Sunday, July 29, 2012

Its good to be home!!!

We are home from Dornbechers!! It only took 4 days! Our next appointment is Aug 8th. Yayyyy!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

So far so good!

 Thank you Auntie Theresa Uncle James Lillie & Nate!


Cameron & his buddy Riven! Cancer can't stop the fun & friendships!



We had a great night. The nausea is still a battle but he is in good spirits! There is a chance if all goes well we may go home tomorrow or Monday. That would be great!!! Aunt Kiss & the family have the twins for an adventure this weekend. It would be nice to get home when they do!! The tests so far say that he is tolerating the chemo well and the numbers are where they like them. I am a big fan of that!!! :)

Friday, July 27, 2012

Long night!!

We had a long night last night, but he is doing as well as can be expected. He is having a lot of nausea and pulled his IV out but other than that he is doing pretty well. He has times when he wants to play & cruise the halls. It is fun to watch him be so silly during his "up" times :) His 24hr dose of this chemo will stop at 4pm today. The next step is at 40 hours after starting the methotrexate, he gets the reversal drug to stop the progress of the methotrexate. He had a visit from his chemo pal Amy, but he was sleeping so she said she will be back this morning!! She is super sweet & he loves her!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

We won!!

So since the twins birthday is next Friday & we were supposed to try his counts again the day before.... I had to gamble again!! We won!!! His counts went from 550 to 1600 overnight!! That is a huge jump!!! Go Cammy GO!!!!! We are going to be here for a week so feel free to check on Dad & see if he needs any help with the twinnies!! Thank you so much!! The prayers are working!!!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Bummer!

Bummer...his ANC# was 550! That means another week of delay in treatment. They said not to worry, it is just part of the deal. Maybe next week it will be better :)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Here we go!! Lets try this again!


                     Keylin and Cameron playing "Baby Cameron"




 Super Cam! Our little superhero!! Fighting Cancer with style!!



Tomorrow morning at 8:15am we go in for another blood test here locally to see if his ANC# (resistance to infection) is high enough to start treatment on Thursday morning. If the ANC# is 750 or higher, he will have his spinal tap at 9:30am on Thursday if it is approved. This next round of chemo will make his nausea come back more than ever. Mouth sores inside his mouth & digestive tract are very common. Very bland no salt foods are on the menu for him. They said the first dose of Methotrexate takes 24hrs to run into his system, then they give a "rescue" medicine to stop the Methotrexate from actively working. It is like a reversal agent. The next step is to flush it from his system. When his blood tests show up clear then he can go home. That is the part we won't know how long it will take. He also gets his regular chemo on top of it. It is super hard to take him into the doctor's office knowing it is about to get really hard for him. I guess I just have to look at the big picture and help him as much as we can from moment to moment. He is such a trooper, I know he will do great. As always, prayers are very appreciated! Thank you!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Enjoying his break from chemo

                                                             Happy little guy today!!
                                                  He is enjoying his break from chemo!

Friday, July 20, 2012

We are just not good gamblers

We got all the way up there and Cameron's ANC# went from 640 to 300!! He didn't pass his counts so we try again next Wedneday locally at the lab. He gets to be a kid for one more week.  Its frustrating because it can change so much in 24hrs.  He may pass on Wednesday and get up there & it be too low again.  Its all a gamble :)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Change in plans!

Ok, so change in plans, since his counts are so close & he has a history of his counts jumping 300 points in 1 day, we are going to take the gamble & go up to Dornbechers anyway. He is getting a great nap today and looking good. He is eating well too. We will go up super early & do the blood test. If he still doesn't pass then we still have the whole day ahead of us. This way I feel like we are doing every thing possible we can do for him.



Since there is a good chance we will be admitted for a week & the chemo will make his hair come out pretty fast...we did it. We didn't want him to be uncomfortable with the tickling hairs all over his neck & back. Dad joined the team too! Now we have 2 baldies :)

Delay in treatment

His treatment will need to be delayed. His ANC# was 640 & needed to be 750. We will try again in 1 week. He will get a break & just get to be a kid :)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Testing close to home is really nice!

