The Biggest Loser Boot Camp for Chasers Fund

If you are a fan of this show....

You may remember these guys from season 7....


This is Sione Fa!

And this is Filipe Fa!


You can imagine our surprise when we were contacted and asked if they could do a boot camp for Chase. We were able to meet with these guys today, and let me tell you they are two of the nicest guys you will ever meet. They were so concerned with Chase's condition and wanted to do all they could to help him out.
I told them we would do all that we could to get the word out for them.

They will be having a Boot Camp here in SAINT GEORGE on SATURDAY,  JANUARY 15.  They will work out with the participants that morning, lunch, and then they will speak in the afternoon. 

Just from talking with these guys for a hour or so, I would love to hear them speak. They both served LDS missions, and have a great sense of humor. They were so fun to listen to and I can only imagine how fun the whole day would be with them.

If you are interested in participating or sponsoring someone for the days events you can register online and get many more details at http://bootcampforchase.blogspot.com/

Again, I am sure everyone is sick of me saying thanks, but I really am thankful. We have had so many people come out of the wood works and want to help Chase. It is so nice to feel of everyone's support. I know that tragedies are not what we hope for in life, but it is nice in a way to see the way the community comes together in times of need. So many prayers, phone calls, emails, and just thoughts have been sent Chase's way to let him know he is LOVED! He is one lucky guy to have so many people pulling for him and helping him fight through this cancer battle. Cancer is Crappy for sure, and without our friends and neighbors I know there is no way we would make it through this. It makes the hard times a little easier. You guys are AWESOME! We love you ALL!

Enjoy the View

I love the emails I get from Hope Kids, like I have already said on a earlier post. The thoughts are so good. So every once in a while, when one hits me harder than the others, I want to post them so I don't forget them. I like to look back on them and remember I CAN do this......

How often do we look at what we don't get, what didn't come through, and become disappointed? We can easily forget the victories along the way, the odds we've already overcome. The blessings we already have.

Life is certainly not for the faint of heart. Perhaps all you can see right now is a mountain looming ahead of you, and you don't know how in the world you're going to climb it. Before you take a step, turn around and look at how many thousands of steps you've already taken. Look at the peaks and valleys behind you that you've already overcome. You will be amazed.

Take that moment to smile and appreciate the view. You may find that it's beautiful from here.

....My family has been so blessed. I may have mentioned this earlier (I have pregnancy memory right now) but I kept praying for a trial in our lives. I have many friends going through tough things in their lives and I kept thinking, "why am I so blessed?" This isn't exactly the trial I had hoped for, but I know that Heavenly Father will not give us something that he knows we can not withstand. This trial is here for me and my family to grow stronger. We will come out of this better people with stronger testimonies! I need to remember to enjoy the view of the things I have overcome already and the blessings I already have.

