Update on Blake

Tuesday, December 30th 2008

Blake was scheduled for an operation at 2:00 pm. We had to keep him from eating, which was hard. He isn't used to us telling him he can't have food. We managed to make it from 7:00 am until about 12:30 without feeding him, at 12:3o they took us all down to put him under for surgery. During his surgery they put a port in his torso, in order to avoid having to poke and prod him every time they need blood or need to give him medicine. They also tested his spinal fluid to check for leukemia and gave him a chemo treatment in that area just to be safe. They also tested his bone marrow to see exactly how saturated it was with the bad cells.

It was really difficult to watch them put him under, but once they took him into the surgery area we were met in the waiting room by a group of family and friends who made it a little easier to handle.

Blake made it through the surgery without any complications. He was very groggy after the surgery and slept quite a bit. He was not hungry or thirsty at all for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, December 31st 2008

We had an appointment with our doctor to find out the progress on Alexia, so we had to leave Blake for the morning. We left around 10:20 am. It was very difficult to leave him. The doctor gave him a dose of chemo while we were gone. He ate a little tiny bit while we were gone also, but he couldn't keep anything down. For the rest of the day he threw up everything he ate or drank. We were really worried that it would be like that for the rest of the time he was on chemo, but the doctor let us know that they would find a medication combination that kept him from being so sick all the time.

Quite a few family members and friends stopped by to see Blake, he really enjoyed seeing everyone and liked the gifts people gave him. He was still in pretty good spirits and enjoyed trying to hit everyone with his Nemo balloon. Blake was still not able to keep any food down when we went to bed at night.

Thursday, January 1st

The morning went pretty well. Blake ate a tiny bit of toast and some cheerios and was able to keep them down. He was doing pretty well until he had to take his medicine. He took all of his medicines very well, but when they gave him the steriod (which we are told tastes like poo) it made him gag and throw up.

The doctor suggested we try giving him the pill form of the steroid. He suggested they crush the pill and hide it in a food he likes. First they tried chocolate pudding, which he took, but it made him throw up right away. We think it may have been a little bit too strong of a taste for him. When we tried vanilla pudding it worked and he hasn't thrown up since. It really seems to be working for him. As seen in the pictures above, he has a pretty healthy appetite. He is still much less energetic than he usually is, but we are just happy he can finally eat!

Blake had a few more visitors throughout the day and enjoyed playing in the playroom. They have to block the playroom off when Blake goes in, in order to make sure the other children do not infect him with any germs they may be carrying.