Tomorrow morning we have our blood test at the hospital 1 mile from our house to see if his ANC# (resistance to infection) is high enough to start phase 3 of 5 for treatment!!! We are hoping for it to be 750 or higher.  If it isn't high enough we delay 1 week & test again.  Part of me wants him to have a break & just be a kid, but the other part wants this to be over for him ASAP.  If the ANC# is high enough we check into Dornbechers Friday for spinal tap & week long stay for some high dose chemo. It has been a month now since he has had any chemo in his spine, so hopefully the spinal tap comes back clear. The good news is that we are officially half way through the really hard treatment & meds!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Dad is home now!!

Whew! I think we are safe...fever is gone & dad is home.  Thank goodness it was just a scare!!  Thank you Dr. Metzler & all of the wonderful nurses who helped us today!!  If anyone is interested....""Cameron Merrill's Big Fight is his facebook page.  Feel free to "like" it & get the latest updates too there are some cute pictures on there too. Thanks again everyone!!! :)

The Calvary Came to the Rescue!!!

Aunt Kiss(Chris) is here now so all fever watchers are off duty :) Thank you SO MUCH!!!  His fever is still low so we are at home still. It is nap time so we will see what the afternoon brings. Hopefully just a close call :)

Fever Watch

Thank you to everyone who has been on "fever watch" since dad has been out of town! It is so nice to have a panic list of people to call to help with the twins if the fever happens in the night!! Thank you so so so much!!! He had a great day today and our little trooper really perked up after he received some blood! The doctors had said they were surprised at how good he has been about his lack of anticipated fevers. Please keep the prayers coming I think its seriously working!! Thank you!! :)

Low fever

Cameron has a fever of 99.5 the cut off to go to the doctor is 100.4...we hope this is a false alarm but Keyin is the same temp too. We will keep you posted :)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Longer day than anticipated

Our quick easy day turned into a long day. Our little guy needed some more blood. His transfusion will take 4 hours. It will take a little while to order it too. It is such a weird feeling to put a stranger's blood in your child, but we are so thankful for it. (They don't really let mom & dad donate for him, storage issue) Hopefully he will feel not as grumpy after today.  His blood counts (resistance to infection) came back low so that means we will probably have to delay our scheduled treatment for the 20th of July by one more week. Bummer, but he will have a nice break. The physical therapist came by and showed me some stretches & massages to help with his knee pain. He is such a trooper!!

Monday, July 9, 2012

He is doing really well!

Cameron had a great weekend. He played in the kiddie pool and acted like a 2 year old!! We tried to back off of the medications slowly and he did really well until Sunday night. We found out the hard way that he still needs his anti-nausea meds at night. He was such a good sport though. His appointment Thursday morning should be good, lighter chemo is always nice. The pain management team wanted him to go to a physical therapy appointment on that day as well. They should be able to give us some pointers on how to help him with his knee pain, massages & stretches for his little knees. I really love how on top of things they are!! The good news is that when we start the next phase on July 20th the 3 years of treatment "Clock" starts the count down to the finish. Yayyy!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Here comes the hats!!

                                                             positivity

Cameron had a good day today!! So if all goes well, Thursday the 12th will be the last appointment for this phase 2 of 5 phases of treatment! The next phase is scheduled to start on the 20th of July (if he passes his blood tests on the 19th of July). This next phase we are heading into, the doctors say that it is 1 week in the hospital & 1 week out. Back & forth for the next 64 days. This is when Cressey will need some help juggling the twins & work. We are also officially entering Cameron's "hat phase" I trimmed his hair tonight, at his request because it was tickling. There is a lot of shiny scalp showing now. He is not completely bald yet, but well on his way now. If anyone is out & about and happen to see a cute kids baseball hat...we can never have too many :) Thank you!!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Mellow day

His hair is really starting to get thin. It is all part of the cure. The time to shave it is getting near. He had a good day today, quiet but good. Not up and around much but at least his tummy is ok & pain is managed!! Yayyy!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Happy 39 and half Birthday Mom!!

Well Cameron is home still and no fever. We got through the 39.5 year old surprise party for Shelley Merrill she had no clue. It was a great time with family and friends! Thanks to all that helped me put this on in less than 3 weeks. FYI never say you are getting off the hook for something around here. We will just do it anyways when you are least expecting it!!