A New Phase.... Consolidation

Chase has officially made it through the first phase of his 3+ years of treatment. Each phase as far as I know is 29 days. I think this is until he gets to maintenance. At the end of Induction phase (the one we just finished) he could not start the next until his counts were up. Everything looked good. He had to be at 75 for his platelets and he was way above that and he had to be at 750 for ANC and he was at 730. The doc said he was borderline so we started Consolidation yesterday. This phase is focused on his CNS so he gets lots of back pokes. Crappy for him because every week he will have to be fasting and then be put under general anesthesia. He also started a new oral med. It is called 6-MP. It is a Chemotherapy that he will take every day at home. It is actually a pill (that is what we had requested) because we have found better luck with him chewing up a pill than us coming at him with a liquid in a syringe. He took his first dose last night and we were nervous that it would be bitter. It is just a white little pill. Seems like it would taste chalky, but he chewed it up like a champ and swallowed it with no problem. Hopefully it will continue to be that easy. It is a once a day at bed time pill. This is good because where it is chemo I am not supposed to handle it since I am pregnant. Ashton even has to put on gloves to give it to him. Again, this just makes me sad to think we can't even touch it with our hands yet he gets it right in his mouth. We also have to take all the other precautions we usually take for 48 hours after a dose of chemo, but now we take them every day all day. These are wearing gloves when changing his diaper, and washing any clothes that get sweaty, or his diaper leaks, or if he throws up, twice in hot water. It makes for a long month of laundry when I have to do all his clothes separate and twice.
The nurse told us that we will take counts every week and if they are down then sometimes they delay the 6-MP a couple days to let his counts come back up. He had a back poke yesterday and will have them for the next two weeks also. Some good news is that day 22 is a rest week. He only has to have a CBC and the home nurse can come do that. This is good news because I am scheduled to be induced on the 11th. We will have a new little one and we will all get to stay home for two weeks after that. We were excited for that bit of news!
The nurse also told us that lots of kids get nausea with the 6-MP. So I decided that it was time to fill his Zofran RX that I have been holding on to because we haven't needed it. I also got them to change it to a melt away instead of the liquid. Another bonus in the area of meds. So far no nausea, but we are only one day into it so we will see how that goes.
We got the results from his bone marrow that was sent out to University of Washington (this is a correction from an earlier post that I said it was going to D.C. I was wrong). His bone marrow is 100% clean of any cancer cells. Yay!!!! I know I have said this before, but it is amazing to me that it only takes a month to get rid of it all, but a good three years of chemo and treatments to make sure that it is cured and never comes back. I love that it is a tested and tried treatment that they KNOW works. We aren't going into this blind. They have it set up for each little kiddo up there at the hospital and they know that it works. I have so much confidence in Chase's Docs and nurses. They know what they are doing and deal with it every day. I always thought I would never want to be a Dr. or Nurse working with little kids like this. It would be such a sad job. Now that I have had first hand experience, this is not the case. These little kids are so cute and so strong. I am sure there are those cases that aren't as promising as Chase's, but to watch all the kids while we are up there is amazing. They are happy (most of the time), and really do love being there. They just know that it is part of their lives and have come to make it that way.
Chase showed a glimpse of this yesterday. Now that his steroids are out of his system he had a GREAT day! Last week his day was good as far as news that we got, but he didn't really love being there. This week was the first time he accepted the toys that the Child Life Specialist brought him. He got down off of our laps and played on the floor. This was good for me to see. I will probably not be going with him once the baby comes and it was good to see that he is starting to like it. There really isn't a part while he is there that ever hurts. He just doesn't realize this yet, but I think it is starting to sink in that they are not hurting him, but helping him. I hope that it continues to improve more and once he doesn't have to be sedated every week I also think he will start to like it better. It is no fun to be put under. I know I feel groggy and gross the rest of the day. He probably feels the same way. Though, when we got home yesterday, after he rested for the four and a half hour drive, he was running around chasing and having fun with Abby. I was a little nervous because I was afraid he would be tipsy, but he wasn't.
Abby made a book for him of pictures of family. We have found that one thing that makes him happy while he is there is to look at pictures on my computer or to watch the little video clips. So she thought she would make him a book. It was a hit. He loved it and calmed right down when I got it out. This was the lead into the playing on the floor with the cars.
I am so happy that he is starting to like the trip up there. He does great in the car and once we got there he was pointing out all the fun stuff the hospital has that he has never cared about in the past. The rainbow horse, the animals in the elevator, the fish just outside the elevator (one looks like nemo), and the blocks on the wall that he can see when going up the elevator. He just seemed so much happier this time. It was cute when he even pulled the end of his line out for the nurse to put his chemo in it. We also found better luck with having a button up shirt instead of a T-Shirt. He doesn't want his shirt off so I thought "let's try a button up." This was a success. We will be doing that more often in the future.

Oh, and I almost forgot...His weight that was 41 last week was down to 38 lbs. Not a huge difference, but to a kid that size 3 lbs is a lot. He actually has a belly button again. It is not completely stretched out like it was.

The Child Life Specialist has no idea that this was Chase favorite toy he has at home. She was inspired to bring this in I think!


All the pictures we get have Chase and Dad because I am always the one taking them. I made Ashton take one with me so Chase would know that I was there too!!!

Chase checking out the photo book Abby made for him to look at while at clinic!

My little Rock Stars

Chase, Abby, and I were waiting in the car for Dad to get done with work. We got bored so we started taking pictures. They had to get out the glasses and do some poses. Pictures were taken on August 23rd. These are the results.....

Abby's First Day of School--Kindergarten

Abby has been so excited to start school. She started on August 18th. Since she graduated from preschool in the fall I have not heard the end of it. She just kept asking when it was time for school. She was much more ready than I was. I just knew that life would be harder without her at home helping me and keeping me company. I also knew that I would cry, because I really wanted her to stay home with me. Well, after all of this happened with Chase I had no tears left. I didn't want her to go still. I will miss her a lot, but I don't think there was a tear left to cry. She wanted to walk in by herself so I dropped her off at the front of the school and watched her walk in. She is so big. She made it all the way to her room by herself. I know that because I parked the car and followed her without her knowing. That is until she saw me from the hall taking pictures of her. So then she turned around and smiled. Chase was home with my mom so it was good to be able to enjoy her first day with her. I love my little Abby and I am going to miss her being home with me!!!

