The Weekend at the Hospital

Jamey went to the hospital yesterady for his methotrexate. This is really hard on his body. It's a 24 hour drip, which started at noon. By 5:00 he was wiped and feeling awful. Since then he's been dizzy and nauseous, feeling just horrible the entire time. He did feel better, though, while his friend Nathan visited him. His friends' visits really help him cope with everything. My mom stayed with him all day, with my step-father, while David and I went to soccer games (both Noah and Coby's teams won - yeah!! The boys played GREAT). As difficult as it is to be away from the hospital, it is very important to the other two that we continue to support them and be with them - and keep their lives as normal as possible. We are very conscious that Jamey's illness has an affect on the boys also, and we want to make sure that they don't feel forgotten. This can be really difficult sometimes, but we've been managing okay.

It's terrible to see your child going through something like this. You feel so helpless, wishing you could do something. It's very depressing. I know he's going to get better, but the road there is really hard. I hope he feels better tomorrow.

I'm exhausted now - going to bed soon. I slept in the hospital yesterday, David is sleeping there tonight, then I am back there tomorrow.

Take care.

This Week

This has been a pretty good week for Jamey, even though his blood counts are down. He's had energy - almost back to his old self! It's been wonderful.

Yesterday was my birthday. My girlfriends (Ellen, Michelle, Maya, and Rachel) took me out to dinner on Monday night. I think it's the first time I've been out on a girl's night since April. We had a great time - they are so wonderful. I'm really lucky that they take such good care of my family. David sent me some emails that really made my day, so it was a pretty good birthday. To be honest, I wasn't that interested in it this year.

David started building a Sukka. We hope it's done by the end of the holiday so we can eat in it. :-)

We're not sure if Jamey will be going into the hospital this weekend because his blood counts have dropped so much. Tomorrow morning I will draw his blood, then David will drop it off at the lab. They'll call us in the afternoon to let us know. If there's one thing this experience has taught us (and there have been many), it's that we need to be flexible.

We will reach $10,000 in donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this week (we have some checks we have to send) - everyone's been so generous. Thank you so much! It's going to wonderful cause.

Picture Dates Off

I'm too tired to write today, but I want to let you know that the dates on our pictures are off. The latest picture I put on here is from 9/13/07 (our very observant friend noticed this).

Jamey's doing better - had a great sleepover with his friend Jordan, and spent all of Yom Kippur with his friend. It's good to see him with some energy and happy (especially since we go back on Friday). His mouth is also doing better, and the sores seem to be clearing up.

We just heard that our niece is getting married in January, and I hope that we will be able to make the wedding (NY), We're very excited for her!!!

Take care,
Karen

Back Home

We came back home on Tuesday. Jamey was so happy to be here! He went right to his room and played with legos (his favorite all-time toy) for a very LONG time. I think the hardest part of going to the hospital for Jamey is the lack of privacy. In the first place, we are always with him. He is never alone. Second, the bathrooms don't have locks, etc. It's really difficult for him. He's home now, though, and that makes him happy.

His body is feeling pretty good, except that Jamey has terrible sores in his mouth from his braces right now. The chemo that he took in the hospital has the tendency to give mouth sores. I think his cheek and gums are so tender (the cells in them), that his braces are cutting into his mouth. Poor thing! He's having a really difficult time eating and talking.

In spite of all this, Jamey is keeping his spirits up right now. He's such a good guy.

We met a couple of other families while we were in the hospital. It just reinforces my knowledge that we are SO LUCKY. One family came in and their son had been misdiagnosed at one hospital, then diagnosed corectly with leukemia several days later at another hospital. Because of all the delay, the child's white blood cell count was very high. That's more difficult to cure. Jamey was diagnosed by a BRILLIANT emergency room doctor at Shady Grove Hospital very quickly.

Another family also came in this past weekend. Their son goes to the school where Jamey will go next year, and their son was also diagnosed with leukemia. They were waiting to see what kind of leukemia it is. ALL is the easiest leukemia to cure, so we were hoping the boy has that kind. Unfortunately, he doesn't. He has the more aggressive type of leukemia, which means that he needs to stay in the hospital for the next 6-8 months, and perhaps get a bone marrow transplant. That is really difficult for the child.

