Labs Part 3.5(?) of Round 1

Had labs drawn again today to see if he can go back to school tomorrow, but since labs are boring posts I thought I would throw in an awesome photo to liven things up.  Cutie Pies---Not too brag or anything!

   White Blood Count (WBC) 1.9****normal range 4.5-11.0

Red Blood Count (RBC) 4.39****normal range 4.5-5.9

  Hematacrit (HCT) 39.6****normal range 41.0-53.0

  Platelet Count 552****normal range 150-400

  Abosolute Neutrophils Count (ANC) 0.3****normal range 1.8-7.8

After seeing the counts, aren't you glad I included the cute picture?  This means no school again tomorrow. :(

Labs Part 3 for Round 1

White Blood Count (WBC) 1.7****normal range 4.5-11.0

Red Blood Count (RBC) 4.59****normal range 4.5-5.9
Hematacrit (HCT) 39.6****normal range 41.0-53.0
Platelet Count 568****normal range 150-400
Abosolute Neutrophils Count (ANC) 0.3****normal range 1.8-7.8

I am so confused, why the week before Chemo did his counts tank?  The Doctor told us that ARA-C would hit his counts the hardest 7-10 days after chemo---this is 21 days out??? His ANC has to be above 750 before next Wednesday in order for him to get treatment.  Start climbing ANC you left your self a way to go.

On a positive note, we aren't bored.....

  Life keeps speeding by, at a very unsafe rate, I might add (and did).  However; for some reason a busy week this last week equaled good blood counts, so I guess we will just stay busy-- it's good for Jackson.
On March 22nd his counts were:

White Blood Count (WBC) 4.5****normal range 4.5-11.0
Red Blood Count (RBC) 4.62****normal range 4.5-5.9
Hematacrit (HCT) 39.2****normal range 41.0-53.0
Platelet Count 127****normal range 150-400
Abosolute Neutrophils Count (ANC) 2.8****normal range 1.8-7.8

Not to brag or anything, but are those counts or are those counts!
What made our week so busy is the next natural question, so I will just show you!

  Carter is in a basketball class.  To quote the boy, "finally I've been waiting my whole life for basketball camp".

Sierra and Zoe finished up a 6 week basketball camp--Saturday mornings-ugggh.  Sierra had two games on Saturday, her favorite was playing Hadley's team, they both giggled more than guarded when they we defending each other.

The picture says a lot--Zoe is a ball player, an IN YOUR FACE ball player--anyone surprised?

Good rebounding, knows where to be--just got to work those arms out so they can shoot too!

I find cute babies help pass the time of sitting through 5 hours of basketball on a Saturday.  Kristi thought it was a costume party and came dressed as a bunny, Anistynn seems a bit embarrassed for her!

Cousins on the same team-- it builds so many memories like, "Avery remember when I made you stare at my skinned knee"?  Ahhhhh the good times they share....

This is a "How to pass 5 hours at your bigger sisters ball games if your a little brother handbook".  Chapter one:  hide your eyes from all the turnovers.

Chapter two, find a box and play with it for hours.  The End

Sierra made her first basket on this last day of games---earned herself a subway lunch!  Her team with coaches Farrah Wardenaar and Lesly Brown.

Zoe and Avery's team---Coach Jaquie

Then it was an afternoon celebration with.....

a bunch of balloons......

a bunch of snacks.....

a bunch of kids.....

all because this cutie pie, AVERY MAE is 8---I've said it before-- 8 is great, especially when 20 or so of your closest friends celebrate your birthday at a,  hoppin', balloon popin' party, on the same morning your parents give you a HORSE for your birthday!!  My kids can't wait to meet Mandy in person(horse person).  Happy birthday sweet niece!

Labs part 2 for Round 1

White Blood Count (WBC)               3.9****normal range 4.5-11.0
Red Blood Count (RBC)                 4.49****normal range 4.5-5.9
Hematacrit (HCT)                           38.0****normal range 41.0-53.0
Platelet Count                                   195****normal range 150-400
Abosolute Neutrophils Count (ANC) 1.6****normal range 1.8-7.8

My comments---"Well..... at least one thing isn't in the red."

