Move

Life has been happening at an alarming rate the past few weeks.  

It has been confirmed that David will only see the oncologists every 6 months unless otherwise needed.  We have scheduled his next exam with the eye doctor for September 12.  This is the longest interval we have had between exams since he stopped chemo.  This is exciting, but also a little anxious for me.  But, it seems like these intervals will be getting longer so that is great news.  We have to have exams every 3 months until he is 3 years old, and then every 6 months until he is 5 or 6.  After that, I don't know... that is a long time in the future.  He is doing very well.  He is walking and getting into trouble.  

The big kids both start school on Tuesday.  Tomorrow is Isaac's birthday, so that will be a nice day.  They will both be at Reedy Fork Elementary this year.  You can pray for Isaac that this will be a smooth transition.

And finally, we have decided to put our house up for sale and move closer to Rob's work.  We have been talking with a realtor who is going to help us to sell.  We are in the process of doing some of the cosmetic work to make it look just right.  We have an aweful lot to do.  We have a bit of painting on the inside, and cleaning of the vinyl on the outside.  We also have a ton of packing and moving to get us down to the bare minimum of necessary things.  It is a lot of work, but Rob and I will be childless on Labor Day weekend, and hope to get a lot of this done.  Please keep us in prayer as we make all these decisions about this move.  Pray that the house will sell and that we will be able to find a house in the proper place that will fit our family and keep Rob from having to drive so long each day.  

I hope you are all well, and I will update again soon!

-Kim

Intervals

I talked to David's oncologist yesterday, and he feels like we don't need to go in and see the oncology people but every 6 months.  This will be great!  Each time we go, they will do blood tests and David will have to have an MRI.  These are mainly precautions just to be sure that the cancer isn't spreading anywhere else in the body.

I am hoping to talk to the Eye Center people today and schedule David's next exam with them.  We are hoping that after this one, we will only have to go in every two months for exams, but it will depend on what the Doc. finds during the exam.

So, that is where we are.  David is growing nicely - he is our most robust child.  Hannah and Isaac love him, and he loves them, so that is fun to watch.  

I am ready for school to start.  It has been difficult for me to stay above the mess that three kids make when they are home every day, and I have also found it very hard to keep the kiddos occupied.  So, I am ready for a little more routine.

-Kim

Update

David had his exam as scheduled on Monday.  Even though the OR was very very busy that day, they took him back very quickly.  He was great in the pre-op room....just playing and laughing and getting sleepy on shoulders.  

The doctor seemed pleased, although he still had to do a little more cryotherapy.  He told us that he hasn't seen any new spots in the last few exams, but some of the old spots aren't "flattening out" like he would hope to see.  He said that he can't be sure if these spots are dead or alive, but he feels like he has to treat them just in case. He didn't give us any ultimatums about enucleation this time, so we are feeling a little encouraged.  

We get to go back again in 6 weeks.  Unfortunately, that will be right around the time that Hannah starts back into school, but, what can you do?

In other news, we may be changing our oncologist.  Our current oncologist has been great, but he is changing his clinic days to a day that doesn't coincide with David's EUAs.  This would mean that we would have to make separate trips to see him and the eye doc.  We aren't sure yet what we will do, but it has been very convenient with gas prices as they are to only make one trip.

The big kids are currently in Waxhaw playing with their grandmothers (my mom and her mom).  They are having a blast, and in the meantime, Rob and I are doing some summer cleaning and getting ready for a yard sale that we are going to have next Saturday.

-Kim

Results and Appointments

So, David had a surprise MRI a little bit ago.  Although it was a traumatic experience for us (getting IVs put in and other little things), the results were good.  They did not see any tumors other than the ones that they already knew about, so we are happy about that.

We were able to go to Wilson, NC this past week to visit with some of Rob's coworkers who were especially gracious to us while David was still on chemo.  They sent us meals each time we had to take him to the hospital....among other things.  It was so nice to be able to put names and faces together!

David has really come to like walking.  He still totters a lot, but he is getting better and better by the day.  The big kids are very excited about this new trick.

I will post more again soon!

-Kim

Now

Hello Friends,

I know it has been some time since I have updated here.  

About 10 days ago, David woke up from a nap with puss coming out of his ear.  The doctor said that he had a very bad infection in both of his ears.  We just finished up the antibiotics yesterday!  He really takes medicine very well, so that is a blessing.  The medicine gave him a very bad diaper rash, but I think it will clear up quickly now that he isn't taking it any more.

We just had a lovely family vacation over the Father's Day weekend.  We went to the beach with my parents, Grandma Goodall, Aunt Jeanne (my Mom's sister), my brother, and my nephew - Elijah.  It was a really nice and relaxing time.  David ran a fever the last full day we were there.  I am still not sure what that was about, but he seems to have gotten over it nicely.

Here is David on the beach.

He seemed to have a great time.  He crawled around like a crab, watched the big kids in the water, marveled at the waves, and ate sand.  It was fun for him.  He didn't spend too much time outside since he is prone to sunburn, but he especially loved staying inside with Grandma Goodall who spoils him.  

David's next exam is scheduled for July 14.  Until then, Hanah, Isaac, and I will be in my good friend's wedding tomorrow.  Then our little family will be at the beach again for the 4th of July.  We are going to have a yard sale sometime - which will be a lot of work, but hopefully lucritive.  It will be a busy summer.

-Kim

ps.  If you would like to see more great pictures, just click on David's profile picture (of him eating his birthday cupcake).  This will take you to our photo site!

MRI

I forgot to tell everyone that our MRI had to be rescheduled.  I still don't know when we are going to have it, although, we have scheduled David's next EUA for July 14.  

David's eye is healing very fast this time.  It was only swollen for about 24 hours, and now, it just has a few red spots in it.  It isn't tearing up quite as badly this time either.  

David has started to walk.  He still doesn't do it all the time, but over the past few days, he has been doing it more and more.  Life continues to change.

I will update again later.  We are going to be spending the later part of next week at the beach with my Aunt from New Mexico, my Grandmother, and my parents.  It will be a nice vacation that none of us have had in some time!

-Kim

One

Friday, David turned one year old.  He also had another exam.

The whole day went very smoothly.  David did spectacularly as always, and the flow of the operating room was smooth, so we didn't have to wait very long.  

The doctor found a very small spot that he decided to cryo again.  He seemed extremely pleased with the progress from the last time we were in.  We have to go back in 4-5 weeks, so that is a little longer than last time.  The only sad news was that he told us that if he needs to cryo again next time, we need to sit down and talk about the risk/benefit of continuing to cryo an already blind eye.  So, that is kind of hanging over our heads until then.  I don't know exactly when that appointment will be yet.

David is doing very well.  He caught a cold at the hospital, so he is very congested, but his eye looks great.  It didn't swell up like it has in the past, and each day it looks better and better.

I will keep you all up to date on other appointments.

-Kim