Day 29

Well... We got another clinic visit out of the way yesterday. Yay! Carson had another bone marrow & lumbar puncture(spinal tap) procedure. They are still looking for any remaining residual disease in his body. Last week his numbers were very low 1.9% and we are hoping to hear the big fat ZERO this time around. That will put us into the next phase of treatment which is called Consolidation, if not we stay in Induction a little longer. The best news of all is that we are at day 29 which means that we are finally off STEROIDS!! Our poor little Carson has had soooo many nasty side-affects from those darn things.. Besides the insane weight gain, puffy little face, (fluid retention) here are a few more.. difficulty sleeping, falling asleep, mood swings, muscle weakness, headaches, etc..etc..etc.. awful stuff!! But they are just too important because they play a huge role in fighting those cancer cells, along side the chemo. We will periodically need to go back on them : ( but just a week at a time, rather then a month straight. We are also very sad to say that we are starting to see the first signs of his hair loss. So I will be making a call to Aunt Kim to come over and trim his hair very short, so it's not quite so traumatic when it all goes. His little cheeks should start going back to normal, but as soon as that happens all his beautiful dark hair will be gone.

Consolidation (the next phase) is for 5-7 months and at times they get to back off or ease off treatment (give his body a break) but they also continue to be very aggressive and it can continue to stay very intense throughout this phase. He will continue to receive chemo as well as other drugs. It will all be extremely rough on his little body. We will always have to worry about infections, fevers, and other signs that his body is not taking well to the treatments. After consolidation we go into Maintenance(the final phase) this is the stage we will really look forward too. Its the least intense, and he will feel the best while in this phase. Maintenance will be the remainder of his treatment for about 2 1/2 years.

Again, Just want to thank everyone for their constant support, prayers and love. We have had so many yummy dinners prepared for us, Carson has a huge mountain of blankets, lots of toys, stuffed animals, and DVD's that have been given to him. My aunt Linda got us a freezer for the garage, which means more storage room and less trips to the dreadful grocery store. It's just been amazing... Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The biggest thanks of all to my sweet Mom and Dad(Janet and Lew) wow... really, what would I do without them?!! They have truly been the reason I am still in one piece right now. They rushed right to my side at the hospital and have not left since. The phone calls, visits, trips to the hospital, really...My Son's battle with cancer has been their battle with cancer. They have done so much for us and we are so,so,so, lucky to have them in our lives, we love you guys! Carson can't wait until the day he can go back up and shoot hoops at Bampas house. Carson loves to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house, in fact I would have to say that it is his absolute favorite place to go!!