Procedure Day

Today was the first day of the next three month cycle of maintenance. On day one Colin has a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) where they test his bone marrow fluid and inject chemo. He's sedated and when it kicks in he gets very chatty and silly. Today we talked about what we thought Maddie was doing and he responded with "GiGi play" and "Maddie play cars". He cracked the nurses and us up. Colin also received his monthly IV chemo (vincristine) and started the 5 day steroid today. His counts are still higher then the range so we'll increase one of his chemo pills, 6MP (note to self: went from 2 half pills on Mon/Tues and full pill Wed-Sun now it's a full pill for 7 days). This is completely normal and will most likely happen again throughout his treatment as he grows. Should his counts continue on the high side after 6 weeks we'll increase his other oral chemo meds

As Colin ran out of the hospital today he rounded corners with his belly laugh and made everyone he passed smile. This is a sight we always look forward to after these "procedure" days!

Snow Storm

On Tuesday night we had another nor'easter that dumped over 2 feet of snow on the existing foot we already had. Mike made sure our family was safe at home while he prepared for the storm by loading up on wood, starting an early fire, made a milk and eggs run to BJ's and most importantly prepared the jeep for any unexpected emergency drives down to Yale by backing in the car and loading it with gas, warm blankets and ice scrapers/shovel. Luckily we didn't have any unexpected drives and we were able to enjoy the storm .. we even played in it for a little while. Colin had a blast while Miss Maddie didn't like getting her hands wet and screaming while taking a quick ride on the sled. Enjoy some pics.

We had to literally shovel ourselves out of the house:

The snow was as tall as Colin, this is the sidewalk out front:

A little sledding down the icy driveway:

The mounds of snow are taller then our cars:

Rosey cheeks = fun in the snow :)

Routine Check Up

Today Colin had his routine check up and CBC. Uncle Jack came for the ride and Colin enjoyed showing him his routine. Colin's counts are a little higher then the range they'd like to see coming in at 1,600 (the range is 500-1,500). Should Colin's counts remain higher then the range in two weeks they will increase his oral chemotherapy. The Doctor's assured us that is normal because as children grow they absorb the medication differently.

Colin's next appointment is in two weeks when he will receive a spinal tap. In the mean time, we continue to fight off colds. Below is a picture of Colin and his Doctor.