Thirty Days and Waiting

It was an early morning release today, and Otto came home!  What a great feeling to be back all under one roof yet again. Although we are all home, Otto is continuing to feel side effects of the chemo from this round. One thing that popped up again is light sensitivity with his eyes. He has to take steroid eye drops to prevent chemical conjunctivitis. Unfortunately it causes his eyes to feel extremely dry. So we are trying to counteract with saline. He also continues to feel itchy from one of the meds, so we are trying to battle that with Benadryl. This ends up making him tired, so he’s taking cat naps like crazy. We just keep praying that now with Round 3 over, that the side effects diminish. It’s rough seeing one of your own not quite the way they usually are. But, we keep reminding ourselves that this is a small hill to get over. It’s small potatoes in the grand scheme of life. As always, thanks for the prayers and positive thoughts. We continue to need them. With much g...

A big hello to everyone out there!  We are on Day 5 of this third round and we are almost done.  Yesterday had some ups and downs, but he ended it on a good note.  Nausea continued to set in and more meds were needed to counteract it.  We decided that it would be a great idea to keep them up round the clock versus on an as needed basis.  Otto also started developing a rash due to his chemo meds.  However, all was taken care of with Benadryl.  Today was more promising.  The nausea has been handled and Otto has been in a chipper mood.  He is excited that this is the last day of meds for the round.  He's hoping that nothing prevents him from heading home tomorrow morning.  Fingers are crossed and prayers are continuing to be said. Hoping all is well with everyone out there.  To all of our teacher friends - hoping you have a great school year!  May the next few days run smoothly prior to the kids coming in. Sending you...

Happy Monday! The nighttime treatment went as planned and there were no issues to note.  Otto must have been dreaming about something entertaining, for he was laughing in his sleep.  One thing is for sure, chemo may take the energy away at times, but it can't Otto's entire being! We met with the team this morning at rounds.  Tests results came back for the spinal fluid and it continues to be clear of leukemic cells.  We are still waiting on word in regards to his bone marrow biopsy.  His blood counts continue to be high, however, we all know due to the chemo that they will be trending down soon. Otto had mentioned that he was feeling a little warm yesterday.  Nurses continue to monitor his temp for a fever, since this is a common side effect of one of the chemo meds he is receiving.   Today he will start Day 3 of chemo.  We are half way through this process, and Otto is kicking butt!  We continue to pray that these little ...

Today was the beginning of Day 2 of chemo.  After this, he has three more to go.  The day before, he tolerated everything really well.  He had no issues and was just as perky as he has been.  Today, however, has been a little different.  The higher levels of the meds are definitely getting to him more (as expected) and he's dealing mostly with nausea.  Thankfully, there are a variety of anti-nausea meds that were given, in addition to those for preventive purposes, that were extremely helpful.  Otto went from not wanting to see a piece of food to devouring an entire bagel.  It's not the norm for him, but we will take it! One thing that we are incredibly thankful for is that part of his treatment starts at midnight.  This means that they can hook up and deliver the chemo through his broviac while he is sleeping.  Other than having to be woken for the administering of eyedrops, Otto sleeps through the night.  In our minds, especiall...

Today, Otto starts Round 3 of chemo.  This round will be more on the intense side, so we are praying he can make it through with no major issues.  The team has already met with us.  Due to the amount of chemo he is getting, his anti-nausea meds are being increased.  They are hopeful that because he has never needed any when recovering his counts, that his body will respond well to them.  Again, we are praying this is the case. Chemo will take place twice a day.  He will get two meds over four hours in the morning followed by one med over three hours at night.  This will occur over the course of 5 days.  We are half way through this process and we are ready to get through it! So thankful for all the prayers and positive thoughts.  We ask that if you have, please continue to do so.  Our hope is that Otto will be home starting the week of the 27th.  We want to be home so that the girls can start their school year off right - a st...

Hello all!   Yesterday was an amazing day.  The Riverview Cinemas 8 in Southbury allowed us to come to the theater yesterday morning with a few friends to watch The Meg.  This is a movie that Otto has wanted to see since the trailer came out.  We were the only people in there.  Our neighbor, Kim, had arranged this and we were over the moon excited!  So, a special thank you to her!!                                                   Today, we came into Clinic and then quickly realized that we gave Otto breakfast.  That was a no-no, for he was to have a procedure done in the morning.  So, we were asked to wait until 1pm when he would be ready for sedation.  The procedure went fine and we are now inpatient waiting to start chemo tomorrow morning.    Tomorrow will be Day 1 of Round 3.  We are moving i...

Today has been a good day. Otto has been out playing golf in the yard, while the girls have been playing outside with water. Tomorrow we have an exciting outing to go to. We are taking Otto out on the town (at least for a couple of hours). We are hoping he enjoys his time out. Thank you for all the good thoughts and prayers continuing to be sent. All we ask is that you keep them coming. We cannot believe we are about to move on to Round 3. He’ll be half way through the process. May God continue to be good to us! So much love, Mark, Leigh, Otto, Tess and Lulu