A year ago today...

Cohen was diagnosed a year today... Crazy huh? I can't believe it's already been a year. He has been through so much in just one year. 7 cycles of chemotherapy, resection of his tumor, 2 stem cell transplants, 6 rounds of total body irradiation, 4 rounds of focal radiation, and the study- 3 cycles of the CH 14.18 (aka antibody or study drug,) 2 cycles of IL-2, and 2 cycles of IL-2 and the antibody. He just completed his 4th cycle of the study and has one more the week of November 10th. Then he'll be done!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so proud of our little boy. He has been such a trooper through all of this. He is normally really cooperative with the nurses and doctors and is rarely in a bad mood. Although he is famous for saying no to all of them. One of the Nurse Practitioners makes sure she asks the right question just so she'll get a yes.
I am so thankful and blessed for all of the wonderful people we've met along the way. You all have made a huge impact on our lives and we appreciate all that you do for Cohen and the rest of us.
Also thank you so much for keeping him in your prayers. I truly believe in the power of prayer and know that your prayers have done so much for Cohen.

Cycle 4 of the study

Cohen was in the hospital this month from October 6th-10th then again October 13th-19th . This month he received IL-2 the first week; which he handled really well; and IL-2 and the antibody the second week. He had a really rough time the second week. It was harder on him this time than in August. He normally gets Dilaudid for pain because he gets really itchy and hives on morphine but Dilaudid isn't compatible with the other two meds. So they gave him morphine again because he did alright with it in August. He didn't do so well this time; his heart rate was in the 190's, he was bright red, itchy, had hives, etc. So they decided to take him off the morphine and put in an iv in his foot (later moved to his hand) with dilaudid. They said if taking him off of the morphine doesn't remove all of those symptoms than they'd consider taking him off of the study. We were ok with their decision either way. But luckily it was the morphine and he did much better. He finished the meds on Friday but still had high fevers and was nauseous so they kept him until Sunday. One of his cultures came back positive so they put him on iv meds at home for 7 days. He is back to his normal self again, as of Thursday, playing around and eating again.