Chemo - Week #2

November 24th Update:

Isaac had his second round of his new chemotherapy. He did AMAZING! Truly this was the best he's ever done during his appointments. Isaac's Mila and Papa were waiting for him at home when he got back so if course Isaac had something to look forward to. 😊

November 22 Update

November 22nd Update:

Isaac has been doing well since the first week of his new chemotherapy.  He has had no adverse side effects from the medicine.  Although he is still holding on to a little cough and snotty nose.  We are hoping that goes away soon and that it doesn't turn into anything worse.  

Isaac's next scheduled chemo appointment is Tuesday, the 24th.  

MRI Results...

November 18th Update

Yesterday we had a long day, but it ended with great news.  Isaac got his third MRI scan in the morning.  The kid was fussy as all get up which made for A LONG DAY for us parents.  All three of us were super tired when we got home so Nick and Isaac took a nap and mom stayed busy around the house.  After the boys woke up, we received a call from Dr. Sato, our Oncologist, stating "Isaac's tumor has decreased in size".  We were elated!!!   Praise God for all that HE has done for our little boy.

Today, Isaac started his new Chemotherapy regimen.  We restarted our clocks to Week 1 of 52...that's the bad news.  The good news is that all of Isaac's doctors are pleased with his progress to Chemotherapy and his overall development thus far!  What a little trooper.  Two BIG days for the little guy and he was a champ.  Today he was in great spirits giving high five to nurses everywhere he went and even shook his Oncologist's hand :)  Hilarious!!!

In addition to going for Chemotherapy, we also went back to the "U" today and reviewed the MRI results ourselves.  His tumor DID shrink in size, but is was also a slight decrease.  I think we can all agree that a slight decrease is better than none.  The picture also showed that his tumor is no longer pressing against his spinal cord and has decreased in overall width.  

We serve a BIG GOD and we thank everyone who continues to pray for this miracle child God has gifted us.  

Thank you for your prayers!

Here is a picture of us celebrating our good news...  There is a new doughnut joint in town.  Isaac LOVED his!

MRI

November 17th Update:

2:00pm
Isaac is home now. He was NOT a happy camper on the drive home. I'm not sure why exactly but it was a rough ride.  But now we are home which is a relief to us all. IZ has his blankie and his stuffed giraffe and is doing much better. He's already fallen asleep and hopefully will get a really good snooze. 😊

12:10pm
Isaac is out of his MRI. Nick and I are sitting with him in the recovery room. He is still sedated. We are now just waiting him to wake up.

He did pretty good throughout his process. However he did wake up with a few minutes to go and they had to give him another dose of "sleepy" meds.

10:40 am
Today Isaac is getting his next MRI.  His  appointment was scheduled for 9:40am but they were running late and we didn't get him fully sedated until 10:30. We will great results tomorrow morning.

Isaac unfortunately woke up early this morning which was a bummer because he really wanted his breakfast but I couldn't give it to him. But we survived with the help if Mickey Mouse Clubhousoe. 😊

November 10th Update:

Newest update on Isaac:

November 11th Update:

We met with IZ's oncologist to discuss Isaacs next treatment plan. Because we were already there we got his blood work at Iowa as well. His counts were good today 😊.

Isaac will begin a new chemo next Wednesday pending his counts still being good enough. 

November 10th Update:

Nick and I will meet with Isaac's oncologist at Iowa this Wednesday, the 11th to discuss treatment options for Isaac.  We know it's going to be a different form of chemo but we hope to understand a lot more after our meeting.  We'd appreciate your prayers for guidance and for wisdom.  I never knew how hard it would be to be a parent of a sick child and have to make these really hard decisions that will impact their lives.  So, we'd also appreciate you praying that God would give us peace knowing that we are in His will and this is what He has for our sweet little boy.  

Then, next week, Isaac will get his next MRI on Tuesday the 17th.  This is so we can have fresh scans before we start a new treatment plan; plus we were close to the 3 month from last one anyways.  We will then tentatively get results back on Thursday when we meet again with his oncologist.  

Depending on how the scan is Isaac will start his new chemo plan sometime next week.  

Allergic Reaction

November 8th Update:

Issac was able to go home the day after his allergic reaction.  He's been in really high spirits since being home.  

We are still waiting to hear about what's next for Isaac.  We will hopefully meet with our oncologist this week to discuss treatment options but what they will be is still up in the air.  We are blessed that we at least have other options but it's still been a hard situation to fully process and accept.  But we are believing that God will use this for the good and are hopeful that Isaac will tolerate the next treatment great.  

November 6th Update:

Isaac did pretty well throughout the night. Mom only got a few hours of sleep but hey that's life. If we can go home today then I can catch up then. 😊

November 5th Update:

Today Isaac and I went in for his chemotherapy appointment. We were an hour or two into his appointment when Isaac started having an allergic reaction to the chemo. He was coughing a lot.  At first I didn't take notice but when it persisted and Isaac's face went a little pale, his oncologist (who was luckily with me at the time) asked if he had a cough to which I said no. She immediately got up and went to the door and called in 4+ nurses who rushed in and stopped the chemo, started benadryl and other meds.  I didn't even know what was going on; it all happened so fast. The doctor asked someone to page the "Rapid Response" team. Once I heard her say those words I started getting very nervous/scared. I then asked if Isaac was having an allergic reaction to which they all said yes...

Isaac then developed a rash on his stomach and on his back while the coughing got worse. The nurses were going to town putting on monitors on him and such.  They kept listening to his breathing to ensure that he could still get air down his throat.  I just sat there holding my little boy praying he would be OK...  Probably 5 minutes into this episode I mustered the courage and asked "is Isaac going to be alright?". I was previously trying to be brave and keep it together for Isaac to keep him calm but I just needed some reassurance (as a mother I was battling all the worse case scenarios in my head).  The nurses immediately reassured me it was going to be OK. This was a huge relief but of course I started crying after they tell me he is going to be OK. 😉 go figure. 

I'm not sure how many minutes past but they finally got him squared away and the rash eventually went away and the coughing stopped. Isaac became very sleepy (probably a combo of no nap today and the benadryl) and took a little nap on me. Later they then told me they were going to admit Isaac for overnight monitoring just to be safe. 

In the midst of all this I called Nick (I'm crying of course).  He left work right away, ran home to get overnight gear for Isaac and mom and made it to the hospital probably within an hour. 

We are hopeful that the night will go well and that we'll be discharged tomorrow morning-ish. 

Not 100% on next steps, but one thing is for sure that we'll stop his current medication and we'll have to figure out the next best option. Our oncologist at Iowa will work with our oncologist from Boston to develop a new plan. Please pray that all doctors involved will have wisdom on this. We knew going into this particular treatment that an allergic reaction was possible (but typically does not occur this early into treatment) and that we might need to find other treatment options eventually but it doesn't make it easy to be in this position now. But we know God has been with us this far so why stop trusting him now. We are hopeful there will be a rainbow after this storm. 😊

Thanks as always!

Nick and Allison