Soccer Camp

Abby had a soccer camp a couple weeks ago. I have been waiting to post till I got the pictures off of my phone. I asked Abby if she wanted to go to a soccer camp?
She said, "Ya I love soccer. Do I need to take my sleeping bag?"

Package from Canada

Our neighbors have some friends in Canada that have been so supportive of Chase. We have never met this couple. We have never spoke to them. Our only lines of communication have been facebook. These guys are amazing!!! My kids LOVED the gifts they sent and were so appreciative of them. They also got a kick out of the box! Isn't the packaging always more fun that what is inside??? Thanks Jenny and Darrin for all the clothes, hats, and fun stuff.....and the big box! We are so grateful for all the gifts and cards that have been sent to our family big or small. It means a lot to just get a card saying we are in your thoughts. We love a appreciate all you! Thanks again and again and again!
These pictures were taken on Wed. August 25th....

This was the day she was sick...can you tell! She wasn't feeling so hot! Ashton had his week long fever that ended on Sunday the 22nd, so Abby thought it was her turn. She woke up Tues night at midnight throwing up and with a fever. I have never cleaned my house so many times in a week long period as I have this week.








Chase found the box today and wanted to crawl in. I figured what can it hurt? After playing inside the box for a while he thought it would be fun to take handfuls and just start throwing them out of the box. I am not in the stages of pregnancy that let you bend over much, so poor dad got the job of clean up!!! But hey the kids had fun and that is all that matters! These pictures were taken today, August 28th....

Swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's

Chase's counts were up last week....they aren't anymore (well his ANC isn't) I am just a little slow at getting this post on here. He also got his line out that has been in since he was diagnosed. With his line out and counts up he got to go swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's. We went over Tues night the 24th. He LOVED it! He made me really nervous because he was his old self. He wouldn't just get in the pool he had to jump like he always has. The problem with this is that he has gained a good 10 lbs. and that is a lot of leg strength to have to jump out far enough so he doesn't hit the side. He was having so much fun that I couldn't stop him. He had a blast and I am so glad we took the chance to go while he could. Abby has become a little fish this year. She is quite the swimmer and loves to go any time we even mention it. So of coarse she had a ton of fun too. I am wishing his ANC was still up because his personality is all the way back. He is such a happy kid now and we have to stay in the house again. When his counts were up last week he still had the steroid moods and he really didn't want to go do anything. Guess we'll just look forward to the next time ANC is up.






Look at that TUMMY!!!

This Battle is Mine

Do not be afraid or dismayed, for the battle is not yours, but God's. The Lord is with you. - 2 Chronicles

Every day I get an email from HopeKids. It is a non profit foundation that gives activities and fun things for these little kids to look forward to. They have so many crappy things going on in their lives that this foundations likes to give them something to look forward to. In my email today this is what the hope minute said....

This battle you face - it is not yours, it is Mine. I am your Creator, your Shepherd, and your Savior and I will bring you through this. I will either calm the storm around you, or I will calm you in the midst of the storm. My child, just rest and be still. I know you are afraid. Stop trying so hard to understand. Just give me your fears and your concerns. I am here. I know everything that is going on. I love you. My shoulders are big enough to carry what is weighing you down. I promise.

Such a good thought today when so many things are going on around me that I keep thinking, "What else could possibly go wrong right now?" I know the Lord is calming me. There is no other way I would be making it through this as well as I am. I also know is he is calming the storm around me. Even though we have had so much go wrong. We have also had so much go right. So many of Chase's results have came back good. He is on the road to recovery and we will fight through this. This may be the Lords battle, but we aren't sitting back at watching him fight it for us. We are right along his side fighting and doing our part to get Chase better.

Lab results from Chase's blood draw this morning showed that we will be going to clinic tomorrow. This weeks treatment was count dependent and he was borderline on his ANC but the doc said he still wanted him to come. So that is good news since we were planning on going. It is always hard for me to have my plans change last minute.

His results were:

Platelets - 319
ANC - .7
Hematocrit - 38.3

This goes to show how FAST his immune system can fall right back down. Last week he was at 1.9 which is almost normal and now he is right back down in the scary zone. We have to be careful again and watch what he does. Good thing we got the swimming in when we did. Oh, and I still need to post about that, but I am waiting for the pictures off of my husbands phone, and some cute ones that grandma got too. We got some good ones so I don't want to post without them.

