Round 6...Already

William went into the clinic this morning to get his counts checked and ended up getting admitted to the Oncology floor to begin his last round of chemotherapy (guess the counts were good). Now I say last round but it is truly the last round of this protocol. When he starts the stem cell transplant process, he will get a very high dose of chemo (called concentrated chemotherapy) to kill nearly every quickly-regenerating cell in his body. Therefore needing his stem cells tranplanted back into his body to start making new cells -- kind of like getting your oil changed.

Please pray that his body continues to heal from his recent surgery and as always, that the chemo kills the cancer and leaves the rest of his body intact.

Love,
Angela

Home At Last

Well, we made it home yesterday. William is doing great! Aaron and I are feeling much better but Reilly is still a little snurfy (sorry, that is mom-speak for he still has a snotty nose).

We praise God that William made it through such an extensive surgery and is looking better than ever (well, minus a little hair :) and has a cool new scar). He is running around like a wild man again and eating everything under the sun. We could not have asked for better results. The surgeon initially thought it would take William 10 days to recover well enough to leave the hospital and then would need to stay in Houston a few more days for observation. We flew home only 7 days after the surgery! We also received the pathology report about tumor and it said "100% necrosis" which means that entire tumor was dead. Praise the Lord! William's body is obviously reacting to the chemo.

Thank you all for the tons of prayers and love sent our way. We feel very blessed to have so many people who love and care for us. My mom and I were just talking last night how amazing it is to feel so loved and blessed while going through such a hardship. We could not do this without our faith and support from all of you. We sincerely thank you.

~Angela

Just Chilling On The 9th Floor With Nanny...

As you can see, I have been taking it easy in my new digs. Mommy and Daddy caught Reilly's cold, have matching sinus infections and now have to stay away for a couple of days, while taking antibiotics. No sweat -- I have Nanny by my side. She has been taking care of me for two days now, while Mommy and Daddy get better. Nanny has made sure that I get lots of ice chips and orange juice as soon as possible, since those are my favorite!

I would like to give a few shout outs to:
-Encore Wire Friends for their continued support (especially, the biggest fruit basket EVER!)
-Lockheed Martin Friends for auctioning off pineapples, sending food, educational toys, and so much more
-301st Friends and everyone at the MWR CDC for continued thoughts and prayers
-Living Faith Outreach Friends for lunch on the day of surgery, hosting a blood drive and the gift cards
-All of my Houston family for the food and diapers (Mommy said the homemade gumbo was the best remedy for her sore throat)
-Jody for house and dog sitting
-And, Boppa for taking care of Mommy, Daddy and Reilly while they are sick!

We couldn't make it through this without all of you!

P.S. The surgeon thinks I'm recovering faster than planned. Good news!

Ladies Man In La La Land

Hello everyone, William checking in. I’m still drifting back and forth between ICU and la la land. I’m very sleepy from all the pain medicine I’m on, but every once in a while I’ll let out a “Daddy” or a “Mommy” just to let them know everything is ok. The doctors think I will be stable enough to move up the playroom (9th) floor tomorrow and that is where I will stay until I am fully recovered. I can’t wait! I think daddy will like it too because there is a place to lie down unlike the ICU where there is just a chair.

Unfortunately this whole ICU thing is crampin my style and I haven’t been able to flirt with any of the nurses. Oh yes...for those of you who didn’t know, I’m quite the ladies man. Back in Fort Worth at Cook Children’s, I push my toy lawn mower through the ward and like clockwork I can hear them calling, ”Isn’t he cute” or “Ooooo, whats your Mama gonna say when she finds out you have a girlfriend?”. I just blush and keep on mowin.

Everyone here at Texas Children’s Hospital has been wonderful and professional. I would rate them at 4 rubber duckies and Daddy is so overjoyed at the outcome of my surgery, I think he would add a rubber ducky to the chart for them.

Thanks for all your love and prayers coming my way. I sure can feel them.





Texas Childrens Hospital

Surgery Success!

I finished surgery around 9:30 last night. They started at 11:30 yesterday morning. The surgeon is very confident he removed 100% of the tumor. He also removed the scar tissue associated with the tumor's retreat. (The chemo had been very effective.) I will be in the hospital for 10 days while recovering.

I am doing very well! I think the surgery was harder on my family than me. They had to endure 10 hours of something which, for me, instantly passed. They are very tired, so... if you could help them spread my good news with friends and loved ones then maybe they could get some rest.

Thanks for all the prayers, well wishes and thoughts.


p.s.
If you have ever wondered... "What is someone's first thought when awaking from a big surgery?" The answer is, obviously, Orange Juice! (preferably not from concentrate)

It Is On, Like Donkey Kong...

Well, when have we ever done something the easy way! Reilly woke up yesterday coughing and green stuff coming out of his nose. So in true A&A style, my parents took Reilly to a pediatrician at the same time that Aaron, William, and I were meeting with the surgeon (sound like deja vu? sure felt like it!). When we got to the Pediatric Surgical Clinic, the surgeon told us that Radiology lost William's last version of scans -- the scans he is planning to use to scour Will's body for every speck of cancer, for today's "Search and Destroy"mission. He had already reviewed the scans and sent them to Radiology to upload them into the hospitals system. So this morning, we are waiting on FedEx to deliver a new CD from Fort Worth, loaded with the scans. We were scheduled to start at 9:30 and it is now a little after 11. We are having this surgery today! Keep praying...here are few pictures from this morning.

This first shot is Aaron, Will and Dr. Nuchtern, one of the best surgeons in the world!

Here are a couple more from this morning...

H-Town

We made it to Houston this afternoon. William has a pre-op appointment tomorrow at 2pm, with the surgeon; and, the resection is still scheduled for Friday, first thing in the morning. Please pray that the surgeon is able to remove 100% of the tumor without any complications.

More to come, very soon...

Prayers Answered!

Aaron talked to the pediatric surgeon at Cook Children's, yesterday; he had nothing but good news. The tumor has shrunk to a little bit smaller than a golf ball and can be 100% removed. As many of you remember, it was originally the size of a grapefruit. Five rounds of chemo later...here we are. He also said initially that the surgery could take up to 12 hours but now we are looking at 3 to 4 hours...significantly less.

We are scheduled for the surgery, in Houston, on June 19th. We will be heading down there a couple days early to meet with the surgeon at Texas Children's and get checked in.

Thank you for all of the prayers. We feel so blessed to have all of you praying and thinking about us.

Love, Angela