Day 2 of chemo

Day 2 of chemo done. Today was about 3 hours of chemo, again no side effects have shown up, yet. Liam is just very tired, he got up at 6:00am, then went back to sleep until late morning, and was asleep early tonight. We attended a music therapy session, Liam enjoyed that.

First day of Chemo

Pretty uneventful day. Liam had his first day of chemo, it was just a day of sitting around. So far Liam feels fine, fighting bedtime as he always does! Today was day 1 of 3 of chemo for this month. We are admitted to the Children's Hospital for 3 or 4 days depending on how Liam does.

Tough News

It's been a tough couple of days. They found abnormal cells in Liam's spinal fluid, which makes him high risk instead of average risk, like they originally thought (hoped). They couldn't do this check until 3 weeks after the surgery. As a result, the plans have changed and we start chemo tomorrow. Liam will have 3 months of conventional chemo plus chemo in his spinal fluid, then 3 months of high dose chemo. (6 months total). We did the swallow test, and Liam was able to swallow food and liquid pretty well. He is able to eat now, although will keep the feeding tube through chemo. But now that he's used the feeding tube, he doesn't want to eat! Go figure. Though it is hard to celebrate this given the other news.

Stem cell harvest

Apheresis today, Liam will be hooked up to this crazy machine for a few hours (or more). They are collecting stem cells to use later with chemo.

Next steps

The oncologist is starting the plan for radiation and chemo starting end of May. This is a world I just have no idea about, it's overwhelming.

Unable to swallow food

It's easy for me to post updates when things are well, difficult when things aren't as good - the swallow test revealed that Liam is unable to swallow, we watched on a video X-ray. They are going to just leave him on the feeding tube for a month to heal and try again and hope it resolves.

So smart

Liam is starting to know which people are doctors and nurses. 2 neurosurgeons were in checking on him and he pretended he was asleep. He closes his eyes, peeks, then closes them again. But the funny part is he keeps playing with his bears. Then when it is just the nurse left in the room, he opens his eyes again. So very smart of him!

A good day

It was a good day, Liam has been playing all day with cars and Lego. He is no longer connected to anything in his IV, so he's much more free from tubes. He only has the feeding tube now. He's been in really good spirits today... therefore so have we!

Watching the fish

A nice break from Liam's room, he loves watching the fish.

Hockey Marathon

Hockey Marathon

What timing, a hockey marathon this week to raise money for the Children's Hospital for pediatric cancer and intensive care

Jam session

Jam session with Liam's hospital "neighbor". She was so sweet to come over to Liam's room and play. Thank you Grandma for the cool guitar from Mexico.

So sweet

Sorry if this is a tear jerker, Liam asked "Mommy, you gave me this car yesterday?" "yes, I did Liam" and he responded "you gave it to me because you love me?" (Cars were potty training rewards)

So thankful

I don't know how to thank everyone enough for the kind wishes, food, gifts, visits and everything people have done for us. We are overwhelmed with the kindness and support.

Love to see Liam excited

Liam was so excited to open his present, his heart rate increased and set off the alarm! Very cute.

Amazing Place

The Children's Hospital is amazing.

Poking and prodding

Liam's had so much poking and prodding, he just stares people down who come to his hospital room! After physio and a nap, we read books, and watched some tv, while all the different doctors came to follow up with us for the end of the week. At this point, I can't even remember how many different types of medical people came by today.

Start of Recovery

Liam had a good physio session today. It's such a challenge to explain to an almost 4 year old why he should move this way and that, he did sit up on his own. Lots of bribery involved, but he did so well.

Sweetest words we could hear

This morning Liam is so bright eyed. We read all his new books, and he "read" to me his Cars book that he has memorized! How good that sounded to hear him read the whole thing.

Pathology Results

We won't get the final pathology until next week, sigh

Non Stop Today

After the swallow test, Liam had staples and bandages removed, then off to an MRI. Non stop today... I was hoping Liam could just watch Backyardigans sometime today, no time!

Swallow test

Liam had a swallow test today to test his vocal cords, he was able to eat chocolate pudding and apple juice. He resisted chocolate pudding because I don't think he's had it before. But he does like chocolate, so we were able to convince him quickly. Liam is going to need a feeding tube to get the nutrition he needs.

Day after surgery, later in the day

Wed May 2 PM - moved from ICU to unit 3, which is much nicer, less chaotic.

Tonight Liam was talking, he gave us some smiles, Troy read him some books.

Day after surgery

Wed May 2 - In the ICU, Liam doing very well, no need for breathing tube, though there is still noise when he breathes. Liam had a CT scan at 9:30 which showed everything looking very good.

Day of surgery

Tues May 1 - surgery at 7:30 until about 2:30. The nurse came out of surgery to give us frequent updates, everything went well from their perspective. Prelim results show the tumor is malignant. We had lots of visitors pop in.