A Touching Story

I have had so much love and support poured out upon my family in the last month that I don't even know where to start. Some of these stories are so precious I hope I will never forget them. One of my favorite emails I have gotten is about this little boy. I wont use any names for their privacy and I hope his mom is okay with me posting this on my blog. If you read this, know that your little boy's story tugged at my heart and I have not, nor will I ever forget it.

Hi. My name is ******* and I live in Apex, North Carolina. I
came across your story on allthingsthrifty.com and couldn't stop
thinking about you and your precious family.
I don't have any words of wisdom and luckily don't have a child with
leukemia. I started crying as soon as the video of your precious boy
started, and then seeing the same hat my own precious boy wore last
summer on the head of your son really did me in. *****, now 4, asked
me who the boy in the video was and I told him he was Chase, a very
sick little boy. His response was "No Mommy, he's happy!" because all
he saw in Chase was smiles and happiness. I want you to recognize that
as the reflection of the love-filled life that he has.
Anyway, I told him he was sick and it was going to cost a lot of money
to see a lot of doctors. That is when he ran to my room and asked me
to empty his football-shaped coin bank.
Now, he and his father have counted his change every night for 2 weeks
to see if he had saved up enough for a Buzz Lightyear. Today he told
me to send it all to the "boy in the movie," though, because "he
REALLY needs a Buzz!" :) My son has a speech delay so he is a boy of
few words, but today I was proud of the ones that he used.

Much love and many sincere prayers from Carolina!

I have many stories like this, and they are so touching I wanted to share some with those of you who are following Chase's story and praying for him. We love you all!!! Know that Chase is doing SO SO SO good these last couple days and we pray for a good trip this week to Primary's. Cross your fingers for good news. This last bone marrow was sent to Washington D.C. to test it even more in detail to see if the cancer is for sure all gone so they can progress with the rest of the years of treatment! We will know results after Fridays apt.

Our Bellies

I would NEVER in my life have posted a picture of my bare 36 week prego belly to the public if it weren't for how cute Chase is in this picture. I wanted a picture of our bellies next to each other. His is a lot cuter than mine...BTW my belly button is herniated so it really wouldn't be poking out that far so ignore that!!!
I haven't weighed him, but he seems like he is already starting to lose some weight so I had to get a picture of his belly quick. These steroids are going away a lot faster than I had expected. He slept through the night AGAIN last night...yay! And he really hasn't eaten much today, at least compared to what he was eating!
He has HATED his baths until last night. He didn't want you to take his shirt off (or I would have taken this picture earlier). Now that his line is out of his port he is so much better about lifting up his shirt and even taking it off. Last night he was a little hesitant before bath, but once he realized it was gone and he got to have a normal bath without glad press and seal over his chest he was okay with it. In fact, he looked at me and said, "mama, all gone" and pointed to his belly. I am so glad he feeling so much better.

2 Days Steroid Free

I know the nurses and docs told us we wouldn't see our normal Chase for a week, but I am seeing more of him than the steroids and we are only 2 days out. He is still my little chunk, but his personality is coming back quick. He was honestly never so bad I wanted to quit, but he had his moments. We didn't have one moment today. Even when he wanted dino nuggets he asked very nicely and was patient while I finished what I was doing to cook them for him. I even saw some resemblance of meals instead of eating all day. There was still the in between meal snacks that were more than just a fruit snack...usually they were dino nuggets or something you would have for a meal. At least he didn't eat all day long!
He also slept last night from 8pm to 9am. That is a first in a VERY long time. He didn't have a nap yesterday and he was also went under general anesthesia so I am sure that had a lot to do with it, but I am crossing my fingers it happens again tonight. I didn't give him a nap today hoping that he could make it through the night.
Ashton is still sick and only comes out of his room when he decides he is hungry, then it is right back to his room to eat whatever he came and got. Another reason that I hope Chase starts making this sleeping thing a habit. Doing it by myself I am sure would get exhausting. I also got a great night sleep last night (even though it was on the couch. I've been there since Sunday when our room became contaminated). Not only did Chase sleep, but I didn't have to do his IV meds at all. I went to sleep when he did last night and slept until 8am when Abby got up. It was GREAT! Don't think that has happened since probably July 22:)
We sure do miss Grandma, but I couldn't have asked for a better day today!!! I think I may be able to do this. Well, at least for three more weeks, then we add a baby into the mix. Then I may have a new opinion. But for now things are good!!! We will just keep praying!

Oh Happy Day!!!