Blood Counts for Round 1

White Blood Count (WBC)                  4.3****normal range 4.5-11.0

Red Blood Count (RBC)                    4.92****normal range 4.5-5.9

Hematacrit (HCT)                             41.9****normal range 41.0-53.0

Platelet Count                                              327****normal range 150-400

Abosolute Neutrophils Count (ANC)     2.0****normal range 1.8-7.8

Jackson's counts ---drawn on 3/13/12  Not too shabby, only one count in the RED zone and it is just barely in.  I should mention the Doctors did mention counts take a hit usually 7-10 days after chemo.  Holding my breath, he has another draw on Friday then just every Wed. until next Chemo.

Histo part 3 Chemo Round 1 Day 4

Round 1 is officially done.  Last night we kept Cougar Man, aka Carter, and after we had seen everyone off it was just the boys and I at the hotel for the last night.  It was fun to have Carter, but the striking difference between his energy, health, and vitality compared to Jackson's hurt my heart a little.  Cougar was more like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.  Bounces instead of walks.  He wanted to swim again, Jackson was done in from sitting up all through dinner so he stayed in bed.  Then he wanted to "explore" the hotel, so we walked around while he told me he sometimes pretends to be a spy that is pretending to be a normal first grade boy--did ya get that!?  Then we went back to the room and he got his jammies on. After watching cartoons he could sit still no longer so the two of us put our shoes and jackets back on, borrowed humongous umbrellas from the hotel and went out into the rainy night to walk the two blocks to McDonald's.  It was so fun for Carter, in his batman jammies to be walking the streets of Seattle in the dark (7:30!) and rain.  He hopped, jumped in puddles, used the umbrella like a sword, gun and shield and all of that was done before we walked one block (not even kidding a little bit!).  Watching him bursting with energy made me teary for the sedate, suffering Jackson we had left behind again--he just wanted to be in bed for the night.  I am obviously feeling a little raw and rebellious that Jax has to do this AGAIN.  I keep trying to check my resentfulness and remind myself that one who knows better than I is making Jackson "MORE" through all these trials.  He is making our family "MORE" and I know it is true.  I may have to chant it to myself for many a day, but I know it's true.

At Chemo this morning.  The hospital is quiet and dark in places on Saturdays.  It was killing Carter that the sibling playroom wasn't open, plus his mean Mom wouldn't let him wander to dark empty waiting areas to play the wii stations alone--she can be such a buzz kill.

When I got home I discoverd Jupiter was doing her thing in Royal City too--problem was no one had swept the kitchen/dining room since I left and I needed that broom!

Histio part 3 Chemo round 1 day 3

The headache is still with us.  It's been with Jackson so constantly I feel like we should give it a name and offer it lunch.  Jackson has determined it only hurts when he is sitting up, walking, or his Mom makes him leave his hotel bed!  So if he can conduct life from bed , then we are golden!  He wouldn't eat any dinner last night because he said his head hurt so bad he wasn't even hungry????   I don't understand, if my head hurts--I eat.  If my head doesn't hurt--I eat.  If there is a moon in the night sky---I eat.  No moon---I eat.  It's simple.  Anyhow... today about an hour into Chemo the boy decided NOW he was hungry and he wanted chicken strips.  Ever eager to do something, (it's true in this case at least!) I hustled down to the hospital cafeteria to get us lunch.  On my way back I saw a bunch of little kids getting off an elevator.  It seemed they were all little girls, so cute.  Then I saw a lady who looked like Courtney, then a girl who looked like Zoe, then it dawned on me--I am related to that group of cuties!  Mom, Courtney, Sierra, Zoe, Carter, Avery, Adalynn, Aftyn, and Anistynn surprised Jax and I with a visit today!  So fun, the nurses told Jackson he set the record for the most people in his infusion room.

The arrival to Jackson's infusion room-we were little wall to curtain people in there!

I know I have 3 of basically the same picture but look how happy Jackson is in all of them--so nice to see him forget about his headache for a bit.

                                                                    Still smiling

              Looking proud and happy here too.  I should pay Anistynn for her therapy, it's effective!

