Owen's Story

Owen had his treatment yesterday, and I went along with him.  I have taken the past couple of months off since having Avery.  I was impressed with how well Owen did with getting his chemo.  He used to really put up quite a fight when getting his shot, but when I wasn’t there, Poppy and Nanny were and he was always so tough in front of Poppy.  He must have realized that he can do it.  He just closed his eyes, as if to be in his place of zen, and let the nurse do what she needed to do.  I was so proud of him!

His counts were really high, but they are not going to increase his medicine just yet.  Maybe next month.  He has been getting a lot of headaches recently, and his Oncologist thinks it could potentially be related to the one chemo pill that he takes at home.  We need to set up an appointment to go see a Neurologist to see if they know where the headaches are coming from.  This poor little boy has been to more specialists in his 5 years than most see in an entire life.  I hope that it is nothing serious and that he doesn’t have to take any more medicines.

Owen joined TBall this spring, and has been doing a great job!  He really has some potential!  Here is a shot of him about to hit are really nice one!!  Thanks for reading!!

My baby boy turned 5 today!  I can hardly believe it.  He is the strongest, bravest 5 year old I know.  He has gone through more in 5 years that most will their whole lives.

He had a treatment today…  as he would say “What a bummer that I have to get a treatment on my Birthday”.  The hospital staff was so nice though.  They all came to wish him a Happy Birthday and he even got a special birthday present.  He is doing well and had a wonderful birthday.

Here he was playing in his sandbox this morning.

Spring has finally arrived and it is so refreshing to see all of the new growth!  After the winter we have had this year, everyone is ready to get outside and play!!  Owen has been doing great!  He was doing so good, that his Doctors increased his medicine that he takes at home.  They say that as he grows and gains weight, they have to adjust the quantity of what he takes.  He doesn’t like that he has to do more pills each night, but it is what is needed to keep him on the right path.  There isn’t a whole lot new in regards to his treatment, but Owen did become a big brother again.  This time to a beautiful baby sister.  Owen and Logan love her so much already.  She is very well cared for by these two.

Here is the boys coloring eggs.

Here is baby sister Avery.

Sorry it has been so long again!  Owen has been doing so well.  He had a great Christmas with lots of family and is ready to start the new year!

This Wednesday was his most recent treatment.  He had to get a lumbar puncture which meant sedation.  It is so hard to not let him eat, especially since his Doctors are not in the clinic until after 1 pm.  This week his appointment was at 2pm, but the procedure before him went long and his didn’t even start until about 20 after 3!  To make things even worse, he eats dinner at 6 the night before, but can’t eat anything after that because the one chemo he takes at home has to be on an empty stomach.  So, 21 hours of no food, and then let’s give him a bunch of sedation medicine and chemo on an empty stomach!  Great combo… he woke up from sedation and shortly after was sick.  He was sick pretty much all evening.  He finally was able to get some food in his belly which I think helped a lot and he was able to sleep well.  He has been doing fine since then.  They did increase his at home dosage of chemo.  I guess with him gaining some weight, they have to adjust accordingly.

On a side note, Owen was at a photo shoot on Sunday!  He was getting pictures for a blood drive that is going to be held at Pine Community Center on March 28.  He is one of 3 locals who all have the same type of Leukemia.  They have all received blood products, and this is a great event to help replenish the supply!  I will have the times later for anyone around the area that is interested in donating.  Here is one of the pictures taken by the very talented Andrea Shilling of Family Art Photography.

I can not believe it has been a whole year since Owen was diagnosed with Leukemia.  So much has happened in this past year.  He has been through such a difficult time and I am proud that he is such a fighter.  I am glad to say that he has already forgotten some of the bad stuff.  He was asking about Christmas the other day and whether he slept in his bed last year.  We said no, because he was still not walking at that point.  I remember how we wanted so bad for him to be able to walk downstairs to see what Santa had brought him, but he wasn’t ready for that.  All of the hard stuff has made us stronger, so there is something good that has come out of this.

He still has another 2 1/2 years of treatment left, so the journey is not ending.  We would like to thank everyone again for all of the thoughts, prayers, and generous actions over the past year.  Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today.