Although Chase's expression does not show it we had a GREAT day in clinic today. We started out the trip yesterday and my mom and I headed up to SLC. A sweet lady that has a house in Alta that is empty said we could stay there. What a life saver that was. Here is why:

1. Chase on Steriods
2. Chase has to fast from midnight on
3. See one of the previous posts on how much he eats between the hours of midnight an 10:00 am when his sedation was scheduled
4. Screaming for "DINO NUGGETS" at 4 am would have been a little annoying for anyone we would have stayed with or the neighbors in a hotel room.
5. We HAD to have a microwave and kitchen because we fed him as long as we could before he went to bed knowing he couldn't have anything later.
6. We try so hard to make him happy (or the steroids happy) that we stopped in Fillmore and cloroxed out the microwave at the gas station and wrapped a hotdog (yes, I packed hotdogs) in two paper towels to cook it because he needed a hot dog NOW!!! I even brought his plate and fork from IKEA because he will not eat off of anything else. (Aren't these steroids AWESOME)

So having a house to ourselves this week was sooo nice!!! I can not thank the family enough that helped us out. The other great part was it only took about 20 minutes to get to primarys.
Once we got to the house of course Chase just wanted to go home, but he was a trooper and actually did quite well. (at least till 4 am) So we started our day this morning at 4. After much distraction while my mom and I took turns getting ready we headed to the hospital. He wasn't too happy to be there, as you can see from the picture, but he did AWESOME!!! The only chemo he had today was in his CNS through his back poke (while sedated). They also did a bone marrow extraction again. This was really all they did today other than draw blood. That was the best part. I prayed all night long that his ANC would be up so he would be able to have his line taken out of his port. I was pretty sure he didn't need blood or platelets because he has been so good at home and we have had no bruising at all. The doctors must have thought the same because they sent us down to RTU (where he gets sedated and his procedures done) before we even got his blood results back. I walked into the procedure room where they put him to sleep and while the anesthesiologist was giving him his "sleepy medicine" his doc told us that his blood was great. These were his results and since I am still learning also I will put the range of what the normal should be.

Chase's Hct - 35.4 Norm - 34 to 40
Chase's Platelets - 330 Norm - 150 to 400
Chase's ANC (absolute neutrophil count, immunity) - 1.9 (or 1900) Norm 1.5-8.5

His ANC had to be above 500 to go off of the IV antibiotics so that we could take out his line from his port. That was all I was praying for and I got almost triple what I was hoping for. I wanted to jump up and down right there in the procedure room when she told me.
He weighed 41 lbs. today!!! They told us that even though the steroids are now done it will take 4 to 6 weeks for the weight to come off. He will hopefully stop eating like crazy and be himself again in about a week. No more midnight trips for dino nuggets.
The only bad news today, and I don't know that it is that bad, is that for the next 3 weeks we for sure will be in SLC because he has to have a back poke every week :( So we will be fasting (I say we because there is no way I am eating in front a a little boy who can not eat) and we will be making lots of trips up north this next month. I can not complain though because we are just so happy that all his results were sooo good today.
Thanks for all your prayers because I know all the prayers helped him to have the good day that he had today. We are now home and he is so excited to be playing with Grandma Debbie.
My next trial: Grandma leaves in the morning so tomorrow is going to be hard. Chase walks around the house looking for her just while she is going to the bathroom. What is he going to do tomorrow when he can't find her? I am hoping he gets over it quick or it could be a long weekend! Guess we will just go celebrate at Grandma and Grandpa Prince's in the pool now that he can swim. Maybe that will get his mind of of Grandma Debbie!

Our Little Budda Doll

Chase had a few stragglers so we finally just shaved the rest off today. He wasn't so happy about the hair cut, but he has got to feel a lot better. Every morning his pillow was covered in hair...That has got to be itchy. He is one Chunky little boy. It makes you just want to squeeze his cheeks!!!
We did it while Abby was at dance class and when she came home she said, "Mom, why is Chase bold?" She had quite the look on her face. I didn't want to tell her that it was bald and not bold. It made me laugh. So if you ask Abby her brother is BOLD!!!!

Sweet Big Sister

Tonight I was telling Abby how I had to leave her AGAIN to take Chase to the hospital. She wanted to know which hospital (since last week we did get to stay here). I told her that we had to take him back to SLC. She said she didn't want us to go there again. If she only knew this was going to be a weekly thing :(

She then said to me, "Mom, do they have to do blood tests again?"
Me: "Yes"
Abby: "But mom I don't want them to do that to him. It hurts and he cries."
Me: "I know that he did when they first did the tests because they had to poke him, but they don't have to poke him anymore. The get the blood through the little tube that I give him his medicine in so it doesn't hurt him."
Abby: "Okay! Well, who is going to take care of me?"
Me: "Dad is going to stay here with you, and Grandma will go with me to take Chase."
Abby: "But dad is SICK!"

