The weekends activities were set to camp! Several of our college friends families gather once a year to set up tent in the backyard of the Calozza families home in Bothell, WA. Approximately 5 miles from our house! We set up the tent, sleep outside, get new batteries, the whole nine yards. Many of our friends still have infants, so they aren't eager to head for the hills just yet. As you can imagine all the kids very much look forward to this annual event, as do the parents!
Joe was very excited, but much to our dismay was a little tired and wanting to sit on Mommy's lap most of the time. He even retired early before the fireworks. He insisted on staying. I think he thought he was going to have immediate energy back at the same place he goes every year. When we got home, he went directly to bed.
Humm, not good. I decided after the nap we would go in and check his levels. At this point of treatment it's a tango to make sure the medications aren't too strong or too weak, or perhaps an infection was brewing? In March during Interim Maintenance the chemo was a bit too strong, so we wanted to make sure that wasn't causing his fatigue. After a family outing to the hospital for a finger poke we were pleased to find out his numbers were rather inflated. An ANC of 3300, WBC of 4.3, Hematocrit 35.0, and Platelets 351. All very good, inflated numbers are common when the steroids are being taken. No fever, no sniffles we were good to go.
Of course immediately after the news he seemed to have a renewed energy. Nonnie suggested perhaps he is growing, doing some catching up. None the less, the next round of steroids I plan to prepare for fatigue. I want to keep better notes of his symptoms as to not drive myself crazy with worry during these different medicine cycles.
This week was fabulous as Paul and Joe participated in Peter Fewing's soccer camp at Robinswood. Joe was a bit nervous as was I, but an hour in he definitely had gotten into the swing of things. High fiving all week, running around, competing, giggling, (a little arguing with "the other team", getting back into life. It's been a long time that he's participated in group play that wasn't good friends or cousins. It was very fun to watch. He was armed with lots of snacks and had every coach looking after him! They even gave him an honorary practice jersey. You see Day 1 he got a little upset he wasn't on the "yellow" team. Coach said "note to self, Joe gets a jersey everyday". This made camp run rather smooth. :) It was fun to see it's not just Joe that has special requests all the cute little 5 year old's did! Brother Paul impressed us all with his aggressive play the little animal was even sidelined for slide tackling, all the while watching out for his brother.
Mom is going to have to put the taxi light back on sometime soon this summer, Joe wants to go to "another camp with Paul". Very good news. Scheduled finger poke this week to make sure levels are where they want them. We are praying for several weeks upon months of high energy, giggling Joe!
Next up, Lego Camp at the Bellevue Club. Both boys are very excited, 3 hours a day of building, competing and learning Lego! We also have a Taylor family wedding in Spokane.
Thanks for checking in!
Angie
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