His fever broke at midnight. All is well.

Mitchell woke up this morning vomiting. We just took his temperature 100.8 , the clock is ticking. If it gets to 101 we go to the hospital. It got up to 100.6 last night then went down. So we watch for the next twelve hours. If it goes back down and then up again in the next twelve hour we may have to go back in. 101 or higher is an instant trip. Our cat is snoring.

Mitchells Numbers were ok. Better than last time. He did not need a blood transfusion and was able to come home yesterday afternoon. His hemoglobin was 8.3 which was 3 tenths above the mark for a transfusion. He will have more blood work done next Tuesday. He will also be having another PET scan on Friday. We will be  able to see the results of the last two rounds of chemo. Fingers crossed!

At this point he has not had a fever, it has been normal. So at this time no trips to the hospital. He is a little under the weather with a sore back, a result of his spinal tap which has also given him head aches. Yesterday his head ache was a 10 on the pain scale. Today a 2.

This morning he threw up. We are not sure if it's from his head ache or the chemo. He is sleeping allot more from this round of chemo than the last. He has about a week of resting before the starts his Fourth round.  

Mitchell has an appointment tomorrow for blood work. With finger crossed he won't need a blood transfusion. So far he has been on top of his game since the end of chemo. He has had head aches now and again and has been tired. He has also become sensitive to loud noises and bright light. I think he's turning into a Magwi, and depending on what type of appointment he is going to have he can't eat after mid-night. Yep-Magwi. Wait! He has no hair so he must be a Gremlin! I'll let you all know how the blood work turns out.

Home from the hospital!

We are home from the hospital! It's always nice to come home to a normal life even if it's just for a brief moment, but the best part of being home is we get to sleep in our own beds! Mitchell is for the most part doing very well. The residuals of the chemo, so far, is just being really tired, lots of napping.

As promised, pictures...

 This is Dr. Pereira, his Pediatrician. She is the pro-active doctor who discovered his cancer!

 Mitchell and Mario were killing Zombies-Xbox.

 

Uncle Daniel and Aunt Anna!

 He got draw his own blood.

 

All tuckered out...

 He was able to do some art work with the other kids at the hospital the day he was discharged.

 Three bald heads. Jerome Kersey(Lt.) and Terry Porter(Rt.) How cool!!! Mitchell too!!



It's late Sunday night and Mitchell's chemo treatment is almost over. He will have his last dose Monday morning at 6:30 AM followed by 12 hours of hydration, then if all goes to plan, discharge. This round of treatment was a little harder on him both physically and mentally. His stomach has been more upset this go round, and lost a few meals. His appetite vanishes with the chemo so we have to be on him about eating and the trick is to find what he likes as his pallet changes. In all he is still got a fighters attitude.

I'll have pictures to post soon. We are all spent.

It's Saturday afternoon and Mitchell is doing good. He has spent the last couple day receiving chemo and one spinal tap. He has another spinal tap on Tuesday. He will be receiving chemo for the next 72 hours until Monday night. Mitchell had trouble keeping diner down last night but today seems to be better. He is hungry and has been able to keep breakfast down.

Room 3533

We are settled in at the hospital. They have already started the hydration portion of his chemo. His first chemo drug he is getting today is a 4 hour drip, and then tonight he will get a second drug that is another 3 to 4 hour drip. He will continue to get hydration IV  throughout the entire stay at the hospital.

He is in room 3533 and visitors are welcome.

Back to Work

Well, Mitchell is back to work kicking cancers butt. He went in at 9am this morning to begin round three. He will start off with hydration then a six hour drip of chemo. After that he gets to come home until Thursday when he will be admitted for his long, five day treatment.

I want to take a moment here and thank a very spacial team. The Winterhawks! The organization has been great and done more for Mitchell than I would have ever thought imaginable. To Mac Carruth, thank you for being a true gentleman, you don't know how much your visit to the hospital and the time shared on the ice has meant to Mitchell ~ Thank you! And to Nino Niederreiter, The stick you  gave him is like gold. He has only let me (dad) hold it once. Thank you. To the team as a whole, I can't say thank you enough.

This weekend was amazing! Friday night was the Winterhawks game against Tri-cities. So they lost...It was allot of fun. It was surreal, the support our family received at the game. Mitchell had the time of his life, as all of us did. We were privileged to meet so many amazing and generous people. You all have made his battle easier with all of your kind word, thoughts, and prayers. You're all awesome!!

Today we got together with Chief at the Navy office had some pizza and cut some hair. In the office I saw a poster and had to take a picture to post. A nice metaphor for Mitchell's attitude.

