Finally Hit!

James was finally hit with his side affects. He has been throwing up all day everyday for 3 days now. He just can't keep anything down. This morning we also noticed his mouth sores have arrived. Poor boys mouth hurts so bad and he drools constantly. His skin is so sensitive, the tape that covers his broviac has put a huge rash all over. He had a blood transfusion yesterday and is getting a platelet transfusion today. We are hoping that James can over come all these bad side affects he has. It seems the more chemo he gets the worse it gets for him after. The nurses said that's pretty normal and also they have seen a lot worse. They said he would get to come home but I think it's going to be a while. I wish I could do something to help him, it's awful to just sit here and not be able to do anything.

End of Chemotherapy

James has just had his last day of chemo for this cycle. He has done really well! He's only thrown up twice and he doesn't have any sores yet. He is getting so strong. He keeps trying to push himself up to a sitting position. He gets pretty close then falls back down. This week he finally has been talking! He just repeats words you say here and there. When he watches movies he likes to repeat the phrases they say. His doctors said that as soon as his medicine has cleared his system he can go home till the end of the 21 days. Then we will come back and get an MRI done to see if the tumor has shrunk. We are hanging in there and are hoping that James will get to come home for mor than a few hours.

Chemotherapy Cycle 3

Yesterday James started cycle 3 of chemo. So far he's been doing good no vomit yet and he's eating and talking. Even though he's going through chemo he still laughs and is goofy. I love hearing his voice and seeing him play with Zoey. He has been doing really well in PT and OT they work with him every day. We are praying that this round will be enough to move on to the next phase. Otherwise he will have to do 2 more cycles of chemo.

In between cycles

James went to Phoenix Children's hospital and got his stem cell harvest done. They harvested enough for 3 transplants, which is great but hopefully he won't need to have that many transplants. He will go back to PCH for the transplant after all chemo is done. They sent us back to Cardon's on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon he was well enough to go home. Ten hours later we were back in the hospital. James spiked a temp of 101.2 at 12:30 Wednesday morning. Any time he has any temperature 100.4 and above we have to take him in. Of course when we get to the hospital he didn't have a fever anymore. They gave him antibiotics and admitted him back into the hospital. He starts his third round of chemo on Thursday. Every time they have sent us home or tried to send us James always gets a fever and we never get to stay. It's very frustrating! I feel like Heavenly Father is definitely testing me right now to see how much I can take. I just want my sweet boy back!

Crazy Week

This week has been a little crazy. James has been breathing funny again so they did three X-rays on him throughout the week, also he's had some tummy pain so they have been working on that. They finally think they figured out what is making him so irritated. He has been on Benadryl I guess for too long and that is what is causing him to react this way. So they stopped giving him that, they also increased his pain medication to help with his sores. The sores are getting better but it will probably be another couple days before they are gone. Yesterday they moved us to Phoenix Children's Hospial. We don't really care for this hospital. I guess maybe because we aren't used to it, it's farther away, and at Cardon's we knew everyone and made friends with all the staff. We are going to be here for a few days while they prepare for James' harvest. They have to wait for the "window of opportunity" to harvest his stem cells. They will increase his neupogen dose and as soon as his counts are where they want them they will do the harvest. When they are done I would love to say we could go home but they will probably transfer us back because James is supposed to start Cycle 3 on the 19th. Last night they had to put him on oxygen because when he sleeps he isn't taking deep enough breaths. Hopefully we don't have to stay here too long.

Irritable

The last few days have been very hard on James. Yesterday his sores got bad and he was in a lot of pain. His pain level got so bad that they couldn't get it under control and he became super irritable. He wouldn't relax at all they gave him every and any medication they could. It took him 6 hours to finally relax and stop tossing, turning, and crying. Well tonight at the same time it happened again. His sores are even worse and he got a fever this morning. They couldn't get his fever to go away and it got up to 103 degrees. On a happy note we got to meet with Make A Wish this morning for James. They want to grant James a wish but since he can't talk we are waiting till he can to let him make his wish. Even though he is in pain he still laughs and picks on his little sister. It makes him happy to pick on her and she takes it like a champ. She continues to be super protective of her brother. He will probably be in the hospital till his next cycle unless by a miracle it all gets better quickly.

Also we are selling armbands that say Team James if anyone would like them. They are $3 a piece or 4 for $10.

Tough

The last few days have been pretty tough for James. He has just been throwing up all day today and yesterday and now has some bad mouth sores that go down to his tummy. The sores are what is making him sick. He was supposed to go home today but since he's been sick they decided to keep him longer and try to get it under control. I started crying when they told me he had to stay and once I start crying I have a hard time keeping it together the rest of the day. I know its best for him to stay here but it just really stinks. I would love nothing more than to scoop him up and take him home. He has been doing really great with his PT and OT. They brought a big exercise ball and he loved it! He tries to climb on top of it all by himself. He is getting really strong. He can stand up pretty good(with a little help) and is holding up his head really well. He doesn't talk much but that's because of all the mouth sores. I bought him some raspberry sorbet tonight and that seemed to feel pretty good on his throat. He's still fighting strong, his doctors are pretty impressed with how well he is doing.

End of Cycle 2

James is doing really good! He has finished his second cycle of chemotherapy. He has only thrown up once or twice and so far and no bad rash or sores yet. If all goes well he can come home Thursday morning. He is getting stronger everyday. He loves to play and be goofy. He loves laughing at his sister. Hopefully he will be home with us for a week or so before we have to start the stem cell harvest and chemo again.