Mitchell is doing very well. He is busy slipping back into normal life. We all are. He should have a an appointment for scans some time next week or the week after, and a huge panel of labs. All standard stuff. Let the monitoring begin. Some exciting news as well, his hair is starting to come back in. It is sparse, but there are dark hairs.So much for being aerodynamic.

Nighty... Night...

Last LP (Spinal tap)

Craig Birnbach, Channel 2 Sports. He's the man behind the Channel 2 story attached to the blog. He visited often and even tracked us down at the game Friday night. You're awesome Craig!

Aunt Paula and Uncle Jorge. We love you!

Two of the strongest people I know. Aunt Paula is a Breast Cancer Survivor!  

This is Alesha. She was behind the scenes for us. She stayed with his sisters while we were at the hospital, brought meals, and was able to find Vanilla Coke. Thank you!



Sorry folks, parks Closed... This is Brett and Zendra. They are dear friends. They also helped out with his sisters and meals. We couldn't have done it without friends like them.



This is nurse Ron one of the many trusted and loved nurses. He is holding THE last bag of chemo just before hooking it up.



Friday nights game. He got his name on the door!

The family minus one.

This picture speaks volumes to me! As Nickole and I were by his side through his whole fight, seeing where he was and now, where he's going. What ever his dreams are...cancer is behind him!

The National Anthem with the Hawks starting line up.

This is Dr. Galderisi, Mitchells Oncologist. She is the quarterback to Mitchells treatment...She is a special woman to us all!!

The Rose Buds. Two of them anyway.

Mitchell is home and he spent his afternoon putting together a Lego set he received from a family friend. He got it while he was in the hospital but it was too big to assemble there. It's huge and has 2503 pieces. We are settled in and are strangely looking forward to work.

Mitchell has an appointment on Friday for blood work. His numbers this morning were low, Platelets at 8.3. anything under 8. is a blood transfusion. The doctors are expecting that to happen. Will it be his last? I don't know, but would say, probably.

Friday evening we will be going to the first game of round three playoffs. He was invited by the Portland Winterhawks to be the seventh man at center ice at the begging of the game. This will be his first time in skates since December. He's very excited.

Mitchell and I are very excited about something we have in the works to give back to the community that helped save his life! We will reveal our plans at a later date, but we've got something cooking!! And it is soooo cool!!!

We also want to have a party for him in May or June to celebrate his victory over cancer. As soon as we have a firm date we will start sending invites.

Also, although Mitchell has not written anything on the blog, he has read every comment left and is blown away by the number of followers he has and how many times his site has been visited. Thank you for all the comments!

Is this the end...or the beginning?

It's the end of his treatment, but the beginning of a five year check up plan. A check up plan to monitor what remains of his tumor. PET scans, CT scans, MRI's, ultrasounds, but only 24 more hours of chemo, six months of monthly shots of antibiotics, one last spinal tap, two more nights in the hospital, and one short ride home.

In about a week his numbers will drop, as they do with every round of chemo, but that does not mean he will end up in the hospital. He hasn't spiked a fever after every round, so we are crossing our fingers and asking for just a little more help from the big guy up stairs. Hank...he's this really nice orderly whom works upstairs.

Mitchell will never be cancer free, the doctors aren't even using the word remission, so I have to be very delicate in using the right words. Screw P.C. My son has beat the shit out of cancer in five rounds and has left cancer to bleed out on the mat!!! Ding-Ding this bout is over! Mitchell is a survivor of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma!

As the author of the blog I want to thank EVERYONE for EVERYTHING! By no means am I done with the blog. I'll keep it up and running as long as people are still reading.

Nurse Ron just hooked up the last bag of chemo!!!

Regardless of the title we will be celebrating for now!!!

Check back tomorrow as I have more...

Sunday's update

Mitchell has now gone 15 hours without a fever. He is feeling much better and he has been instructed to get up and go outside and get some sun. He is back on his normal stay here at "Hotel Emanuel". The next time we do the roller coaster it better be at Disney Land. I'll have more to say tonight.

Mitchells fevers have been like Space Mountain at Disneyland. He peaked at his highest temp. last night at 105. He has been sleeping almost all day and night. He currently has a normal temperature with the help of Motrin. Unfortunately he doesn't get it all that often because he is an Oncology kid. The reason is because Motrin or Ibuprofen is as platelet thinner, we want his platelets up. So as it wears off there is a good chance that his fever can go back up.

So far all of his labs and cultures have come back negative for viruses and infections so the fevers and the vomiting have been the typical results of chemo. He has 48 hours of chemo left on his road map.

Fridays update

Yesterday was a great day for Mitchell. He was able to go to the class room for some school time. He also has had some great visits with friends and family. Last night around 9:30 pm he spiked a fever. It has ranged from 101.5 up to 104.6. Every time he tries to take Tylenol he vomits immediately. The doctors have said that this is a side affect of the chemo he is on. To be on the safe side, they have also started him on antibiotics and have done some cultures to make sure he doesn't have an infection.

His spirits are still great even with feeling yucky.

