Treatment Update

We made another visit to the clinic today for some treatment.

Jake's counts were low, around 400. This was a little bit of a surprise, but we had moved his treatment up just in case they had dipped this low. He received a chemo treatment today and we will have to give him 2 more at-home shots over the next couple of nights.

The Dr. is happy with the progress he is making. Just to be safe, they have scheduled a blood transfusion for Monday in case we run into any problems between now and then. They are expecting that his counts may drop even further over the next few days so they have started him on some antibiotics to make sure we start fighting off any potential infections.

Our next treatment will be on Tuesday(11/12). Things are going as planned to this point - if you can really "plan" for an of this. In talking with the Dr. today - she is thinking that he will be ready to return to his classroom before Winter Break. Now, I know that there are some incredible people from his school who check in on his status. I am not trying to get anyone's hopes up or to have any plans made for an expected return date. As with most things through this entire process, the further into the treatment we get the clearer the next steps will become. Continue to keep Jake in you thoughts and prayers. He is doing good with the treatment as well as the limited side effects, but I think he really misses his friends from school and just being able to do "normal" things that kids do.

Interesting comparison....

I have been watching Jake go through some pretty major physical changes over the last few weeks of treatment. This portion of his treatment has required him to take a good size dose of steroids. It started high, but has been tapering off over the last few days. When we were in the clinic 3 weeks ago there was a professional photographer who was there to take some pictures for a website that is being put together. Last Wednesday we received a copy of photos they had for Jake. These photos were taken prior to the latest steroid treatment. I didn't use the actual photos because I was unsure whether they were any copyright issues. But I did have a photo of him taken early in Oct that works just as well.

I was amazed at how much his body had changed after only 3 weeks of steroids. Call me a cynic, but when I compared the photos there was only one thing that came to mind.


Barry Bonds then vs. now
Jake then vs. now





I am not making accusations.......just making a comparison.

Halloween 08

Joshua was the manager for the Boston Red Sox's

Checking baseball stats

Writing his roster

Getting excited to go trick or treating

Being Silly

Peace Out

Focus on the pumpkin

STOP taking pictures of me (roid rage)

Mom was worried that the cheeks wouldn't fit

Working his Batman skills

Jake's favorite sword at the ready

Glow in the dark stickers for
Trick or Treating