The Up-Side of Cancer?

Cancer, as we all know it, is a cell that goes hay-wire and continues to multiply until it weakens the body into submission. With all the bad things that cancer brings to the table, one might think how is there an upside to something so horrible. Well there is.

The same way a cell multiplies, our emotions multiply when you have or know someone with cancer. You see the world through a different set of eyes. When I look at Christopher playing with Ethan - I can see the joy in his eyes and the warmth in his heart grow. And that makes everything we go through day-by-day even more special to us and our family.

As we roll into this holiday season and partake in holiday cheer; take a moment. Look at your friends, family and life in a different way - look at them through the upside of cancer.

Chemo: Round XI

Wow! That's all I can really say, wow! Christopher has just finished his 11th round of chemo and besides the side effects he already had he's going stronger than ever. Even Dr. Kirby was amazed that Christopher has gone this long and not really had any side effects or that he's not begging for a break from the treatments.

We were worried about this round of chemo due to his platelets being low last time, but again Christopher has amazed the docs and some how, some way - his platelets went up inside of down! Figure that one out. Dr. Kirby was so amazed by this feat that he even ordered blood work to be done on Christopher's CEA numbers to see where they were at (he said he couldn't wait another month to find out)! However, the test weren't done in time before Christopher left after his chemo (but Steve the nurse said he would call us and let us know what they were).

So as we prepare for the holidays filled with laughs and good times, we also go into this holiday with some more possible good news - maybe the cancer shrunk even more.

UPDATE: We just got the CEA results back and the markers have dropped 50pts to 633!

It's Not A Box

Recently I bought a book for Ethan entitled, "Not a box" by Antoinette Portis. It's a book about an imaginative little rabbit that doesn't have a cardboard box, but a race car, robot and space ship among other things. I love this book for several reasons; the main one being that it not only teaches children, but their parents that you don't need high dollar toys to entertain your self - all you need is a little creative thinking!

Ethan has such a box, um, I mean race car. Um, chair. No, wagon. No, shopping cart. Well maybe you could call it a fort? I think every child at some point has one; Ethan's is an old Pamper's box that he became attached to so we keep it in the living room for his playful delight! Christopher even went as far to draw wheels on it and put a big number "7" on the sides. Ethan pushes it around the house picking his toys and putting them into it; just to dump all the toys out and sit in it so he can watch his Baby Enstin movies. Or there are times where Ethan gets in and Christopher pushes up and down our main hall while all the while he makes, "veer-room" sounds. All in all, fun for the entire family!

I'm sure one day when Ethan is older he might shun the idea that he played in a box (or that his Mum took pictures of him in the box with just his daiper on!) But for now that little green "not a box" is endless entertainment for not only Ethan, but Christopher and I as we watch him grow and play.

Have You Been Inked?

Amber (Ethan's God Mother) and I have always kicked around the idea of doing something together; something fun that we enjoy. A few years ago Amber told me of an idea she had and I thought it was a wonderful - no one else was doing anything like it and I could see a need for people to want to have it! And so Socially Inked was born. You might ask, what is Socially Inked? Socially Inked provides custom invitation/greeting card service for social occations. We will not only design and print invitations for baby showers, baby annocments, birthday parties and holiday's, but we will also address them and mail them for you! And if already have your invitations or cards - for a small fee we will take the hassle out of addressing and mailing them for you!

Amber is working on the website to let people know more (Amber had her baby girl on October 5th, so the web site is just a splash page for now), but I wanted to offer to those whom might want to use this service 10% off their first order if they place their order before November 30th.

For more information email me at denise@sociallyinked.com.

Chemo: Round X

Another chemo day has come and gone and everything is still looking good so far. The only bad news we got today was that Christopher's platelets are getting a little low (a side effect of the chemo) Platelets help the blood clot so the only downside or risk to low platelets are: excessive bleeding if cut, fainting or feeling light-headed, hematoma (blood accumulating under the skin), infection (a slight risk any time the skin is broken) and/or multiple punctures to locate veins.

There is no medication that Christopher can take to make his platelets go up; his body just has to naturally do it on it's own. So we have to see what his body will do over these next two weeks, Christopher might have to postpone a round a chemo by one week if his levels drop too low, but the doctor is optimistic that his body will do alright for the next round of chemo.

What I would like everyone to keep in mind is that normally people don't stay on chemo this long (we're working on the 5th month of treatments), Christopher is special in the respect that his body is reacting really well to the chemo and the doctors don't want to give him break just yet (why stop a good thing when everything is working the way everyone would hope).

Prayers for Ms. Brenda and Her Family

This morning we got word that Ms. Brenda pasted away last night. I wrote a post back in September that her numbers were not were they needed to be and last night Our Lord gave her peace.

She gave us words of encouragement when we needed it the most; she will always be in our thoughts and prayers.