March 9th 2012 - Treatment #50

We got up to leave for Denver on Friday morning and Peyton was really sick. He'd been complaining all week of not feeling great but it was never too bad. It just seemed like he was coming down with a cold. (He'd finished a 10-day round of antibiotics a week earlier). Friday he was sneezing, coughing and just felt crummy. By the time we got to Denver, and they checked him over, we discovered he had an ear infection. After getting all hooked up for his chemotherapy treatment his fever spiked at 101. That meant doctors had to draw blood to make sure he didn't have any other infections near his mediport. It's a safety precaution that has to be done anytime his fever reaches 101 degrees. He slept through most of the three hour treatment, and then doctors gave him a shot of antibiotics and sent us home with more to give him for a week. Because his blood counts all looked good we didn't have to spend the night in the hospital so we were thankful for that! Doctors just told us to stay in Denver until midday Saturday to make sure the fever broke before heading home. He didn't feel good all Friday night, but by Saturday he was feeling a little better; no fever at least. His overall energy level has been low, but he slept most of the way home from Denver on Saturday and slept well once home.
We kept Landon with us all day during treatment and he did really good! The hospital has a wonderful place that kids/siblings can go and play and there are people who watch them for you. It's a giant play area with lots of toys and fun things to do. Landon spent a couple of hours down there and really had fun! He was such a great boy even though he missed his nap.
Still waiting on some of the other test results from March 2nd, but the MRI results came back and nothing has changed. All tumors still look the same - no changes in size. That's good and bad. Treatment hasn't been working, but at least the tumors are not continuing to grow larger. Bittersweet really.....
Peyton's vision will continue to be our driving factor. If his vision continues to get worse then we know we have to change things and do what's best to save that. We'll have another eye exam on the 23rd of this month.
Next week is Denver's St. Patrick's Day Parade. We will once again proudly join the Children's Tumor Foundation Group and walk with them, bringing awareness to NF in our bright green NF shirts! It's so much fun! Peyton's really excited. Afterwards we all meet up at the Spaghetti Factory for lunch. It's so wonderful to talk to other families that are going through their own battles with NF. Their stories are so inspiring and we realize that we aren't alone in this. It also connects Peyton with other kids who are facing challenges that most kids will NEVER have to go through. It's a wonderful connection to have and we look forward to it each year.