After wanting to cry because she didn't want Chase to cry again, I then wanted to laugh from her dad is sick comment. Ashton got sick on Sunday afternoon. He has a super high temp and is coughing with chills....the works. So I have quarantined him to his room. He did go to work Monday, but was home all day today. We really didn't even know he was here because I had the door to the room closed and no one could go in or out. I just didn't want to risk Chase getting sick. This is why he is not going with me to SLC. They don't want anyone coming into the clinic that has been sick. The little kids in there just can't fight it off. And I don't want him in the car with Chase. Yes, I am paranoid, but better Ashton be stuck in a room for a few days than Chase in the hospital.
Also, a little background on the blood test and Abby not liking it. When we had Chases blood drawn the very first time here in SG I looked over and she was crouched down in the corner with her hands over her ears. She doesn't like it when they hurt Chase. Then when we got up to Primarys for the second blood test Ben (my Bro in law) was there with us since Ashton was in Cali. When they came in to take his blood she said to Ben, "I don't like this part. It hurts him and he cries." So Ben took her to the play room. That is the only times she has even seen them get Chase's blood. She has no idea that since then he has had more blood tests than I can count on two hands. In fact probably more than two hands twice. So all she knows is that it hurts him. I love that she is so in tune with her little brother and wants to protect him.
Abby's whole life I have always wondered why I was so lucky to be sent such a loving and perfect little girl. If you know Abby she is not a normal little kid. She is a good listener (most of the time), wants to help me, goes to bed like a champ, she is just an all around sweet heart. When she was little she never got into anything she wasn't supposed to and stopped doing something when we told her no. In fact, she would usually cry because the word "no" meant she was doing something wrong. I can not take any credit for any of this as a mother, because she was honestly born this way. I now know why. She was sent here prepped and ready for this challenge in her life. She is ready for this!!! I am sure there will be some ups and downs and it is not going to be easy for her, but I can not imagine a little girl more prepared for a trial like this than her. I LOVE my little Abby and I am so proud of her and all the love that she has for her little brother!

Nearing the End of Steroids

We have three days left on the steroids. This drug is HORRIBLE!!! I know I have talked about the side effects, but you really don't think it will be that bad. Oh it is! I can only imagine how Chase feels. Yesterday I was trying to just hold up some pajama pants to see the length we needed to cut them too. We had to buy size 5 clothes and then fix the pants so they weren't too long. None of his clothes fit and he is actually growing out of the size five. The poor boy is 2! He should not be wearing size 5. I am so glad we are almost done because I can not bring myself to buy
him clothes bigger than what I am buying Abby. Sorry, got side tracked. Back to trying on his pants....He didn't want me to so he TRIED to run. Imagine gaining that much weight in such a short period of time and then trying to control your body. He fell down after about two steps and landed on his knee funny. It made me want to cry to see this active little two year old boy not be able to run. He knows that he could a couple weeks ago so I am sure he is confused. "Why is my little body doing this?"

I am so glad my mom is here because I had a hard time carrying him before he gained the weight. Now it is just about impossible for me to pick him up. He can sit on my lap on the couch, but even then my belly gets in the way of cuddling. That is about the one and only reason I am ready for this cute little boy to come out of my belly.....so I can cuddle and hold Chase again. Other than that I am content with him staying in a little longer. To tell you the truth I am scared to death to have this baby. I am so excited to have the new addition to the family, but soooo scared. It may help us get our minds somewhere else for a little while. (Not that I don't love Chase, but it is hard to watch him be confused and unhappy. It may even get his mind somewhere else).

His hair as you can see in the pictures is just about gone. There is not much left and I would just shave it, but he would scream the whole time and I don't want to torture him more than I already am with his meds. I want some of his day to be positive so we are just waiting for the rest of the hair to go.

His mood swings aren't as bad as at first. I don't know if it is because he is home now and not stuck in the hospital room. He is still super moody and yells at us a lot, but we don't have the 10 minute screaming fits so that has been nice. He is grumpy for different periods of the day, but he mostly just pouts and doesn't want anyone to look at him.

