Once again I'm thinking, "It sure has been a long time since I've updated this blog!" Where oh where does the time go?
In November, Peyton has his mediport removed. It was a beautiful day and we were happy to celebrate it! We knew of course there was always a chance it would have to be put back in but we remained hopeful that he was done with chemo. From December 2013 to February 2014 one tumor grew pretty aggressively and caused Peyton to lose even more eyesight. He already doesn't have much vision left so this was a real blow to all of us. Doctors told us he really must go back on chemo but we were left with few options as Peyton has already been on many different types of chemo and none have seemed to work long term. The doctors shared some options with us and had us return home to do some thinking. One of the drugs doctors were talking about had us very concerned. We could start it, but we might just be increasing Peyton's chances of getting a secondary cancer. There just aren't enough cases like Peyton's to know for sure what the chances would be, but it would be a risk and a concern. How do you "think that over????" It was a lot to process and we prayed that somehow we would be guided into the right direction. The doctors assured us they would do all they could to look for the best treatment options that would be: 1) the most effective and 2) the one that would hopefully have little side effects and be safe. That's a lot to ask but when we returned 2 weeks later they did have an option for us. We started a new chemo drug on March 1st. It's a daily oral pill. None of us can be certain it comes without problems later on (potential cancers etc.) but it was our best option and we all felt comfortable in trying it. As the parents, this is one of the hardest decisions we've had to face. Do we let our son lose his vision completely and deal with other issues these tumors could cause or do we fight to try and save what he has left and maintain his current way of life???? I spent many nights going back and forth with that issue. I never resolved anything to be honest....I just put it in God's hands. I know he has a plan for Peyton, for all of us actually. I just have to always trust in that.
Here we are....3 months into the new treatment. We've had 2 MRIs and it seems to be working. I can't say it's been totally easy. He's been pretty sick twice; once ending up in the hospital. It really seems to weaken his immune system so he's been more suseptible to viruses. This chemo also causes some really nasty mouth sores that cause him quite a bit of pain. Thankfully they come and go pretty quickly. I've witnessed his overall energy level go downhill too. That's been hard. He sleeps a lot and gets really tired on most days. I would love for him to get to be an everyday kinda kiddo that doesn't have to deal with all this stuff but that's not in the cards for him.
He was very sick and missed the last week of school. :( That really bummed him out because he LOVES school! However, he was chosen as Student of the Month for May and was beyond excited for that! He's such an amazing little soul. He really appreciates life and has such an amazing attitude about everything. He takes life just as it is and doesn't complain. Again can't we all learn from that? Peyton will have another MRI in July. We've learned to plan holidays an vacations before MRIs not after, so as
not to dampen the mood if results aren't good. Therefore before the MRI
in July we have lots of fun planned. We're so very excited to be taking a vacation to Disneyland and San Diego. We look forward to making new family memories and enjoying our sweet little boys! :)
I'll update in July.....
