Chemotherapy round 2..... Bring it on

11:34:00 PM Atticus Army 2 Comments

Hey army,

First off, we are sorry for being so lazy lately with posts.  We just have been really busy with life, and trying to juggle all of Atticus's appointments, and working on keeping the other kiddos happy and feeling included.  It is difficult not to get completely immersed in everything that is going on with Atticus and forget about ensuring that the other two kiddos don't feel left out.  We feel that it is really important to help them feel that they aren't just along for the ride with Atticus.

Atticus at Pikes Public Market.  I love that Cheezer face.

Well, gee, where do I even start.  I guess with the apheresis, it went GREAT.  It was difficult to keep Atticus down for the 24 hours we had to though.  They put a quite large catheter in his femoral vein, right in his groin, so he had to stay laying down from Thursday evening until they were finished with the stem cell collection right around 4 pm on Friday.  Getting the whole thing started was pretty crazy.  They had 3 specialized nurses here all day running the machine, and each time Atticus moved or tried to get up the machine would yell at us and we had to convince Atticus to lay back down and be still.  On top of all of this, the line they put in on Thursday didn't immediately work.  They had to fiddle with it long enough that all the blood that they used to prime the machine went bad and we had to start the whole priming and calibration process over.  It was quite the ordeal. 

Atticus getting the stem cell apheresis or stem cell collection.  They will store these until the second phase of his treatment and then he will get a stem cell transplant to help keep him healthy.

For those of you who don't have children talking a 22 month old into laying down ALL DAY, is no small feat.  Luckily we were able to get it down and we harvested all the cells we could need.  So it was a GREAT DAY for us, and another small victory for Atticus's Army.  

He was ready to go!

 After collection on Friday, Atticus's blood values were so good that they actually discharged us!!! Freedom at last.  Emmie's parents came to help us with the kiddos through the weekend, and especially this week while Atticus is receiving chemo.  We were able to stay at the SCCA house again which put us pretty close to where her parents were staying which was really nice.  We got to see the kiddos each day and help them with their homework, take them to the park, go to the science museum, and pretend that we were just a normal family, at least for a few days. We had such a fun time with her parents, they are truly incredible with the kids! Our kids adore them! Its so nice to have the support of our parents and their help! We truly couldn't do it without them!

Atticus was tired after a long day at the science museum, and fell asleep.

We were contacted by Strong Against Cancer and they asked if Atticus could be their Cancer Kid of the Week! We were so excited and honored to have Atticus chosen! Strong Against Cancer is a local childhood cancer foundation that supports families and raises awareness, as well as donations for childhood cancer research! They are truly incredible and have done amazing things for the Seattle area as well as surrounding areas! We truly appreciate all of their support and help towards childhood cancer! With Atticus being the Cancer kid of the week they brought us all kinds of fun stuff! They brought all the kids strong against cancer shirts, bracelets, sunglasses, stickers and  more! They gave Atticus their cute superhero strong against cancer bear! He is obsessed with it and loves it! He kept giving it loves and kisses! We are beyond grateful for their kindness and support! We feel so loved and a part of the Seattle community, even though Seattle isn't our permanent home!

Thanks @strongagainstcancer for all the cool stuff, and for having Atticus as your VIP

Atticus showing how strong he is!

We also were also contacted by a cancer mom here locally in Seattle this week! Again another tender mercy! She heard about Atticus through the strong against cancer foundation! She messaged us privately and shared with us her story of her sweet daughter who is now 3 and had a brain tumor, and surgery just like Atticus! She was also treated at Seattle Children's Hospital for Choroid Plexus Carcinoma (the same cancer Atticus has), Seriously what are the odds?!! This cancer is so rare and to know someone locally who had the same cancer and was treated at the same hospital is the coolest thing ever, our own kind of a miracle! Also not to mention her daughter has been N.E.D (NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE) for two years now!! Her story brought us so much peace and comfort and we will plan to meet her and her daughter someday soon! Atticus and her daughter can be cancer Warriors and survivors together! We are so grateful she contacted us and we believe that Heavenly Father's hand is truly in all things! He sent her our way to bring us hope and strengthen our faith and we are so grateful for this tender mercy!




 Caleb and I feel so blessed to be experiencing all these blessings and miracles on this journey! Each one brings a new ray of hope, peace, comfort and love! We know we have lots to still learn but our testimonies have been strengthened beyond what we ever imagined. It's like just when you think you can't push forward any further, that we have reached our capacity of strength, we are pushed further than we ever imagined possible and somehow someway we make it through. We make it through with a new sense of hope, faith, compassion and strength. We are stronger!

 Caleb and I have learned to look at things through an Eternal perspective! By doing this we are able to make decisions with more peace and comfort! I remember at the very beginning of this journey I had so much fear of the unknown! I remember being prompted so many times to do two things!

This was Heavenly Father's ultimate promise to us as parents and a family! I can't tell you what peace and comfort that brought us as hard as it was handing your precious baby off to the surgeon to complete a brain surgery on your child. But then somehow trusting in the lord that he has a plan for you and him and that regardless NO MATTER WHAT, ATTICUS IS OURS FOREVER!!

It's hard to have an eternal perspective sometimes because no one ever wants to think about losing a child! Trust me, we know! However, the knowledge that I have been taught, the knowledge that I know to be true is the very thing that has carried us through and given me the most peace and comfort! We are SO grateful for this knowledge and for the strength it has given us to push through! I'm grateful for a loving savior who has been by our side every step of the way, the one who stood by the surgeons in that surgery room watching over our sweet son, I know he was there that day in that surgery room and in the hospital that day carrying Caleb and I, as we were weak and weary! He has always been here! Caleb and I are so grateful we have been able to bring our whole family to Seattle and we know that's what we were meant to do! It's our normalcy, having our family here and all together is All that matters. It's our calm and happy place to be together and we know its what or Heavenly Father wanted us to do!

Atticus has been GLUED to his Papa all week.  The rest of us have been chopped liver.

 
So this week we started out with clinic and labs! Atticus's labs all looked perfect and were all back up to normal good levels! HOOray! Just in time for chemo to start on Thursday (Today)!! Atticus had an audiology appointment this morning to check his hearing again! They will do this before each round of chemo because some of the chemo drugs he receives can cause permanent hearing loss. So they will check each time and adjust his chemo protocol if his hearing becomes affected! Atticus passed with flying colors and all was great so we were given the ok to start chemo cycle 2!

We got a late start to chemo today so as I'm sitting here typing Atticus is finishing up his dose of chemo (it's almost 11 pm)! Poor Atticus just started vomiting and is super nauseated! It's awful to see your little one's throw up.. He even knows how to throw up in the hospital bowls! He leans his sweet head over it and barfs and then looks up at us like what the heck is happening to me, mom and dad? It's heartwrenching! They just loaded him up on 3 different nausea meds and he just drifted off to sleep in daddy's arms! Overall today was a great day besides the nighttime nausea! We Love our little Atticus so much! He is so strong and brave! He is a fighter and is NOT giving up! He is our little hero, our miracle, and our Cancer Warrior!

He loves his sissy

  Cancer flips your word upside down, it affects your whole family. It's emotional and the hardest thing we have ever gone through! No one wants to see their children suffer and in pain! We take it one day at a time and we find joy in the simple things! We feel it is important to recognize the tender mercies, blessings, and miracles along the way and we focus on those! We focus on Atticus and our sweet kids and their moments of joy and laughter! Life is good and there are so many incredible people and blessings along this journey!Especially OUR ARMY!! Seriously your support and love means the WORLD to us! We truly could not make it through without all your love and support behind us!