Fish, fish, got his wish!

Andrew will receive his Make-A-Wish this weekend, as we travel to Miami to see the final IndyCar race of the season. Apparently, this is the championship race and the points competition is ridiculously close, so everyone's season comes down to this. Pretty exciting.... AND, he also gets to meet his favorite driver (of the 7-Eleven car), Tony Kanaan. Truth be told, I can't remember if Andrew's exact wish was to go to an IndyCar race or to meet his favorite driver, Tony Kanaan, but the two seem to go hand-in-hand, so he picked up a twofer.

I want to take a moment to heap some praise on Make-A-Wish and acknowledge what an incredible organization it is and how dedicated the volunteers there are. It and they have been amazing. From seeking us out, to coming to meet Andrew, getting to know him and learning his interests, and then organizing and personalizing and, ultimately, granting his wish--it could not have been done better. It's a humbling thing to experience: The time and energy and attention to detail that went into making sure that Andrew's wish is just right.... I encourage you to support the Make-A-Wish organization and/or your local chapter. They are out there really making a difference in a lot of kids' lives and they deserve our support.

As we gear up for our big Make-A-Wish weekend, I should also mention that we are only just now starting to breathe this week, as it has been scan week, which is always stressful and full of anxiety. Or as I saw somewhere else today: Scanxiety. So far, though, we only have good news to report: Clear CT scan, clear bone marrow, and half of a clear MiBG scan. We have to return tomorrow for the additional MiBG scan, so we're not totally signed off just yet, but we're feeling reasonably good. Oh, and by the way, Andrew's hemoglobin this week was 8.6, which is still ridiculously low overall, but the highest he has been in months (maybe years?), so we were pretty thrilled with that.

In fact, treatment begins to space out a bit now--clinic visits once a month and scans every 3 months--so we had the final discussion with our doc to have Andrew's port removed. His surgery will be scheduled for next week or the following. This is good news and it is progress. The port is the last evidence of his active treatment, so we are eager to get rid of it. The timing is important, too, as flu season is upon us and, if Andrew were to keep the port and develop a fever, then we would have to be admitted into the hospital for antibiotics to ensure he didn't have an infection via the port. Taking the port out means that, if he develops a fever, well, it's just a fever. Of course, the downside to all of this is that, from now on, for blood draws and scan weeks, etc., whenever they need blood out or contrast or whatever in, they have to poke him. No more easy access. I suppose that's the price of progress....

Paul