner for good...of course with the exception of those midnight/3 am bottles :)

Heading into the home stretch now....

It's been a mellow week for Liam. He came through the chemo treatments with no issues, but he's been slowing down as the week has progressed. Highlights of thew last week... We did manage to get him out in the snow on Monday (just for a few minutes) and seems like vocabulary if starting to expand.

Last Thursday tops the list as one of the busiest days we've had yet. Actually - it was just a three hour window where we had chemo delivered, the critical care nurse show up, and an EI appointment at the same time both cars were getting an oil change, and Bridge needing a ride to meet her bus for the game. Ohhh I am really starting to look forward to spring... Speaking of which, the Boston Marathon is set for April 21st. Julie is off to a great start, but we hope to make her one of the top fundraisers; we can't say enough about the care Liam's received at MassGeneral, and all donations go to support pediatric cancer research. You can click the link on the left or down below for more details....

Happy New Year!

Since checking out of MGH on 12/23, we’ve not had the need to go back. Liam has managed to stay fever free for the last two weeks; I‘m sure in part to the electric green antibiotic he’s been on since discharge. He still has a lingering cough, and has been dealing with nausea for a few days, but we’ve enjoyed not having to make the drive to Boston.

We had a great Christmas, the kids even slept late. The big hit was the bowling game. Owen and Jack had about 48 hours to play with everything before heading to Florida on the 27th with the Bridgewater basketball team. They spent three days in Daytona, three days in Orlando, and sounds like they had a great time.

Troy headed to New Hampshire on the 26th for a few days to hang out with the Milliken’s, but was back on the 30th. Liam and I had a few days to ourselves before his return. Nina and Poppa were on hand to cook up a gourmet New Year’s eve dinner for us all (Aunt Nancy, Uncle Ed and Aunt Minnie included).

It was slow getting back into the swing of things this week. Tomorrow we’re headed to the annual holiday party thrown by the hemock clinic… it’ll be nice to see some of Liam’s care givers in a non-medical setting.

We also got word that Julie and Liam will be teamed up again for the marathon in April… stay tuned for details on this. Liam’s back in clinic on Wednesday to start his next round of chemotherapy, and should be able to finish the remainder (Thursday – Sunday) at home.

Early Christmas presents...

Liam was showered with gifts during his chemo stay as well as visited by a Santa holding a medical degree, but the best gift of all was the option to go home earlier than planned. Immediately following his last post-chemotherapy drugs on Saturday night (around 11:25 PM) Liam was discharged. We made it home just before 1am. It was late, but my theory... we've certainly drove in enough times in the middle of the night, why night drive home? So we all got to wake up in our own beds Sunday morning.

So far-so good with Liam. Kim, our VNA nurse came by today to do bloodwork and administer his Neulasta, but otherwise we're hoping for a quiet Christmas!!