We are still having so many blessing and prayers poured out on us. We are so thankful for all your love and support. I was reading another blog of a little girl who has AML (another form of Leukemia) and her mom was saying they were singing the song "Wise man and Foolish man" from primary. It made her think of her own life and this is so true. If we build our foundations strong we can withstand the rain and the storm when it comes. This is our storm and without that firm foundation that we have built our family on we would be washed away. That firm foundation that has been given to both Ashton and I from the day we were born and that we have continued into our own family will help us through this storm. "This too shall pass." We can rely on our foundation and always lean on each other for support. Thanks to all you that have helped our family build this foundation that we have. It is helping us to make it through this time in our lives.

These pictures were taken on Sunday, August 8th and he had already gained some weight then.




These pictures were taken last night and this morning August 16th and 17th in his size five pj's

Clinic Day 22

First, it is late. And I am too tired to proof read this tonight so ignore the typos.
Wow....22 days!!! Even though there hasn't been one that I can say has been super easy, it has gone by pretty fast. As I said before, we were able to do his clinic down here this week because all he needed was chemo. No back pokes or bone marrow...yay!!! He has not been out of the house much at all so when he gets all dressed and we try to put his mask on to walk into the hospital I think he knows exactly what is going to happen. It breaks my heart to see him get so sad when we try to put on his mask. After some struggling he gives in and puts it on. He sweats so bad even without crying that when he cries his shirt gets soaked. Good think I brought and extra one. First they took his stats and vitals. His BP has been way high from the beginning and it doesn't help that he is crying when they take it. So it was up high. Temp was right on...yay no fevers this time! His weight was obviously up. He started at about 29-30 lbs depending on the day and now he weighs 37lbs. At least that is what he was on Wednesday. I missed the weight part of clinic because we forgot his gigi so I had to run down and get it from my mom, who was nice enough to jump in the car and get it to us ASAP.

After all the vitals, Nurse Heather drew some blood to get counts. After which she de-accessed his port and put on some emla cream to numb the area so she could re-access. Once she left the room and we had to wait for the blood results Chase was exhausted and this is only about 10:15 in the morning. He first asked for french fries. And we all know that on the steroids you can't really talk him out of what he wants. I told Heather this and she said she didn't have a diet order for him (and why would she? We were only there for chemo). Being the awesome nurse she is she made the phone call that I am sure Dr. T was not expecting. "Hi, uh, Chase wants some french fries and we don't have a diet order." I can just imagine during his busy day getting a phone call for french fries. After his fries, with fry sauce, he fell asleep on the bed and was out for the next 45 min or so. He probably would have slept longer, but she got blood results and they were GOOD! We didn't have to do any transfusions. If we did we would have been there about 4 more hours so we were relieve to hear this. His platelets were up to 150 (the highest we have ever seen them). HCT was 32. His ANC (absolute neutrophil count) was up from his usuall zero. It was 360!!! So he came up, but still is not at the 500 that he needs to be to get out of the danger zone for infections and sickness. So another week of staying at home! I don't know where I would take him anyway. All he wants is food, and I would be afraid of all the other moms looking at me and thinking, "Can't she control her kid?" The answer would be NOPE. The steroids are uncontrollable.

Once Heather re-access Chase and got his chemo all done we headed home. On the way I realized we would have results from last weeks bone marrow so I called up to primarys. They let me know a couple bits of good news. First, Chase's bone marrow showed no evidence of cancer. This is the goal within the first 28 days, so we made it. After that we just have to keep up the chemo and all the meds for 3 years to make sure it doesn't come right back. Our second bit of good info was our clinic day. I had asked Nurse Pam if we would be able to stay on Fridays at least for a little while. Fri is Ashton's day off of work and it is also his dads day off. So when the baby comes (which is coming way too fast) Ashton and his dad could take Chase up to clinic. She said she had talked with all but one dr. and it sounds like they will let us stay on Fridays at least for a while.

Chase's hair is reminding me of his baby hair. It is super thin and you can see where he lays on it at night. He is getting the baby head look. I want to buzz it off, but at the same time, it makes me sad because he does still have some and I want to leave it there while I can (which isn't going to be much longer). It was coming off in clumps today.

I made a list of what Chase eats on a average day in a 24 hour period. And keep in mind this is AVERAGE. Some days he eats even more than this and other he eats a little less. I also am not a terrible mom like you are going to think I am. I have offered him every healthy food in the book. And I do every time he asks for a hot dog or chicken nuggets. Once in a while it works, but most of the time he just keeps asking for the hog dog or nuggets, but it gets louder and more frustrated the more I offer him. So I try!!!!

