March 2nd, 2012

We spent a total of 10 1/2 hours at the hospital on Friday. Thankfully our little Landon spent all day with Leroy and Darlene. They all had fun together. It's so great for Landon to have his special time and attention too. Peyton had eye tests ordered by his eye docotor and an MRI. We literally didn't walk out of the hospital until almost 6:30pm. Peyton was supposed to start his new chemotherapy today but there just wasn't enough time to squeeze that in too. We will have to go back next week for that. We did, however, have time to meet with the oncologist and discuss this new plan. Peyton will be on another combination chemo treatment. One type is used to treat high grade tumors so it's a bit more aggressive and will hopefully work better than the others we've tried before. The side effects aren't too bad. Of course there are some but I think we'll manage. Just figuring out the right amount of medicine will be the key to him staying comfortable. He should be able to continue on as before; going to school and just getting to be a regular kiddo! Unfortunately the new treatment is scheduled for another year. That really makes us sad because we were hoping to possibly finish up before summer kicked in, but that's not the case. I've learned, during the last year and a half, that nothing is predictible with this disease. One never knows how the tumors are going to react to treatment. Even the oncologist has said there are no guarantees that any of this will work, but we all agree we have to try. His vision remains our biggest concern right now, but again the doctor told us she can't guarantee that he won't go blind. We remain hopeful and know doctors are all doing everything they can to prevent that, but I'm not going to lie, it's on my mind all the time and I worry - A LOT. I worry about my sweet Peyton, but have to balance that with keeping his life normal and not causing him to worry and stress. He's a wonderful kiddo that handles this all with such ease and a great attitude. As I've said before, each week he charms his way into people's hearts. He's touched so many people with his loving, mature and brave spirit. We will continue on.....we will go to all lengths, as a family, to support him and get the best care possible. We have such a great circle of friends and family around us lifting us up in prayers and spirit. We will handle this like Peyton does, with a smile!