Home Again...

Hey there,

We made it home late yesterday. JT was in a great mood all day Tuesday except for the removal of the bandage that holds on his accessing needle to his chest. He told me as he laid on his bed last night that he "didn't even feel the needle coming out." I replied that made sense because he was too busy crying and screaming over the tape.

Here's a shot of JT catching up on a little addition and subtraction while getting his meds.

Take care,

dct

Top of the Fifth...

Hey there. Today began JT's fifth chemotherapy cycle. And, of course, it can't begin easily. We awoke to nearly 10 inches of new snow. If Mother Nature is reading..enough already. Give the kids in southern California a treat and dust them with the snow. We here in Maine have had enough this winter. I know, I know. We New Englanders are supposed to be a hardy bunch. But guess what? My hardiness just up and went on vacation...to a place where there's no snow. I'm ready for spring.

Anyhow, I digress. JT and his mother checked into Barbara Bush Children's Hospital this morning around 10am and have pretty uneventful day. According to Mom, JT was absolutely amazing during his medi-port accessing. Nary a wince from the little guy. Typically, a "good" accessing involves a fair amount of whining (in opposition, not pain) and a few leg kicks. Probably the same thing I'd do if in the same position. Not this time though. Mom says that we only had a minor leg twitch. While one event certainly cannot constitute a trend, would it be a stretch to think that 30-some-odd weeks into this journey he's getting used to the big needles? Probably not, but one can hope if only for his own anxiety levels.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hydrating and finally late in the day he began getting his Lomustine, Vincristine and his six-hour Cisplatin IV. At around 5pm I arrived for the overnight shift and Jenn left to get Jack and head home. By 11pm tonight he'll have "consumed" all the chemo for this round. The following 18 hours will be spent hooked to an IV so he can pee it all out. If things go as scheduled we'll be out of here by 6pm tomorrow.

I'd like to take a moment to mention little superstar out in Colorado and ask that we all keep him in our thoughts and prayers. I came across Tyler Luttrull's story late last year and was struck by how eerily similar Tyler and JT's stories were. So much so, that I contacted Tyler's father, Jay, through Tyler's CaringBridge.org page and subsequently have had the honor to share JT's experiences with him and vice-versa. Tyler, a medullo-fighter like James, has had his fair share of battles. As if fighting cancer wasn't enough. These troopers have to fight nausea and weight-loss. Big T's has had his ups and downs but he's showing us all how to fight like a champ. Keep up the good fight Tyler. You still have a good amount of racing to do.

Here's a little glimpse into this amazing little guy. http://tinyurl.com/d2nr3u

Well, I'm going to say good night. I'll check in tomorrow. I have to go and prepare my "lovely" couch-bed and get JT down for the night.

Take care and love to you all.
dct