 This little turkey-lurkey was full of quotables today.  Like Aunt Becky this is hosbible, not the swimming pool.  She also told everyone in the restaurant bathroom at dinner that she HATES RED (the stalls were red) and I told her just pretend it's dark pink then, and she declared loudly, I can poop if its dark pink, but this is red. Oh well, I tried.

The kids weren't sick, they took the masks to play surgeon.  All the kids except Jackson wanted to ride the shuttle back to the hotel with me.  They cheered when the shuttle driver pulled up.

             The shuttle driver said he has never been cheered before, he took a liking to this crew.

Avery declared the shuttle ride, and being in the wheelchair were making this the "best day ever".  Weirdo!

They loved the seat belts because they buckle so wrong and attach high up.

Histio part 3 Chemo round 1 day 2

Side effects so far---HEADACHE.  Jackson has been fighting what he calls a Killer headache since lasterday to use Carter's word.  He was able to sleep last night and woke up feeling better, but as the day has progressed so has his pain.  We had to go to Bellevue this afternoon to meet with the surgeon who did the biopsy---he only had clinic at the new Bellevue satellite location this week.  He got his "disolvable" stitches removed since they hadn't vacated the premises of his eyelid yet, hoping that will feel better for him. 

Back in infusion.

 The new Bellevue clinic is very "organic" looking, here is a sample of the clinic room doors all different scenes.

The hallways all have laminate glossy orange, and rough cedar looking planks--I bet they take out a lot of slivers!

 See all these empty parking spots in this very busy parking garage--same on the other side....

             all those empty spots.  Want to know why they are empty?  I don't care I am telling you anyway

  Because all those spots are only for Fuel Efficient Vehicle Parking Only.  Silly, silly, I was so tempted to park my Yukon XL sideways in those empty 20 spots.
Reports from Royal City are good so far--I am so homesick though.  Why is it when I am at home busy and knee deep in kids all I want is a break.  When I am away I just want to be home!  Michael may be right, I am hard to please!

bs, sbb, nb, oa, ss, dirc, shd, sdp, hp3 cr1d1 ivig1

Without continuing to read can you decipher my title?  This is what we have been up to since we last left you at Jackson's biopsy.  Bone Scans, Sammi's Basketball Banquet, New Beginnings, Oncology Appointment, Swallow Study, Destination Imagination Regional Competition, Sadie Hawkins Dance, Sammi Drivers Permit, Histo part 3 Chemo Round 1 Day 1 IVIG 1.  If you got that all correct let me know~you deserve some sort of prize!

Bone Scan

How do you spend your bone scans?  Jackson recommends watching Nacho Libre during bone scans.

 Sammi with her coach, "Mamma G",  aka Natalie Gilbert.  Mamma G said Sammi was her "details" girl.  Not basketball details, but clothing, hair and makeup details.  Every team needs one of those right?!  After this banquet I hurried over to Mom's for the baby shower "I" was throwing for Polly Carlson.  Since our Valentines' Day news Mom, Courtney, Lisa and Katie had stepped up and handled it for me, Thank you ladies. The next night was New Beginnings for the Young Women and Sierra was invited because she turns 12 this year---man oh man was she excited, I took a picture, just left that camera at home---Sammi and Sierra looked adorable, trust me!  On Thursday it was back to Seattle for the meeting with the Oncologists, and the swallow study.  Jackson was super emotional when they confirmed he would be doing a year of chemo again.  Same as last time 4 days of chemo every 28 days. Adding IVIG, look it up on wikipedia it's pretty interesting, takes 1000 donors to make one IV bag of IVIG.   I asked Jax if he just hadn't believed it was really happening till then, or if it was all the dire warnings from the doctor that we would end up needing to stay in Seattle this tim.  He told me that he had a couple of dreams that the Doctors told him it was a miracle but, that there was no signs of histio and he could just go home.  :(  Poor kid thought it was maybe going to turn out that way.  I told him miracles were happening and would continue to happen, we just had to accept that they may not be the ones we think we want.  Broke my heart.  My Mom came with me and Carter was an unexpected guest too.  That morning he just fell apart, Michael had been gone since Monday, I was gone Monday and Tuesday in Seattle with Jackson then home to ball banquets, baby showers, work the next day and mutual that night, and I think he had reached his orphan feeling limit.  He was good comic relief and he and Jax had fun with each other at dinner and in the car.  Already we have been helped with food, babysitting, room makeover surprises, little gifts, help with hotel costs, you name it---we are so blessed.