Wednesday-update

Last night they did his last bag of the yellow chemo. Today Mitchell had his first spinal tap of this round. Tonight at 9:30 they will start his ARAC chemo. That is a 24 hour drip that he gets for 5 days. He will be in-patient during the entire chemo process. He is doing great and is enjoying every moment of his last round of chemo. He goes to the classroom twice a day and he tries to participate in the activities Child Life provides for the patients. These are just a few of the ways he keeps going while being in the hospital for such a long period of time.

Room 3524

Mitchell is in the hospital and we are underway with his final round of chemo. He has a spinal tap tomorrow and more chemo. He will be in the hospital for seven days at which point we will be released for what we hope to be the last time...ever! But one day at a time.

His room Number is 3524.

It's Sunday night and all is well. Mitchell had a great weekend. Friday and Saturday were nice days so we were able to head out side and play. Sunday the weather was back to normal so we spent the day playing video games, doing chores, and watching movies.

Tuesday is the big day.

No one fights alone!







This first Picture is of Kaila in Chicago after her boot camp graduation. Her recruiter is Chief Ferrara. He is pictured with Mitchell in the hospital . Chief Ferrara has been involved in Mitchells fight, has visited at the hospital in his dress uniform, let us use his office for  the hair cutting party, has continued as a mentor to Kaila, and has become a friend of our family... 

 

...This is a picture of Chief with his mom Kathleen Ferrara. She has recently been diagnosed with Uterine stage one cancer. She is going in on Wednesday April 13th for surgery in Raleigh NC. Chief and his mom are viewers of the blog so please leave a comment for them. Our family sends our love and support to yours. Be strong and fight hard!



Mitchell is scheduled for round five of chemo on Tuesday the 12th. I spoke with the surgeon and he said that yesterdays MRI showed that the original tumor/mass was indeed inflamed from the infection he dealt with and that it has shrunk more from the comparison PET scan. All good signs. We are moving forward again!!

I just got the call, NO SURGERY! That's all I have right now.

Mitchell goes in this afternoon for his MRI. I do not foresee any decisions from the doctors today, however if I do I'll post it here. The word of the day is he will be having surgery tomorrow or he will start chemo, one of the two. The saga continues...

Visitors, Nurses, and one Naked Mole Rat

Mitchell is home from the hospital. He is feeling much better. He has an appointment on Thursday for an MRI. They are not doing another CT because they want to limit the amount of radiation he is exposed to. After the images are read by the surgeons and his oncologist they will decide as to weather he is going to have a biopsy on Friday. If they choose not to do the biopsy they will reschedule his appointment for chemo. Basically it is still a wait and see game.

I want to thank everybody for the support that they have given him.

I'll update as we receive information.

Sunday's update

       Mitchell has now gone more than 24hrs with out a fever. He is feeling much better. He still has some tender spots in his tummy, but that isn't slowing him down any. He had great time with Zendra while mom and dad took a break and went to lunch together. He had a surprise visit from his Aunt Simone and Uncle Andy, who drove down from Everett Washington. Overall yesterday was a good day.
        The oncologist has now removed one of the three antibiotics from his medication list. The surgeons stopped by and said he can start with liquids now. Mitchell still isn't hungry at all, but we need to see if his body is able to start processing food.
         As for the biopsy and the mass, a different head surgeon has examined Mitchell and the CT scans, at this point he is not convinced that it is worth the risk of going into his lower abdomen to biopsying the mass. The risk includes damage to the large and small intestines, or the colon, or worse internal bleeding. At this point the biopsy has been put on hold. They wont make the decision to operate until mid week. The surgeons are pleased with how he looks and feels this morning. The infection seems to be going away and the inflammation of his entire G I track is going down as well.
            Now we will wait and see what is next for his journey.

Update

      First thing that needs to be said is that Mitchell's fever seems to be under control. After two and half days of  three different antibiotics, he is feeling better. It is great to seem him laughing, doing art projects, leaving his room for walks, and most of all, trying to figure out April Fools jokes he can play on his nurses.
      Today Mitchell was visited by a team member on the surgical team. Then hours later he was visited by the entire surgical team including the main surgeon. After he examined Mitchell's physical condition and Mitchell's CT scans, he and the oncologist discussed a game plan for Mitchell. Together they determined that Mitchell definitely has some sort of infection, and that his tumor/mass needs to be biopsied.
       The treatment for the infection consists of zero foods, minimal clear liquids, continue all three of the antibiotics, and a IV nutritional bag. He needs to let both his stomach and intestines rest. By doing all of this his entire G.I. track can heal.
      The biopsy surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, he will remain in the hospital until the surgery. They are keeping him in the hospital so they can monitor his abdomen. The next three days will be healing internally and preparing for his surgery. Most of his numbers are raising, so he is defiantly on the road to recovery.

***Thank you everyone for your continued support, it sure makes the detours in our journey easier to deal with***

updates will continue as we learn more......
      

Unfortunately at this time we still have no new news. It seams one hand doesn't know what the other is doing, so we will post as soon as we have an answers.