Don't think of the cost.... Think of the value 

While I am sure all of these extra things come at a great cost, the value that they provide is far greater.

We finally got into the Ronald McDonald house!!!

Love that little Cheeser face!!!

We had a group come and do some arts and crafts called "Love your Melon".  It is a really cool clothing company that has a goal of putting a hat on every child suffering from cancer in America.  They gave away over 10,000 beanies in one day!!!  We had a lot of fun meeting them, and of course we all got matching hats!

This kid kills me.  He is so funny

Well, yesterday was a great example of why we have been pushing to get closer to the hospital.  First off I should preface that when we first got up here to Seattle and started this whole thing the oncologists said that we needed to be really diligent in watching his temperature. At very minimum we have to check it every morning and evening and if it hits 99.6 we have to check it every hour and if it hits 101 then we have to call the on call oncologist, which puts us in the hospital for a minimum of 48 hours.

Typically in the course of treatment with chemotherapy, your blood values go up and down.  When your white blood cell count is so low your body has a very difficult time even keeping it's normal bacteria in check and therefore is much easier to get an infection which results in..... you guess it.... a FEVER.  So Emmie and I were trying to decide on the best way to monitor him with out having to worry all day especially at night!
I mean, what happens if we check at 8:30 and the temp is great, and then it spikes at like 3 in the morning? we are suppose to be to the hospital and on antibiotics within an hour of the fever spiking.  Then we don't find out until like 8 in the morning and he has had 5 hours of unchecked fever!!!  Well, that was no good for us.  So, we found this awesome little thermometer that can monitor him 24 hours a day.  We put it on when his counts hit bottom.  So on Friday we put it on since we got an ANC of 0 back from the lab.  On Sunday we saw it starting to trend up around 2 in the afternoon, and sure enough by about 9 pm he hit 101.  So off to the hospital we went.  It was so nice to be so close, last time we got a fever it took me close to an hour and a half to get here.  Far to long.   It looks like we will be here until at least Thursday :-( but.... so is life these days.

Over the weekend we were trying to decide what we could do with Atticus to keep him entertained even though his numbers were so low.  We have to avoid public places, and things like that.  So playgrounds, malls, and such are out of the picture.  We have found that walking trails and wilderness parks are a great option.  so we went to Discover Park here in Seattle.  It is AWESOME, there is acres and acres of trees, trails, beaches, and ponds.  We had such a fun time.


Emmie and I have really been pushing to not let his Cancer dictate our lives.  I have seen through so many others that it can consume your entire life in a dark cloud of despair.  It is a slippery slope for sure.  But when ever we feel that we are falling down, we just bear up and go and do something fun!  I feel that we have grown so much closer as a couple, and a family during a time that it is so easy to get torn apart.

During these dark times I am reminded of something that Tomas S Monson (LDS leader) said back in the early 90's.

“It may be safely assumed that no person has ever lived entirely free of suffering and tribulation. Nor has there ever been a period in human history that did not have its full share of turmoil, ruin, and misery.

 “When the pathway of life takes a cruel turn, there is the temptation to think or speak the phrase, ‘Why me?’ Self-incrimination is a common practise, even when we may have had no control over our difficulty. …

“However, at times there appears to be no light at the tunnel’s end—no dawn to break the night’s darkness. We feel surrounded by the pain of broken hearts, the disappointment of shattered dreams, and the despair of vanished hopes. We join in uttering the biblical plea, ‘Is there no balm in Gilead?’ We are inclined to view our own personal misfortunes through the distorted prism of pessimism. We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone.

“To all who so despair, may I offer the assurance of the Psalmist’s words: ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning’ (Psalm 30:5).

“Whenever we are inclined to feel burdened down with the blows of life’s fight, let us remember that others have passed the same way, have endured, and then have overcome.”