So far so good.

Ashton ended up being admitted for treatment on Tuesday instead of Monday. The dr.s wanted to him to have another blood test on Monday to check his counts. So we came in on Tuesday at about 1pm. I have to say, things have gone SO WELL, so far that is. He has only been sick once on Tuesday night, which I think is amazing. Again, I'm going to give credit to his new medicine. It has made such a difference. I don't know if I've ever mentioned they way it works once we get here. The first thing that has to happen is Ashton needs fluids. They hydrate him and check his urine to make sure he is ready to tolerate the chemo. This can take quite a few hours.
Once he gets the go ahead, he gets a syringe of the first chemo, Vincristine, which only takes a few seconds. After that he is hooked up to the big one, Cisplatin. Its the one that causes hearing loss and scares me the most. He started that at about 5:30 Tuesday, and it runs for 6 hours. While he was getting it we were able to go up to the playroom and bake cupcakes and just have fun. He has been feeling so good! So thats the first night. Immediately after the Cisplatin is done, they flush him with so much IV fluids. Since his Cisplatin was done late in the night, he was hydrated all night long and woke up with such a puffy face! It goes away as he pee's it all out :) On the second night we are here, he receives his third chemo, cyclophosphamide. They give it exactly 24 hours from his first dose. This one runs only an hour but again, he is hydrated a huge amount afterwards to flush it out. This is the point we are at now. He had that last night. So tonight he does a SECOND dose of Cyclophosphamide, which runs just like the first. This means tomorrow we can go home! I am amazed at how well he has tolerated everything this time around. He constantly wants to be out of the room playing somewhere which is a sign he is feeling good. Once we get home though is when the watching and worrying start. Oh, I forgot to mention that he will get another syringe of Vincristine, the one that only takes a few seconds, next week. That one is no big deal, nausea isn't even a side effect. Back to the watching and worrying...He typically, as in the past two rounds, develops a fever during the first week we are home. His blood counts drop so drastically. Please keep your fingers crossed that maybe this time around that wont happen! I would love that, and so would he, I'm sure.

Next week is going to be a big one for us. He is scheduled for his next MRI on Friday. I can't believe it has already been 3 months since we got the word that he was all clear. He will be getting these MRI's once every 3 months for a couple of years. Even as I am thinking about this now I am nervous. I can't imagine how I will be feeling Thursday night. The drs have told us numerous times that the MRI's will always cause us high anxiety, which is totally normal. Something I do not look forward to. Please continue to send prayers and positive thought that he is still all clear and he does not have a recurrance.

On a lighter note, we were told yesterday that they would be broadcasting Monsters vs Aliens to all the patient rooms. This movie is still out in the theatre but they get movies here for the kids who are too sick to get out. Anyway, some of the animators from Dreamworks were here, going from room to room. They came in Ashtons room and luckily Cassidy was here too. She got two sketches, one of Ginormica (sp) and one of Gloria from Madagascar. Ashton got one of the blue blobby thing from monsters and they even did two of Shrek for Carter, Shrek and they donkey. It was so cool.