Wednesday, October 24, 2012

1 Month Old! (And other updates...)

Madelyn
It's hard to believe, but Maddy is 1 month old already! She had her checkup yesterday, and here are her current stats:
Height: 21.8 inches (77%)
Weight: 10 lb 3 oz (79%)
Head Circumference:  37.5 inches (62%)
Diaper Size: 1
Clothing Size: 0-3 Month
She is a very good baby. She is already sleeping better than her big sister did. Last night she gave me a 5 hour and 15 minute stretch of sleep. Most nights she sleeps in 3-4 hour stretches. I'll take it! Hopefully she continues this way! She is becoming more and more alert, and she is starting to make cute little noises (mixed in with her constant grunting!).

Stretching out at the doctor's office!
Tummy time makes me sleepy!


Taylor
Taylor loves having her little sister home, and she loves her new "Big Sister" role. She is very helpful and will try to calm down Madelyn when she cries. It's very sweet to see. She is always in her face, and can be very loud when she talks to her, which we are working on!
Taylor is also loving all of the Fall and Halloween related activities that we've been doing! She loved going to the pumpkin patch and then going home and decorating our pumpkins. We also spent the afternoon at Rock and Read, a Minooka High School event, where Taylor got to wear her costume! She looked adorable as a cupcake! 

She continues to make us laugh every day. She is very imaginative and has some great "pretend play" activities; some of her favorites include being a gymnast in a show, playing sleepover, trick-or-treating, playing doctor, looking for treasure, and playing in the "snow" (our down comforter). She is also developing quite a sense of humor. Her favorite joke is to call people by the wrong name - she thinks it's hilarious! 
Proud of her pumpkins!

Reading to her little sister... Maddy doesn't appreciate it yet!
Her craft from Rock and Read
Rock and Read

Hanging out with her pal Gillian at Rock and Read!
Listening to a princess story at Rock and Read
Holding her little sister

Painting a pumpkin at Mrs. Erica's
Playing in her new playhouse!

Sam
Sam began round 6 of chemo recently, after a 2 1/2 week break. During that break, he was supposed to have surgery, but things have changed quite a bit. The surgeons at the University of Chicago have decided that Sam has a better chance of kicking this cancer for good if he undergoes a radical surgical treatment that is only performed by a handful of skilled surgeons in the country. He will be going to Dr. Gokaslan at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He is one of the top spinal surgeons in the country. The surgery involves completely removing the L4 disc in his spine and replacing it with some sort of synthetic filler. Prior to this, he will receive a high-dose radiotherapy (also known as CyberKnife) to kill the tumor so that there are few living cells before the surgery begins. It is a very complicated surgery; it will take 2 surgeries of about 10-14 hours each, and he will be in the hospital for approximately 2 weeks afterward. His total recovery will be 6-12 months. Needless to say, we are very nervous about this, but we take comfort in knowing that Dr. Gokaslan performs this surgery quite often, with very little complications. We also agree with Dr. Gokaslan and Dr. Rubin (Sam's oncologist), that this is the best option considering that both his original tumor and this relapse occurred in the L4 disc. We all believe that this will give Sam the best chance of being rid of the cancer forever. We still don't have a surgery date, but are hoping to begin everything soon.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Update!

This week was very eventful for us, as it was Sam's "off" week from chemo, and he also had his scans today. I'll begin by updating everyone on the results of Sam's scans. He had 2 MRI's and a CT scan today, and the results showed that the tumor has shrunk significantly once again! From the initial diagnosis, the tumor has gone from being 35mm x 35mm, to 25mm x 15 mm! Plus, the scan of his chest showed that it is completely clear (Ewing's tends to spread to the chest, so he always has scans there to make sure it hasn't). We are so incredibly  happy with this news. His doctor seemed very optimistic in giving us the results. They were going to give him a 6th round of chemo before surgery, but his doctor wants to try to get him in for surgery as early as next week. We don't know a lot of details about that yet, but we will most likely find out Monday morning what the plan is. So there is a lot to celebrate this week!! 

Being that this was Sam's "off" week, we tried to cram in as much family fun as we could! We spent the day at Dollinger on Thursday picking pumpkins. Taylor loved playing in the pile of hay, and felt responsible for picking out pumpkins for all four of us. We had another family movie night, which we've decided is going to be a weekly event during these colder fall/winter months. Taylor loves popping popcorn and watching a new movie with us. Her expressions and comments during these movies are priceless! 

We are really enjoying having Madelyn at home with us! She is a very good baby. Hopefully she keeps that up! Taylor loves having her at home, and is a very sweet big sister. She loves giving her hugs and kisses, and talks and sings to her whenever she can. Taylor has definitely been fighting for our attention... we are hoping that it wears off soon! 

Playing in the hay pile!


Picking out the family pumpkins

Family pic attempt... Taylor wouldn't cooperate!

Take 2... at least she is smiling here!

Petting the cow

Look how big I am!