These are our victims. Jessika cut of 15 inches for locks of love and Kristen took off 10 inches. Sammy took off about 3 inches just because. The rest of us went skinny.

...back to the task at hand tomorrow. He start round three of his chemo on Tuesday.

Hair cutting party February 13!

We will be having the hair cutting party on Sunday at the Navy Recruiting Station in Hillsboro. The address is 1991 NE Cornell Rd. Hillsboro 97124. It will take place between 12-2 pm. This is a great opportunity to hang out and show you support for Mitchell. If you don't want to shave your head...that's ok, come and hang out anyway. I do apologize for the short notice but chemo starts next Tuesday and this was the only day we could pull off. If you can't make it but still want to show your support, shave it at home, send me a photo and I'll post it on the blog. You can contact me by email at. If you plan on coming could you please email me an rsvp so we can plan for food. Thanks and we'll see you there.

A side note for the ladies. I know shaving might not be an option so we created one. We will donate any hair to Locks of Love for those of you who want to. It has to be in a pony tail or a braid and no shorter than 10 inches. The hair cuts are free, however you can tip your barber.

The good news is Mitchell's numbers are up, way up, and he did not need another transfusion tonight. Also he has been given the green light by his doctors to go to the Winterhawks game on Friday night. He will start round three of chemo next Tuesday for the day then released (out patient) then he goes back on Thursday for the main treatment. It will be in patient as last time so he will be there for at least 4-5 days.

Now to the bad news, that's right with all good news there has to be a little bad. His hair has begun to fall out. Plus he is helping it because he thinks it's cool. Typical boy! So with that said, I want to have a last minute hair cutting party for him before he starts his treatment. I am thinking Sunday afternoon. I will have more details very soon, tonight or first thing tomorrow morning.

Happy Birthday...13!!!

It is Monday night and Mitchell is home. All is well. The fevers are a normal part of the cycle of chemo. At one point on Sunday his white blood cell count was zero. When we left today they were at 1.1, so up they come. He is off of all meds right now and looks like is old self. Woo-Hoo. He has another appointment on Wednesday evening for labs.

On Saturday he hit the wall. Zofran came to the rescue and settled his stomach. He slept most of the day. Now we, and he are in preparation for round three. After round three he will have another PET scan. Another opportunity to view the results of the chemo, but one step at a time. We don't know yet when round three start, however we think it should be just after Valentines.

On Friday night the Winterhawks are offering portions of the 100 level seats to a fund for Mitchell. However you have to buy the tickets by 4pm on February 10th, thought the Winterhawks office by contacting : L'Erin Waterstreet at 503-238-6366 ext. 430 and mention Mitchells group. It'll be fun...I promise!

    

                                                                     Feeling Better!!

MitchellsTeam photo on Saturday!

Tomorrow is February 8th and Mitchells Birthday...the big 1...3!!! So a big shout out ~ Happy Birthday Mitch!!!! Love you!! 

Mitchell was admitted to the hospital at 5am. At 2:30am Nickole and Mitchell left for the hospital. His temperature spiked above 101 which is an instant trip for him. They have drawn blood, done blood cultures, given antibiotics, and now we wait. He was given zofran to help with his upset stomach. it seams to have helped. He is allowed visitors, so you are all welcome. His room number is 3531.

Mitchell had a doctors appointment this afternoon. His hemoglobin was 7.7 so he had to stay for a blood transfusion. He spiked a temperature and we almost had to stay the night but it broke and fell to normal fairly quick. With his numbers dropping he is isolated from the public for at least the weekend till his numbers start to come back up next week. It's frustrating for him. He said, "dad, it's like being a caged lion."

Wednesday Night Fundraiser

Last night The Portland Winterhawks had a fundraiser hosted by Flying Pie Pizza in Lake Oswego! We were unable to make it but we had many friends there who told us all about it. We even saw it on Fox12. The outreach from our friends, family, and community has been incredible. This battle has been easier to fight with all of you supporting Mitchell and our family. With that said I can't thank you all enough.

I also want to send out a heart felt thank you to our hockey family ~ Thank You!

Support the Hawks and The Flying Pie!!!!!

Mitchell is doing really good! He's a little bogged down from the chemo but that is to be expected. He had a spinal tap yesterday and has one more day of steroids. On Friday he has an appointment with his doctors for blood work. Depending on his numbers he will need another blood transfusion either Monday or Tuesday. All-in-all he is doing great and I couldn't be happier with his level of maturity in all of this!