Would you believe 4?

Where does the time go?!!?!? I guess we have been busy living. When we last left you, Andrew was being discharged from City of Hope following his final hospitalization for antibody treatment. That was a Friday. That Sunday, we lost all judgment and rational thinking and adopted a dog. See Exhibit A below.


His name is Cowboy and he came from Beagles & Buddies, which is a local rescue. He is not a full beagle, but a beagle mix, and is about a year old. Turns out, this is one of the best decisions we have ever made. Setting aside the fact that he smells, sheds, has bad breath and poos (poohs?) ALL THE TIME, he is super sweet and loads of fun. Mainly, though, the way we knew we had a winner was that Andrew was running around in the backyard playing with him 48 hours after being discharged from week-long hospital stay. Unthinkable!

Lucia has taken on the role of dog trainer and now watches episode upon episode of the Dog Whisperer, Dog Town and It's the Dog or Me on TV. To say she is obsessed would be a bit of an understatement. She is currently teaching Cowboy how to fetch and, truthfully, is doing an amazing job of it. She is also teaching him various "mind games" of questionable worth, but which she is convinced make him smarter. As she would say (tapping a finger to her temple): He has to exercise his brain, too....

Also, since we last posted, Andrew has celebrated his 4th birthday. This was a Big One. This is one that a year ago, we had no idea whether we would make it to or what it might look like. Obviously, in light of how everything has gone, it was the best birthday EVER. Evidence can be seen in Exhibits B, C & D as follows:


Need we say more.

Which is somewhat of a natural segue into the fact that we have been taking Lucia to the counselor at City of Hope to help her deal with any feelings or issues that she might have from the last year in terms of jealousy, inequality, fairness, attention, etc. It seems to be going well and hopefully we will diffuse anything before it festers and she becomes a rebellious, angry, awkward teenager. Oh wait, that will likely happen anyway....

Next up: Scan Week. This starts Monday with lab work and a full CT scan. Followed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday by MiBG scans, which are specialized scans specific to Neuroblastoma. Also on Thursday, he will have a bone marrow biopsy, where the doctor punches into his hip bones to collect marrow for testing. He is sedated, of course, and (thankfully) doesn't remember this procedure. Also, now that we are post-treatment--let me say that again: NOW THAT WE ARE POST-TREATMENT--we will also re-check his heart function, kidney function and hearing. His treatment from the last year has a knack for compromising those organs, so we need to determine where we stand there. In particular, his hearing could be at risk, which then can lead to learning issues, if it's not caught and dealt with early on. As always with Scan Week, we ask you to pray for continued NED and for good, normal organ function.

We will keep you posted on results as they come in next week and the week after. Until then, please keep us in your prayers. And hope that Cowboy finds a breath mint. Thank you.

Love,
Paul & Cynthia