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  • Hello, and thanks for joining me on my journey.

    This is Owen. He is a 3 1/2 year old boy who is loving, energetic and loves to have fun. He was diagnosed with Leukemia on November 18, 2012. This is his story.

Owen’s Leukemia – Days 150-152

We have been having some good days.  Friday was rainy, but we spent the time getting ready for our neighborhoods yard sale.  I can’t believe we still have stuff wrapped in boxes from back when we first got married!  Owen has been feeling really good.  We don’t know if his counts have increased, but we are hoping that they have so that he can get his treatment on Wednesday.

Saturday I went to visit with two of my cousins.   I haven’t seen them in a while, so it was so nice to visit with them.  Lana and her family were supposed to see us around Christmas so she still had gifts to give us for the kids.  I brought them home and Owen could not wait to dig into them!!  His cousin Meghan made him a hat (as seen in the picture) and here his is helping Logan open his gift too (such a good big brother).

Here’s to having a great week ahead.

LanaApril 21, 2013 - 10:11 pm

So glad you were here. Meg is going to be thrilled to see this picture of Owen wearing the hat. That was the first one she completed by herself. Can’t wait to see the boys this summer. Love ya!

linda murphyApril 22, 2013 - 9:58 pm

enjoy keeping up with owens progress and with all of you.i think hes doing really great with all hes dealing with,and looks adorable!

Joanne&Barry MurphyApril 29, 2013 - 8:12 pm

We continue to pray for Owen every day and sounds like some of our prayers have been answered. Love, Joanne&Barry

Mary-AnnApril 30, 2013 - 1:23 pm

Hi Renee,

I just got caught up on your journal. He’s such a trooper! Hope you and Jeff are hanging in there. So much happening. I’m glad to read he’s doing well. Always thinking of you and the family.

Take care

Owen’s Leukemia – Day 149

What a gorgeous day!  The sun was shining and warm!  Jeff had scheduled off since we thought Owen might be feeling bad after having a big day yesterday.  He didn’t get any treatments and was feeling great, but Jeff kept his original plan.  We spent the day doing yard work and trying to get the house in order.  It was nice being outside for almost all day.

This was taken this morning.  I am just amazed how quickly he went from having hair to his head being completely smooth.  It happened so fast!

I thought I would share the love with Logan too.  He had his well visit today and got some shots.  Here he is looking serious.

Owen’s Leukemia – Day 148

Turned out to be quite an interesting day.  We went to the hospital this morning to start our long day there.  They started us off in the infusion room so they could start hydrating Owen.  They took his blood and he had some time to play before they could start anything.  They had a little playroom on the floor so he was playing in there at the kitchen and workbench.  They came back with the results from his bloodwork and his counts were too low.  The ANC needed to be at least 750 and his was showing 400, so they wanted to count it manually.  That usually gets a better read.  That came back and it was only 240!  So, they pushed all of his treatments for this week back to next Wednesday.  It will give his body a week to build itself back up.

While there today, Mike the head of the Child Life Department on the 9th floor came in to tell Owen about the new treasure chest that they got.  He didn’t know Owen so he was trying to get to know him a little bit.  Owen had a baseball shirt on and was talking about playing.  Well, while we were waiting for Owen’s counts, Mike came in and asked if he wanted to go to the Pirates game tonight.  Of course Owen said yes!  His Doctor was off today, so they asked one of the other Oncology Doctors if they thought it would be ok for him to go since his counts are so low, and they said it should be fine.  The rest of his blood counts were fine.

He had the.best.time at the game tonight!!  I think he had a smile on his face the ENTIRE time.  As we were leaving he said “are we coming back tomorrow night?”  I love it though, we watch them at home, so he know the players names and was cheering for them!!  So, the day turned out way different than we had planned, and so much better.

Here is a shot of the boys.

 

KimApril 18, 2013 - 7:36 am

What a great surprise! He looks so happy! I hope the week off helps his body recover!

Aunt CathyApril 18, 2013 - 7:41 am

I love the picture and its evident in his face how happy he is at the game. I know he loves baseball and its great that he was able to an exciting Pirate win. Way to go Owen!

Janet BuccarelliApril 21, 2013 - 7:32 am

What a great picture of Owen and his Dad. It is great to see Owen look so happy.

Owen’s Leukemia – Day 147

Not much to report today.  Owen was feeling good, so we went to the park.  We had an unexpected surprise that one of my friends was there with her son, so Owen had someone to play with!  They had a lot of fun, especially running on the soccer field.

Tomorrow’s our long day at the hospital.  Owen has to fast, so no breakfast in the morning.  Luckily his appointment is at 10, so that is a good thing.  He gets a ton of different medicines along with a spinal tap.  The one medicine they give, he has to be hydrated, but since he has to fast beforehand, it usually poses a problem.  So, they put him on fluids once we get there to boost his levels then they have to keep checking his urine to determine when his level is ok to give him the medicine.  They said to plan on being there all day.  Hopefully it goes smoothly.  We’ll let you know tomorrow night.

KimApril 17, 2013 - 7:44 am

We’ll be thinking about you guys today! Praying for a very smooth day!