Skip to main content

Wednesday, June 20th

Hi everyone,

  Hoping this message finds you all well.  We are ever so grateful for the continuous messages of prayer, positivity and love.  Otto is a very lucky boy to have all of you in his world.

  So, we got back the results of his spinal tap and we are incredibly happy.  There are no leukemia cells that appear to be in the spine.  What does this mean?  Three less bags of chemo to have to take during the 10 day period!!!

  Yesterday was Day 2 of chemo.  He had one dose in the morning followed by two doses in the early evening.  For the most part, his body handled them ok.  He's still getting fevers here and there, but thankfully Tylenol kicks in to make things better. 

  Today is Day 3.  We are looking at 4 doses throughout the day.  One thing I am noticing is that chemo makes you tired and sleepy.  All that is telling us is that his body is taking it's time healing itself.  And we are just fine with that!

  Two days down and eight more to go!  We've got this, O-man!

  Sending you all our love and thanks,

  Mark and Leigh


  PS - If anyone would like to send cards and such, here is Otto's address:

Otto Funderburk
South Pavilion 7-3
20 York Street
New Haven, CT 06510


Comments

  1. UnknownJune 20, 2018 at 7:34 AM

    Fabulous news!!!!!! You got this Otto!!!!! Andrew misses his Xbox partner! ❤️❤️❤️

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJune 20, 2018 at 10:35 AM

    A Prayer during Difficult Times
    I place my hands in yours, Lord, I place my hands in yours.
    I place my will in yours, Lord, I place my will in yours.
    I place my days in yours, Lord, I place my days in yours.
    I place my thoughts in yours, Lord, I place my thoughts in yours.
    I place my heart in yours, Lord, I place my heart in yours.
    I place my hands in yours, Lord, I place my hands in yours.
    –All Will Be Well: A Gathering of Healing Prayers

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJune 20, 2018 at 6:43 PM

    Thanks so much for sharing this blog and the google sheet. Cora knows Otto from school and LMES, and sent her best wishes when I told her you had a blog. If he is up for a visit on Saturday, I signed us in for 4:00 pm (unless you have family and a lot going on that day - we know Yale well and can make that visit any time). Prayers are with you all.

    I’ll be glad to share with you tales of being a hospital Mom, and the various styles of dress you can discover while you’re inpatient :) I’ll check the google sheet in case that time doesn’t work. We also know sometimes a quiet day is needed, so understand either way. Hugs to you both, I hope you have a good night of sleep and day 4 goes well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. funderbloggerJune 21, 2018 at 3:54 AM

      Thank you so much Valerie! It means so much coming from you. Your family has been through so much, but Cora is stronger as a result. You actually were ones I thought of when we started this journey. Praying every day for a similar result!

      Delete
  4. Campbell321June 21, 2018 at 7:25 PM

    When we went through treatment for AML with our son, Tristan (he’s in 6th grade at MMS) the families who went through the same ordeal were some of the most essential parts of our healing journey. They “got it” better than people we had known our whole lives and our closest family members. I will reach out to you directly if you want to ever talk about this with someone who has lived through the ups and downs of having a child go through AML treatment. Hugs and prayers to your entire family!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. funderbloggerJune 22, 2018 at 7:17 AM

      Thank you so much for reaching out! It is ever so helpful.

      Delete
  5. UnknownJune 19, 2019 at 11:07 PM

    Thanks for post:

    ship hỏa tốc sang Gabon
    ship hàng hóa tới Gabon
    vận chuyển bưu phẩm sang Burkina Faso

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, October 24th, 25th and 26th

So many things have been happening since we last posted.  There have been many meetings, discussions, and realizations we have had. A few days ago, Otto started showing signs of bleeding.  The doctors have decided it could be one of two things.  It could be related to his infection in his intestines or it could be a sign of the fungal infection spreading.  After reviewing scans and speaking to the surgical team, the team feels this is related to the fungal infection.   The fungal infection is one that is extremely rare.  It is also one that is very difficult to treat.  We were hopeful that with a building ANC alongside the three antifungals, that Otto's body would be able to contain the fungus.  Instead, his body is showing signs of it spreading.  The team will send him for another scan towards the end of next week to see if there are any differences in size of the three masses on his liver.   We have also researched and reached out to another hospital.  The particular
7 comments
Read more

Friday, June 22nd

Good morning!  Otto wants you all to know that he's doing well.  He had another great night, and we are over the moon happy that he has been fever free for 18 hours.  Mark went to rounds this morning with the team, and Otto's counts continue to look really good.  His white blood cells are continuing to dwindle (which is what we want) and his body is preparing itself for the ultimate fight.  So, that's pretty amazing news for us, considering what was dropped on our laps Friday afternoon. I know that it is most likely that people are wondering if we are in good hands.  I will tell you that we are.  The doctors are on top of everything - from what is currently going on to what could happen - and have a plan to counter it all.  We are incredibly lucky to be surrounded by individuals whose life's passion is researching and helping kids with AML to beat it and succeed.  With that being said, we see these individuals from time to time throughout the day.   Our ultimat
11 comments
Read more

Monday thru Thursday December 3rd - 6th

Hello Everyone, Last chance to get an Otto Strong T-shirt if you haven't already. Here is the link: www.rsvpinvitations.net/shop. Order by Sunday. It has been a long difficult week. Otto's nights are still restless with bathroom trips, occasional coughing, nose bleeds, and nausea. We've peeled back some meds to help relieve some of these side effects making him more comfortable and we've increased his pain medication to alleviate his pain. His baby tooth bleeding has finally gotten under control after several days trying various techniques from some starch/potato powder, gauze with pressure, amicar(spelling), "magic mouthwash", gel gauze, to some surgical glue - sorry,  that was not too specific with the medical names, but rest assured it was a lot of attempts and failures, but finally not bleeding! Throughout it all we were down as low as a count of 2 for red blood cells and 8 for platelets. Otto received several bags for support.  Monday thru
3 comments
Read more