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

Happy Halloween

October 31st:

Isaac is finally over his sickness.  That pesky cough stayed with him after his stay in the hospital but I think he is officially over it.  :-)  Unfortunately, he gave whatever he had to Mom but I think I am on the mend as well now.  

Isaac is going Trick-or-Treating for the first time tonight.  He is going to be a Minion.  I know, I know, you would have thought we would have dressed him up as a Superhero but we choose to all be Minions this year instead.  ;-)  

Chemo - Cycle 1, Week 3

November 4th Update:

Isaac's blood counts were great today! So I'll be taking him to the University of Iowa Hospital tomorrow afternoon at 2 for his next dose of chemo. This is unfortunately right during nap time which is definitely not ideal but I'll count my blessings and be happy that the counts were finally good enough. 😊. You can't win them all. 


October 28th Update:

Today Isaac went in like normal for his blood to get checked. Unfortunately his blood counts were too low.... So that means that we will not have chemo tomorrow and instead mom and dad have to give Isaac another dose of his "blood count booster" medicine as an injection tonight 😕. Booo!!

Fever #3

October 23rd Update:

Isaac is doing well.  If he can stay fever-free today then they are going to let us go home tonight!!  Woo Whoo!!!  We are very happy about that.  There's just something about getting to sleep in your own bed!  Yesterday, his fever went away 2-3 different times but found a way to creep back up each time.  So, we are hoping the fever stays away for good this time.  
This hospital stay has been a little harder than the past 2 times.  Because Isaac came in with a cough and had the fever the first 2 full days, we are kind of on lock down.  With it being cold and flu season the hospital takes precautions a little more seriously.  Isaac can't leave his room at all.  Even Nick, and I aren't supposed to leave the room unless we change our clothes.  So just going to get more water in a common area is a "no no"; we have to ask the nurses to get it for us.  :-(  So, we are a little stir-crazy in here but are trying to make the most of it.  

Thanks for your prayers.  We are hoping and praying that his fever does not come back today so that we can in fact go home tonight.  

October 22nd Update:

Throughout the night Isaac maintained a103 temp. Nurses came in each hour to get vitals, so neither Isaac or mom had a great night sleep. However, we managed to get little cat naps in between some of the checks. Then this morning at 5am, his fever broke but has since climbed back up to 101.7. 😕.  

Overall though Isaac is being such a trooper! He's in slightly better spirits this morning but has just been laying down looking exhausted. But on the bright side all his blood work has come back good and he tested negative for the more common viruses going around. 😀

October 21st Update:

Unfortunately Isaac woke with a fever this morning.  So, we are now in the hospital for a minimum of 3 days.  :-(

Please keep our little guy in your prayers.  Thanks you!

Update on Isaac:
Isaac's fever got up to 103.5 but with some medicine it's now down to 102.7. He's been very sleepy all day long. You can just tell he just doesn't feel well. 😕 . 

Chemo - Cycle 1, Week 2

October 16th Update:

Isaac did great yesterday at Chemo.  He has had no negative symptoms. :-)  He will continue to get his blood checked twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays).  Depending on the counts, we may have to give additional injections at home (to boost blood counts) but let's keep our fingers crossed his levels remain over 500.  


October 15th Update:

Isaac is going in for his next dose of chemo on Thursday, October 15th.  This will be his 2nd Week of Cycle 1 of the Maintenance Phase.  He got his blood checked on Wednesday and his levels were high enough.  :-)  Ever since we gave him that 1 injection of meds his blood counts have been a LOT higher than they have been in the past.  The medicine clearly helped.  We are happy we only had to do the shot the one time last week.  :-)