Poker Night and 45 days down!!!!

Abby, Troy and I, Kelly Bray (Dean of Students), Chris Lineberry (Principal), Nate Braunhut (5th Grade Teacher and member of the awesome Dad's club) You guys are amazing!!!

We have made it through 45 of the 56 days and we are thrilled to be almost done with this phase. I thought this phase was 60 days but, yeah, it is only 56. Monday Troy went to the clinic for chemo and we found out his numbers were pretty low. Tuesday he had a blood and platelet transfusion that took about 6 hours. Luckily, at the pediatric outpatient treatment center (POTC) they have a portable DVD player so he just watched movies and colored on cars paper of course. The blood transfusion will help him get more energy and give him a little color back. I didn’t even think he looked pale but the doctor could see it right away. The platelet transfusion helps his body with clotting. He seemed to be doing fine until last night. Troy was up coughing and gagging in the middle of the night. We had a bowl in his bed thinking he was going to throw up but he never did, thank goodness. Abby and Wyatt are sick with a cold and Troy has gotten it also. Luckily, no fever so he is doing pretty good. The doctors expect his numbers to drop even more, so this is the critical stay home and go nowhere time. Once his numbers come back up we could be in the maintenance phase as early as December 10th. Maintenance will consist of spinal taps once every three months, an oral chemo at home every day, the steroid drug 5 days a month, another oral chemo once a week at home, and visiting the clinic for chemo once every 4 weeks. It sounds like a lot but it is certainly less than what we are doing now. Yes, his hair has fallen out and there is something strange about washing your child’s head and feeling only skin. Although, I don’t like it because now he looks like a cancer patient, I still think he looks darn handsome.

A couple of weeks ago Abby’s school (Jack Harmon) sponsored a “poker night” to help pay for Troy's medical bills and prescriptions. The PTSO and Dad’s club put it on and it was a great success. Chris didn’t even know how to play poker but still had such a great time. Abby’s principal & faculty has truly embraced our family. They have taken on so much just to help support us. What remarkable people we are surrounded by. We are so grateful that people still want to help and we are touched daily by their generosity.

If anyone out there is looking for a way to help we ask if possible to donate blood or platelets. Donating blood does not take very long while donating platelets does take about a hour. How grateful we are that people out there take the time to donate. This week Troy has benefited from their small sacrifice of time. Next week it might be another child battling cancer who will benefit from your time. I truly never thought about donating blood or platelets until all this happened back in June. What an easy way to help out. Go out on a date and make it a “blood and dinner” date. Just kidding but I thought it was pretty funny. Once I get pictures of the Turkey Waddle I will post those but that was awesome also. Thanks to everyone, we love and appreciate all you do.

More Spaghetti Dinner/Silent Auction Pics & Troy's Update

Maren who seriously put the word out and collect a ton of items for the silent auction. Another MVP!!!
The guest of honor eating his spaghetti and loving it.
Justin was the auctioneer and did a wonderful job. He could have a career as a MC.
Jennifer and Jeff Stout who put so much time into the whole night. Jeff was the one who designed the website and he did a fantastic job. We love it. Yet two more MVP's.
Troy at the end of the night. It was quite a success.

RACAP:

There are no words to express how wonderful the spaghetti dinner and silent auction was. It was absolutely amazing how it all worked out. We were able to raise close to $7000 dollars for Troy. Every bit of it will go to pay for Troy’s growing medical bills, copays, and prescriptions. What a relief to have that burden taken off of us. Even if it is only for a little while, every little bit helps. So many people that I had never met before were there, and the kindness of strangers was truly fascinating. We had people in our neighborhood come over and say they had just eaten dinner and forgot about the dinner but still wanted to donate. My heart melted as I opened an envelope from a little sister and brother with a few dollar bills and change. What wonderful children with remarkable parents. Although, I hate to be on the receiving end of things, I have learned so much about people and their genuine concern for my family. That is how it should be, everyone taking care of each other. Alright enough of that or I will start crying. We must give a colossal THANK YOU to Susie and Dave Packer, Maren Urkov, Jeff & Jennifer Stout, Janae Heath, my family, all those that donated items for the silent auction, those that came out to the dinner that night, and anyone else that I might have forgotten. We truly appreciate all the hard work and planning that went into that night. . Get ready for the Turkey Waddle on Thanksgiving morning, the Harmon Dad’s club basketball tournament December 1st, and London’s Run in February. These are great opportunities to help and we so appreciate those who organize all these events. I know I sound like a broken record but we truly do appreciate everyone's kindness.

Troy's Update:

Well Monday was quite a long day at the Peds Outpatient Treatment Center (POTC). Troy had another spinal tap along with a shot of another chemo drug called cytarabine in his arm and another chemo drug called cyclophosphamide that was on a drip into his port. The cyclophosphamide is a very strong chemo drug that had to be diluted in Troy’s body. We had to hydrate him for 4 hours since the drug can’t sit in his bladder or else that causes bleeding. I am glad we are done with that for this week. A home health nurse comes for the next 3 days to give him the shot in his arm and then next week we do it all over again. Spinal tap on Monday followed by the shots for the next 3 days. I am happy to say we are done with 30 days and half way through this phase. Also for the next 14 days he will be on an oral chemo that we give him at home called thioguanine. Taking medicine has become a normal routine for him. Troy just might be the bravest little boy to go through all of this. He gets better and better at tolerating all the pokes and chemo. How grateful we are for the doctors and nurses who take such remarkable great care of Troy. Thanks again to all of you for your concern and support.

Spaghetti Dinner Pics

My sisters Kelli, Heidi, and other sisters Leah and Holly B. (A)
My twin sister Holly taking the money at one of the entrances.
My niece Emma serving salad.
Dave Packer, worked incredibly hard on the dinner night and all throughout the preparation of this event. You are a MVP Dave!!!
My sister Nat, Janae, Susie, and Brianna. These ladies worked so hard to put this night into action and it was Susie's idea for the dinner. I am so glad she has such a huge heart and wanted to do something to help. It was a "magical" night.

25 days down!!!! / Spaghetti Dinner Tomorrow

So we are 25 days down of the 60 in this phase and I am so excited. Troy is doing great despite the eating constantly and mood swings. Seriously, he is eating non-stop but that should wear off soon. We go on Monday for another spinal tap and several different chemo drugs so I am not looking forward to that. Then the next week we do it all over again. The later part of this phase is pretty intense and the doctors say he should be pretty tired. I can’t imagine him anymore tired than he already is. The dude wants to go to bed so early every night and I find him asleep throughout the day also. I guess the more rest the better for him. Almost half way through and we are so lucky to not have had too many issues. I can’t believe it has been 5 months since this all began. It sure has gone by slow but hopefully time will fly once we are in maintenance. We know in the end everything will be just fine.

Tomorrow is the big day for the SPAGHETTI DINNER/SILENT AUCTION. So much hard work has been put into this & I hope everyone who reads this can attend. There is so much awesome stuff up for auction and even more that has not been added to the website. Check out the items on the benefit link on Troy’s blog under spaghetti dinner. http://www.wendtfamilybenefit.org/ We are talking Suns tickets, zoom teeth whitening, photo sessions, and much much more. We are so excited for this event and appreciate all the hard work that has been put into this.