Matthew turns 2

Thought we would try the video route for Matthew's birthday.  The funniest parts are probably at the 34 second point when matthew appears to be thinking to himself and says "hmm.  Candles!" and then at the end when Claire is making some sort of weird faces.  To view the video you have to first agree not to judge us as parents when Matthew starts waving his hands through the candle flame. 

dangerously cute

After a great day yesterday (pics to come), Matthew is back at the hospital today.  Still waiting to see if he will be admitted.  Odds are he will be since he has a fever.  He is also in noticeable pain and was up with Nicole for a while last night complaining of an upset stomach. 

**update** the dude has been admitted and is kicking back in isolation.  Preliminary tests are negative.  Negative in this case is good.

In happier news, view these pictures with caution as the two dudes in the photos are handsome little devils. Matthew was recently rooming with his home-boy Noah.  Noah's mom got some great pictures of them hanging out.  Only because I have spent countless hours with them am I able to offer the following translations.

Come here and give me a smooch!

I once ate a donut that was THIS big.

Check out my fly dance moves!!

Pull my finger.

hugs all around

It was hugs all around when Matthew came home this afternoon.  I think his being released from the hospital probably had more to do with him being restless and bouncing his head off of everything than him actually being ready to come home.  His counts are still extremely low but it is great to have the little dude home and in time for his birthday tomorrow.  Caught a few pics of him and Claire as they were outside this afternoon enjoying some of the nice weather.  The picture below pretty much sums it up.

last visit?

Matthew is still in the hospital and probably will be until Monday.  We are hoping he is able to go home then so he can be home for his birthday on Tuesday.  This should be his last admission if everything goes as expected.  Today was a long day.  The poor little man fell in the tub and got a big bump on his head.   

spring fever

mdogg got a fever today of between 100 and 101 so he is enroute to cmh as we speak.  He hadn't been feeling well and was up for part of the night complaining of an upset tummy.  Once there it will probably be blood tests to see if there is any bacteria growing and most likely another antibiotic.  This is not entirely unexpected since his last round of chemo was some very nasty stuff and follow up visits like this are quite common.

Platelets, stat!

The tidbit for the day...the term 'stat' is short for the latin word'Statim', meaning immediately.   Duder is very low on platelets this week so Matthew is headed into CMH for a little platelet recharge today.  A normal person's platelet level is somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 - 450 x 109/L.  Matthew's is around 11.  You could tell this morning he seemed a little off when we went in to get him and he did not have one leg draped over the side of his crib and halfway through his escape plan. 

Packy is home!

Today was it...the last day of chemo...hopefully forever.  Aside from picking at the sore on his head and a hurting super small tushy, the little dude is doing great and is very happy to be home.

So now what?  We will wait for a month or so for his counts to recover.  At that time, he will have a bone marrow/spinal tap/etc to scan his cells for any trace of leukemia.  He will be on an anti-biotic and anti-fungal medication for the next 6 months or so while his immune system gets back on track.

Hard to believe

Difficult to believe this is the last round of chemo for the little dude.  Here is a picture of the whiteboard in our room with a message greeting matthew. 

That was written by Janelle, one of our favorite nurses.  I can't say enough about the nurses and care staff at CMH.  I intentionally left the billing and collections department out of this group.  Matthew woke up this morning doing great.  He is rooming with his buddy Noah who Matthew likes to talk to and generally cause trouble with.  The nurses refer to their room as the 'cute room' for obvious reasons. 

I will have to Noodle that around for a bit...

Our Noodles night scheduled for 4/14 has been postponed for a bit.  Stay tuned for further details.

update

sorry for my lax updates over the past few days.  Matthew came home on Friday and has been doing ok since.   A few ups and downs in terms of his mood and energy level but overall doing well.  He is back at CMH on Wednesday to receive his final 3 days worth of chemo. 

Last Round

Matthew is ready to go for his last round of chemo although his counts have still not recovered.  The doctors did not want to wait any longer and since they have somewhere around 8 more years of medical school than I have, its their call.  He is admitted and will be in for the next three days.  Hoping that he can dig down and punch this round in the face the way he has done previously. 

Arizona Distance Classic

A good friend of mine, her son, and her son's friend took the Team Matthew support out to the west coast and ran in the Arizona Distance Classic in Phoenix, AZ. The Arizona Distance Classic is a half Marathon benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  They were also interviewed by the local news in their Team Matthew gear on their way to the starting line. 

Watch the video by clicking here.  Pay close attention around the 25 second mark.