May 6th - Chemotherapy Treatment #28

Yay! Peyton just finished another 4 weeks of treatment and we get to spend 2 weeks at home without having to travel to Denver. I cannot put into words how much we absolutely love our weekends at home!!! It comes at a perfect time too, as I'm trying to wrap up the school year and Charlie is preparing for his fiscal year end at work. Whew......
All went great on Friday. I believe Peyton and his new nurse "Crazy Carol" (as she wants to be called) have officially bonded. It's been hard without Amy there each week but he's adjusting. He did run over and give Carol a hug after treatment on Friday and that was a first. He hadn't yet warmed up to her enough to do that. I think he's going to be fine with her after all.......
He's been lucky enough to get to spend some quality time with Ms. Pat (the creative arts therapist) at the hospital the last 2 weeks. He doesn't like to miss out on time with her. She's so wonderful, and he really enjoys visiting and playing with her.
Unfortunately Landon took a big fall on Friday and cut his lip. Our friends that watch him felt so badly about it. By the time we got over to their house his lip was really swollen and his nose had been bleeding but he was ok. He took a tumble out of their sliding glass door. I think he was used to the screen being closed and just tumbled right through. Those who know our little Landon know this is very typical for him. He's had bumps and bruises pretty much everywhere since the day he started walking! He's 150% boy! We don't get too worked up about it, but I do admit I worry about him because he doesn't seem to have too many fears. He thinks he's every bit as big as Peyton, and he's not yet 2!
We were excited to be home for Mother's Day and enjoyed spending the day with our family. It was a wonderful day!

April 29th - Chemotherapy Treatment #27

Friday was another long day for Peyton. We started the day with an eye appointment, and then he had chemo after that. These are typically guaranteed to be 7 hour+ days. But we did it and the eye appointment went really well. Peyton is a lot more cooperative now than he was a year ago. I think he's just familiar with the process, so he know what to expect.
Treatment went well this week. Doctors did another blood culture just to make sure he didn't have any kind of infections going on, and after our scare last week, I was happy about that. All the tests came up negative for infection so that was great! One more week and then he'll have 2 weeks off!

April 22nd - Chemotherapy Treatment #26

Always plan for the unexpected. That's what the last few months have taught me for sure. We went in for Peyton's treatment on Friday and didn't leave the hospital until the next day. Unexpectedly, Peyton became very sick shortly after we arrived and he was set up for chemo. Still not sure what happened; possibly bacteria found its way in when his mediport was accessed. It was sure scary though. He started complaining of a headache and stomach ache almost immediately. Then he began to run a fever. After several hours doctors decided to admit him to the hospital to keep an eye on him overnight. Thankfully it was nothing too serious and we were able to leave the hospital the next day. Unfortunately, we had to stay in Denver until Sunday afternoon because the doctors wanted us to be close in case something did come up with him. So Easter plans had to quickly change, and we had to make plans for the Easter bunny to "redirect" his route and come to visit us in Denver rather than Alamosa. That Easter bunny sure is amazing! He came through and left all kinds of goodies for both Peyton and Landon in Denver.
It was an eventful weekend for sure! I was glad that we had the day off Monday for Easter weekend. We all needed the extra rest!

April 15th - Chemotherapy Treatment #25

Today was a sad day but we made it through. Peyton's favorite nurse Amy's last day was today! She's moving to Michigan. We sadly said our goodbyes and wished her well. We'll miss her sooo much. Also, we all celebrated Peyton's birthday a little early in the hospital. The nurses brought in a cake and sang to Peyton. It was fun! It sure lifted the mood a bit! That night we celebrated his birthday (again) with family and friends in Denver. What a long day!
Peyton was excited to get home and celebrate his (official) 5th birthday party with even more family and friends. It was a pirate themed party complete with an awesome pirate ship cake. We all had lots of fun! We were sure tired by Monday morning but it was worth it! He certainly had no shortage of presents and birthday wishes!

March 25th - Chemotherapy Treatment #24

This day turned out to be not a fun day! As I've said many times Peyton loves loves loves his favorite nurse Amy. Unfortunately Amy is moving to Michigan! We are all so sad and it was hard to tell Peyton this news. Together Amy and I discussed how we would tell Peyton. He took it better than we expected because I don't think he realizes that he only gets to see her one more time and that's it! I think this Friday's goodbye is going to be very hard on all of us. We will get a new nurse and will of course adjust, but we all miss Amy's sweet smiling face and personality. She does an amazing job!
This Friday (April 15th) will be Peyton's 5th MRI. It will be a long day with the MRI and chemo, but we are excited that afterwards we are having a birthday party for Peyton with friends and family in Denver. That will hopefully lighten things up and give Peyton something to look forward to! Then we'll head back and have a party with all his preschool friends here at home. I can't believe my sweet boy is turning 5! Just wish I could slow time down....

March 18th - Chemotherapy Treatment #23

Thank goodness Peyton's favorite nurse Amy was back! Treatment always goes smoothly when she's around. After informing her that she can't have Fridays off, he hugged her and told her he's "here every Friday so she can't leave anymore!" When a sweet four-year old is telling you that, with sincerity in his eyes, you can't help but adhere to his requests! Ha! Ha! She assured him she will try and find another day off next time!!! Everything went great and we are happy to report he's been feeling really great lately. He also looks wonderful. For awhile the color in his face was gray and ashy looking but that's passed and he looks and feels awesome. We are so blessed!
One more week and we'll be on a 2 week break. Good timing since our spring break falls in there. Whew hoooooooo!!!!!!!

March 11th - Chemotherapy Treatment # 22

What a great weekend we had! Peyton's treatment went really well. I guess the only minor incident want his favorite nurse, Amy, wasn't there! You must know, for Peyton this is a BIG deal. Amy is his absolute favorite and no one can possibly do things the way she can. We did however manage to come through treatment ok, but he really really doesn't like the days she's gone! For all of you that know Peyton, you know he likes routine and consistency in his life. When things change the slightest bit he gets really thrown off! I do however think that a bit of variance in his life can be good!!!! Love him.......
On Saturday March 12th we walked in the Denver St. Patrick's Day Parade. We had alot of fun getting to know other families and kids in the NF world. We were all representing the Children's Tumor Foundation. It was a beautiful day and Peyton really enjoyed handing out candy! What a huge parade! We heard estimates of 200,000 to 250,000 people lined the streets to watch the parade. It's the largest parade west of the Mississippi River. We were honored to get to participate. After the parade we all went and had lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We enjoyed meeting new people and sharing in wonderful conversations with other families affected by NF. We met some new friends that will hopefully become life long connections.
We didn't get home until Sunday night so we were very tired starting out the new week but it was worth it!