12:30 am -
3 nuggets (with fry sauce, and if you forget it you will hear about it)
1/2 banana
watermelon

5:30 am -
6 nuggets
1/2 banana
peaches

7:00 am -
hotdog
milk (ONLY plain milk no chocolate or strawberry or again you will hear about it.)

8:00 am -
Pita pizza

9:30 am -
hotdog
3 nuggets
milk

10:30 -
2 nuggets
milk
2 sugar cookies

NAP 11-1:00 (I think this is the longest nap he has taken since being home. He usually will nap this long or longer, but not since being on the steroids).

1:15 -
3 nuggets
banana

2:30 -
2 nuggets
requested to make chocolate chip cookies and then he at one.

3:00 -
Pita pizza, but only had a few bites and then said, "I don't like it." Which is a common phrase and gets old when you keep making things and he doesn't want it, but asks for something else about 30 seconds later.

4:30 -
1/2 banana
1 nugget (again, made more than this, but he "didn't like it" this time)
1/2 hot dog
milk

5:30 -
2 nuggets

6:30 -
3 nuggets

6:45 -
Pita pizza

7:00 -
Ritz crackers (low sodium...thought I would try all I could to keep low salt)

8:00 -
Ice cream cone

8:30 -
BED TIME!!! If he is not exhausted the rest of us are.

The next day I indroduced fish sticks, and tuna sandwhiches so we got a little more variety the next day.

My wonderful mom is here helping me. Wait, doing everything for me. Chase won't even let me make his food. If I make it, it is not right or he doesn't like it. She seems to have a lot more success. I feel bad because he is wearing her out, but he doesn't want me to do it. She has been awesome! I know there is no way I could make it through this month without her. It has already been hard enough to come to terms with what our life is going to be like for the next few years, so to have her here helping has been a huge blessing.

I have some pictures from his chemo, but they are on Ashton's phone so I will add them later. Here are some of Chase doing what he does best....eating. His cheeks are so chubby!!!

This is what he does almost every time I walk in the room, or try to talk to him. He does this to everyone, but Grandma. I don't know if it is because he thinks I am going to give him meds or just because his steroids are making him grumpy. I am trying to not let it bother me and just laugh. I know that he is not his usual Chase right now, and we will have him back soon!


His cheeks are big, but not this big. He is chewing in this picture.

Abby's 5th Birthday

There have been so many things in this CRAPPY cancer time of our lives that I think were inspired before any of this happened. For some reason I thought making birthday invites and shopping for her party was something I should do mid July when her birthday party wasn't until Aug 13th. I am not usually THAT prepared, but for some reason this time I felt like I needed to have things ready. I am so glad I did because Abby and I spent a whole day shopping for all her stuff. I just don't have that ability anymore with Chase not really being able to leave the house.

Her party was so much fun. I think all the girls really enjoyed it. We had pizza first and I think two of all ten girls ate more than one bite. They were all to excited for games and stuff. So after throwing away most of the pizza they decorated their own pillow cases. We had fabric markers so we could put them right on their pillows for the movie. They played a game similar to hot potato. We had a pair of slippers that were passed around and when the music stopped that person was out and got a prize. The winner got to keep the slippers. Abby won, but didn't want the slippers, she wanted a prize instead so Oaklyn was the last one in other than Abby that wanted the slippers so her and Abby traded.







The cake was AMAZING!!! My sister in law has got to be one of the most talented people I know. I asked her if she would mind making Abby's cake, but I told her to PLEASE make it simple. I don't think she knows what simple means because the cake was darling and Abby loved it. It was just what she wanted....a popcorn cake.






Next the concessions for the movie. I think this was one of their favorites. Abby got behind the counter and started taking orders. They were so cute in their line up waiting their turn to buy candy (sour straws, nerds, air heads, candy necklaces). My mother in law, who is equally as talented as her daughter, made the girls a cute little purse to hold all the pretend money for the concessions. They could also get a drink and we had a movie style popcorn popper. After everyone had made it through the line, they sat down to watch princess and the frog. I think they made it about 10 minutes and they were up at the concessions again taking each others orders and getting more munchies.

I had planned to have this party (at least most of it) outside from the time Abby said she wanted a PJ party (which was many months ago). I am still amazed at how it all came together and worked out perfect for her. We didn't have to change a thing even though Chase got sick. Grandma and Chase just stayed inside and played. In fact, I am pretty sure Chase never even had any idea we were out there.

Abby's 5th was a success considering all she has had going on in her life. She is such a good big sister. Chase is lucky to have her!!! She is going to be a big strength to him and to me through all of this. Thanks Abs...I Love You!!!!