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.

Little update

Well, we are still home! No fever yet! This is the first time Ashton has gone this long after chemo without getting sick with an infection!! I'm hoping we get to all stay home this time around...he is doing so well. We did spend the day at the hospital today because he needed a platelet transfusion. We also spent all day Friday there too for red blood cells and platelets. He loses those platelets so fast! But the important thing is no fever.

There is also good news about his hearing. He had another hearing test today which showed his hearing is stable. Actually his hearing was a bit better in the right ear. This was most likely due to ear wax that was removed. He will have another test closer to the next chemo to determine if he will have more Cisplatin. So today was a good day. He continues to grow stronger each day and continues to amaze us with the progress he is making.

Round 5, Complete!

We got home this afternoon from Ashton's 5th round of treatment. Once again, he did really well. This time he didn't even sleep a super long nap like he has done in the past. We could barely keep him in the room! Good thing there are places to go and things to see while we are there. Now, we wait. I'm almost positive that in about a weeks time I will be posting that we are going in for a fever. It has happened every time, but wouldn't it be nice if just for once, it didn't happen? I would be so surprised. Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer, and guess what?!! ONE MORE TO GO!

Chemo Set-back.

I wish I was typing today about Ashton's 5th round of chemo being completed, but unfortunately that isn't the case. Last Monday Ashton had a hearing test and blood draw. The good news is his hearing has stableized...there has been no further loss. This means they will go ahead with another dose of the Cisplatin. This is good because they want to get as many rounds as they can, but bad because it does make him feel icky. The bad news was that, on Monday, his platelet count was too low to go ahead with Chemo last Tues. So, now we do the same blood draw tomorrow, Monday, and hopefully those platelets will go up enough for him to start round 5 this Tuesday. It seems like it is taking forever to start this fifth round and I'm so anxious to be able to say that he only has one treatment left.

Ashton has been making so much progress with his walking. He has been walking all over the house without holding onto anything. His balance still has a ways to go but each day he continues to grow stronger so I'm confident he will get there soon.

I will update later this week and hopefully I will be able to say "ONE MORE TO GO!"

Parade Today!

Happy 4th of July! Today we will be walking in the Scotts Valley Parade. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come and join us. The more the merrier! We stayed out late last night working to get everything ready and I have to say, Its going to be fabulous! The people who have helped organize this are so talented and crafty! Thank you all!! I hope to see a bunch of people out there for Ashton. It will be a day I won't soon forget. He won't either :)

Monday Ashton has his hearing test and the results will determine whether he will stop the Cisplatin or not. After the test, he has his regular appt. for his check up. He is scheduled to start his 5th round of chemo on Tuesday. Keep him in your thoughts...he is doing so well and we really want it to stay that way!