Where to Begin?....

This is what happens when you don't stay on top of things, I suppose....brace yourself, it's a long one, but with lots of pictures too....

So let's pick up after the good news from last post:
Dante is finished with the "prophylactic round" and is going through the post chemo bubble boy syndrome; his ANC was 200 today, down from 7300 on Thursday. And get this, when I called the Aetna Pharmacy to confirm the refill of his GCSF (the drug that boosts white blood cell production) they first said we were out of refills, then they saw that there were two left but it couldn't be filled until the 27th. Then they saw another mistake and said they could move up the refill to the 22nd....."well, that'll come in handy while he's in the hospital with a fever because his ANC was so low, because his prescription couldn't be filled."
"Well it's the insurance, not us. I can only fill what it says on the computer."
- Apparently the irony was lost on the pharmacist. On a number of levels.

A call to our guardian angel/HMO beat down technician, Jennifer, at Dr. Barbosa's office, was met with a "don't worry. I'll take care of it. I'll call you by the end of the day." 20 minutes later the Aetna pharmacy called back to confirm delivery tomorrow of 2 weeks worth of GCSF......

In related news, Dante is generally in good spirits, due in no small part to his new playset (read more below). He is, however, definitely more compromised after this last round, than from previous rounds. His bloodwork was all borderline today. I thought for sure that he would be getting at least a platelet transfusion today, but he was just above the cutoff so we're going to wait and see if he trends up until thursday.

It's tough because we know that everything is looking good overall, but day to day, he's so worn out. It's hard to be excited this way. Hopefully we'll be able to get another AFP soon and start the celebration for real!



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Earlier last week Dante's playset was installed. He has been climbing all over it since. This was a gift from the Children's Dream Fund and we want to express our sincerest gratitude to Kristen and everyone over there for making this a reality. He hasn't been this happy since he got out of the hospital after the first round!

On saturday we had a little party for him and few of his friends (who were healthy enough to come over - we'll have another party when his system is a little stronger). There was cake, and balloons, and laughter, and lots of smiles all around. Dante's been talking about nonstop since. I asked him if he knew what we were going to do today (Dr.'s office) and he said "Playset Party!"







The Boys, ride again.






























Caleb scales the rock wall.













Tyler gets in the holiday spirit, with balloons!


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On Sunday, we got to see Santa at the ACS Holiday party at the Vinoy. That was a fun time as well. This being the first year wher the Santa concept is starting to click, he was pretty excited about the whole thing. Especially when this fat guy in the red suit somehow knew that he wanted the Diego Rescue Jeep and delivered. Thank you Santa, for leverage. At least for the next 2 weeks or so.








Dante meets Santa














"Holy Cow!, How'd he know I wanted this one?!"















Dante and Mommy gettin' their Hokey Pokey on.
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On Wednesday, my Grandmother and my brother will be joining us for the holidays. I'm looking forward to that, though it will be bittersweet without my Mom here. She had planned on a big reunion of sorts, this holiday. Back in July she started planning. Buying the tickets and making all the reservations by early August. This has been a really tough season for us, so we're looking forward to being together and being healthy.

We wish the same for all of you.

Happy Holidays!