He's DONE!

Well, today at about 2:30 I watched as the last dose of chemo was administered to Ashton. It was a very small amount, part of the protocol is to give Vincristine on day 1 and day 9 so this was "officially" his last treatment! WOOO HOOOO! I really hope I'm not jumpin the gun when I say he's done for good. Every time I tell people I try to knock on wood, just in case. I don't want to jinx myself. So, he is feeling really good! He is still gaining weight and hasn't been sick at all since last weekend. Its as if he didn't really have that last treatment at all. He does have all the low counts now though. We are keeping our fingers crossed for no fever again. His platelets are getting low and so is his hemoglobin so the dr. already scheduled him to have transfusions on Monday. Once his counts go up though we get to watch him heal, grow hair, and the part I'm most excited about is seeing his eyelashes grow back. He had the most amazing eyelashes. This is such a great time! Unfortunately it will be short lived once Sept 23rd rolls around. Thats the date for his next MRI and even as I think of it now I get butterflies in my stomach. I am trying to stay as positive as I can. He has fought so hard and done so well. So, HOORAY to ASHTON! My little man, my sweetie, my HERO! You are an inspiration.

I wanted to see if everyone can get those prayers and positive thoughts going for Ashton's buddy Ty. He is having some big scans this week and we are all hoping his cancer is gone, or at least shrunk. You rock Ty! Thank you Carmen for posting about Ashton too :)

We're finally here!!

Hooray! Ashton finally started his last treatment today! Things are quite different this time around. There were no beds available up at Lucille Packard (Stanford) so we are at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View. Lucille Packard has a satellite here and there are the same doctors and nurses we are used to. Also we found out we only have to stay here one night! I am so happy! His chemo is going to be much easier this time. My big hope is it won't be as hard after and he won't get a fever. It would be so nice if this was his FINAL hospital stay!

We had a surprise visitor a few hours ago. We were sitting in our room when the nurse came in and said that Alexis Briski's father was in the hall and wanted to say hi. I couldn't believe it! We haven't seen him since before Alexis passed.
We had a nice long talk...he is doing ok. The family is keeping busy. I think seeing him and seeing that he was doing alright was very comforting to me. Her death affected us so much, Pat and I. It was a big heartbreak for us because she was the first child we knew of who didn't make it through this horrible battle. The funny thing was he was here visiting a relative in a different part of the hospital and came by the peds ward to visit the nurses--Alexis had many treatments here. He happened to ask our nurse if she had heard how Ashton was doing. He was surprised when she told him he was actually here now! Anyway, his visit was special to us and we will definitely be keeping in touch.

So, if all goes well, we will be out of here tomorrow night. Please send all those positive thoughts once again. I will let you know how it all goes.

Still waiting...

Ashton hasn't had his last round of chemo yet. He went in Monday for his regular check up and blood draws and his platelets aren't high enough to begin. The hope is by this coming Monday they are up enough for him to be admitted Tuesday or Wednesday. He also had another hearing test Monday. This test showed no change..his hearing is stable. The doctors have decided that he should not have the Cisplatin this round. Even though his hearing is good, the benefits of one more round of the Cisplatin are no different then if he didn't have it. But, there is a risk that his hearing could be damaged further. So, this last round will be much milder. He will only have the Vincristine and the Cyclophosphimide (sp?) This means only a 2 night stay and I'm sure he won't feel as bad following the treatment. We really want him to have plenty of time to recover a little before we go to Disneyland in October. I know the effects of all of this won't wear off for quite some time and he won't be feeling 100% for our trip, but that's ok. As long as he isn't feeling sick to his stomach like the last time we went to DL, he didn't enjoy anything.

He also started some physical therapy at Dominican Rehabilitation. Now that he is home more, I really want him to get some aggressive treatment so he can run again :) He is still so weak, but getting around more and more. Keep your fingers crossed that he can finally get this last round this week and that he doesn't get a fever so we can be home. Thanks everyone, I will keep you posted...

He made it!

Ashton made it this month with no admit for fever!! I am so surprised and so is his doctor. He is feeling good and at his last blood draw, his counts were all up. It has been so great to be home. He will have his next, and FINAL, chemo mid August. Wouldn't it be nice if he was fever free for that one too?

I can't even describe the feeling I have about almost being done with his treatment. It just feels fantastic! I see him improving all the time and it makes me so optimistic about the future.