January Scans

This month has been pretty good for James despite starting it off in the hospital. He's started physical therapy again finally and man does she work him. After a 5 week break she makes him work as hard as he can. It was the first time where in the middle he said he was done and tired. Speech is going well he's improving a lot. He still needs some help but that's ok. OT is also going well. His therapist has had to set all new goals and make it a bit more challenging. James is walking like crazy and climbing up on things. We have started to try and teach James how to take his clothes off. Putting them on is very hard but taking them off is getting easier and next week he starts potty training again. He had his MRI last Friday and we found out today that he's NED(no evidence of disease). We are super happy and grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed our family. Next week we go to clinic and talk about surgery to remove his port. Tomorrow he goes back to his audiologist for a hearing test and to turn his hearing aids up. It's never really a slow dull week around here. If James doesn't have tons of appointments then someone else does. Thank you for all the love and support we are very grateful! We love our sweet boy!

Don't miss the hospital

James had been doing really well then we went to Utah and some family brought the flu with them and we all got it. James was the last one to get it and his was so bad they put him in the hospital. He had a fever and was just not doing too well. His blood counts dropped also trying to fight off the sickness he had to have a blood transfusion. They just kept him in the hospital over night. He's feeling a little better. He goes into clinic on Tuesday and hopefully his blood counts are ok. He also saw his orthopedic surgeon this week. His leg looks good hopefully he will be walking on it more.

Ear problems

James went to have a hearing test on Thursday. He did one test and it came back abnormal. The audiologist looked in his ears and said he had fluid in both ears and that he couldn't continue the hearing test till he saw his pediatrician. We took him to see his doctor later and she said that he has an infection in both ears and his left ear drum has burst. Poor boy! He has a high tolerance for pain and never says when he hurts. So they put him on some antibiotics and special drops for the left ear. She didn't mention anything about putting tubes in. His hearing is pretty bad and his hearing aids don't help at all. Hopefully he can feel better soon. Good news though he's gained 5 pounds since September. his leg is slowly getting better. He sees his orthopedic surgeon in a week to check and see where he's at. He's very excited about Christmas and is enjoying spending time with family. Merry Christmas!

Gaining weight

James went to clinic yesterday, everything looks good! Doctors are very pleased with how everything is going. He is scheduled for his next MRI at the end of January. If everything looks good then James will get his port out in February. James weighs a nice 37.5 pounds! This time last year he barely weighed 30 pounds maybe. It's nice to see some weight on him, it makes me so happy! He's eating really well. His hair is still coming in nicely. It is very thin and fine but hopefully over time it will go back to semi-normal. He loves playing with his sister and helping his parents with anything he can. He had his last pt of the year yesterday. He will start again in January. Hopefully by then his leg will be a little better and he won't be so scared to walk on it. James loves going to speech! It's sometimes challenging for him since half his mouth doesn't move but he tried really hard. Other than that everything is still going well! He has a hearing test next week just to check everything. Thank you everyone for your love, support, and prayers. We are very grateful!

Cast off

Yesterday James had many visits to different doctors. One of them was his orthopedic surgeon. They took his cast off and took some X-rays. His leg is healing nicely, not 100% better but it's getting there. The bone is still slightly broken. They were going to put him in a cast for two more weeks but after finding out he can't run and just learned to walk again they said nevermind. He's just supposed to be very careful and take it easy for a few weeks. They said it could take up to 4 months before its back to normal. James is very happy to have it off but pretty nervous to even stand on it.
James also saw his eye specialist yesterday. His right eye is getting better. The doctor said he doesn't think he will need glasses. He has to wear an eye patch for 2 hours a day on the good eye and ointment in the right every night. He is finally used to his "ears" or hearing aids. He even asks us to put them in. He has another hearing test in two weeks. His therapies are going pretty good. He's getting more frustrated lately with OT. He just gets into the mind set that he can't do things. Poor guy! I try and remind him that he can do it and it's ok if he needs help. Other than doctors and therapists he loves playing with his sister and brother. He loves going to the aquarium and seeing all the fish. He is very excited for Santa to bring him snow. He has his next MRI in a month. I pray everyday that his cancer will remain gone!

Still hanging in there

James has been doing pretty well. He is starting to walk a little on his leg which is good. He crawls everywhere mostly. He started PT again which is a little challenging. Nothing too exciting or new. His hair is coming in nicely. He says he wants more hair than his Papa, haha so hopefully we can make that happen. He is very excited for Christmas. This is his favorite time of year and last year he spent it in the hospital, so we have to make up for it. He asked for The King(from cars) and snow for Christmas. I already got him the car but as far as the snow goes, well lets just say for the first time I will probably pray for snow. Good thing we are going to Utah this year so the chances are pretty good. He is still packing on the pounds, his pants are finally getting a little snug. It's nice to buy him new clothes, especially since he has been in the same size for over a year. He goes in a week and a half back to the eye and orthopedic doctors. His eye still doesn't close all the way so they might need to do another surgery. He is doing great, I'm so thankful for this sweet boy and all the time I get with him.

Couch potato

James went to his orthopedic doctor and finally got his cast. They said he has to wear it for four weeks and then we will go back and see how it's doing. It might take longer than normal to heal because his bones are weak from the chemotherapy. He's allowed to walk on it as much as he's able. James though doesn't think he can or is scared, so he sits on the couch most of the day. I have him try and walk and crawl a few times a day. He got his hearing aids. He didn't like them the first couple days but now he thinks they are ok. He calls them his ears lol. He's still doing his therapies and started speech again. Yesterday at clinic his doctor was very happy that he's gaining so much weight. He looks like a completely different person than the one at this time last year. We talked about his face. The right cheek and part of the mouth doesn't move. I wanted to know if there was anything we could do to fix it but they said no. The nerves are most likely permanently damaged and plastic surgery wouldn't help at all. I hate hearing those kinds of things. It makes me frustrated and sad that he will have all these permanent things and there is nothing I can do. I know he's a little kid and they don't care how they look so I guess I shouldn't worry about it. He goes in to get the volume turned up on his hearing aids tomorrow hopefully it will go well. I love my sweet boy and am so glad I still get time with him.