Sierra at the Destination Imagination Competition.  It was a long day for us, 6:30 am till 7:30 pm.  So much for Saturday!!  I got to help with the competition and it was interesting.  "Highly Capable" children can be "Highly Unusual" too!!  Luckily the ones from Royal have good old fashioned "farm sense" to go along with their highly capable brains.

 Jackson was asked to a girl ask guy "Sadie Hawkins" dance.  Charisty Christensen was his date, and here Jax and Tanner show why they shouldn't be allowed to pose for their own pictures.

 The "boys/men", Carter Allred, Tanner Christensen, Porter Roylance, Austin Roylance, and Jackson Noftle (nice pose Jax?) We can thank Maria Allred and Nancy Christensen for all these dance pictures since I was in Spokane being highly UN-capable of taking pictures in Royal at the same time.

The girls masked.....left to right, Charisty Christensen, Morgan Small, Seila Jenks, Hailey Worsham, and Becca Lee.  Good looking crew--not too brag or anything!

Charisty was smart enough to laugh at Jackson's jokes apparently!

On Monday I was in Seattle with Jax and Michael  for Jackson's port placement surgery.  On Tuesday I was in a car with Sammi driving me down Dodson road after getting her drivers permit.  I had my heart in my throat both days!! 

Jackson has discovered that Chemo is better if paired with Chocolate Cake.

                                                                    Before Port...

After Port

Lindsey Christensen let Matt Hadley know Jax had to go back in Chemo.  Matt called BYU (actually I don't know who he called!!) and Tuesday night brought a Y flag signed by the BYU football team and a card for Jackson with a nice go get 'em message from Bronco Mendenhall.  Pretty fun, Lindsey and Matt stayed and visited and had us all laughing for a little over an hour-so nice for Jax to forget his aches and pains from surgery the day before.  Matt has been very kind to Jackson---we look forward to seeing him play at BYU.

I thought I had a picture of Jackson's room makeover, but I can't find it.  But here is one very special wall, and a glimpse of the posters the cub scouts made Jackson at their pack meeting!  Last week when were getting the biopsy done Courtney & Matt, Katie Christensen, Nancy Grant, Ashlee & Tyler Frank, Chriss Allred, and Jolyn Farrer.  Hope I didn't miss anyone.  They did a great job, and it was a super fun surprise.  The poster behind Jax has the neatest saying, I will have to put it up when I get home and can copy it down.  When Michael got back from Texas and read it he started to cry.  In almost 19 years of marriage he has cried only a handful of times, most of them sports related!  But I admit to being teary when I read it too.  Courtney is determined to make our house a soft place for Jax to land, and I love her for it.

Histio part 3 Chemo Round 1 Day1 (47 more to go)

The familiar Cytarabine or ARA-C, more "serious" dose this time around.  1 hour infusion because it is paired with 700 mls of saline.  This is done first before the IVIG.

The new "player" IVIG we got the Gammagard brand of IVIG which doesn't have to be infused as slowly and the nurse told us they see less side effects with this brand---I'll take her word for it.  He was premedicated with tylenol and benadryl, about 30 minutes before they started the IVIG.  His blood pressure was taken every 15 min for th 2.5 hours that they infused it.  The lowest it got was 106/53,  if I remember right.  So that first infustion of IVIG was fine, no hives, no rashes all good.  It wasn't until we left infusion to walk back to the car that the headache hit.  Jax described it as a "killer" headache.  One oxycodone seems to have handled it so far.  He has eaten dinner and done well this evening.

 His blood counts were great of course today and the next 3 days ought to change all of that.  But just for information's sake I'll put his counts down.

White Blood Count 5.2

Platelet Count 306

Hematocrit 39.5

Absolute Nutrophil Count 2720

 

Here we go....