Our hearts and prayers go out to these lovely families. We hope all ends up well.

Our Weekend at the Hospital

Happy New Year!

I'm glad to report that we had a wonderful Rosh Hashana. We broke bread with friends both nights, and had a lot of fun. Jamey didn't throw up (yeah!). The dinners were very laid back and relaxing. We also went to Shul. The rabbi did a special prayer for Jamey, which was nice. While David was in the sanctuary, I took the kids to children's services and Jamey went to the youth services. It was great.

Yesterday Jamey went to the hospital for his chemo treatment. It is the high-dose methotrexate one - we don't know how long it is for because it depends on his body and how quickly he can expel it. At the hospital he has to get an infusion for 6 hours before the chemo. We were there by 9, but the infusion didn't start until 5. This was very frustrating because now he'll have to spend an extra day in the hospital. In addition, when they took his weight we saw that he has lost 6 pounds in the last two and a half weeks. I'm not terribly worried about that because he started eating again (and not throwing up).

I have never seen Jamey so depressed. It's really horrible (even books don't cheer him up!). As soon as we left fot the hospital yesterday, he totally shut down. I know it's really hard for him to be away from home. Home is his favorite place in the world, and the hospital is probably his least. A few of his friends visited him (thanks, Jamo, William, and Ale). That, at least, helped him some.

Today my mom spent the day with him, while David and I went to Noah's and Coby's soccer games (they did great - yeah!!). They were exciting games - definitely a pleasure to go see.

David is spending the night there (I spent last night). We trade off -

Anyway, I'm too tired to write anymore tonight. Take care.

Our Weekend

Well, Jamey is still throwing up. We thought he was getting better, but he's still throwing up every night. He's lost a bunch of weight. Even though he's still throwing up, he seems to be getting better (stronger) daily. His blood counts today were up, which means he'll go into the hospital on Friday for his treatment. He definitely isn't happy about that. He hates gong to Children's - it has such bad memories for him (no fault for them, it's just where he was diagnosed).

It's funny, but through all of this Jamey is still a typical 11 year old boy. He came home today with a birthday invitation (a sleepover), and he was so happy. His first question was whether or not he'll be in the hospital that week. When I told him he could go, it just made his day.

Even though Jamey wasn't feeling great, we were still able to have a good weekend. He's so positive. As usual for us, Saturday was soccer day. This was Coby's first real game. He scored 3 goals (final score - 4-1)!! He was so awesome! It was also a big day for Noah. It was the first game in the Classic league. He did amazing, also - they won 6-4. His team is playing against older teams, so we were doubly happy. Both of the games were really exciting.

Jamey spent Saturday with William. He was subdued, with little energy, but still had a really good time. On Sunday he went to the movies with his friend Sarai, then another friend (Jano) came over. It was a great day for him. He had a good day at school today also. It's the little things in life . . .

September 7, 2007

It's now been almost two weeks since Jamey started feeling so horribly, and we are still waiting for it to end. As of tonight he is still throwing up - feeling horrible. He stayed home from school today because he was feeling so badly. I stayed with him in the morning, then David came home (he worked from home) for the afternoon. He was feeling better for a bit, but started throwing up after dinner again. He is in such a bad way.

I spoke with the doctor last night because we are getting so worried. It's been a long time since Jamey's been able to hold down any food or have any energy. She said that this is normal when the blood counts are so low. She thinks that his counts are going up, though. That should help make him feel better.

We are now busy getting ready for tomorrow's Texas Hold'Em funraiser (we are holding it here). We also have our first soccer games of the season (yeah!). Coby's game is in the morning, and Noah's is in the afternoon. I know the boys will do great - and we always have a fun time at the game.

For now, though, we just wait for Jamey to feel better . . .

I hope he has a decent weekend.

Labor Day Weekend

It's been a difficult holiday weekend for Jamey. He was feeling sick all week, and he wasn't better by yesterday. We feel so bad for him - he's been throwing up constantly since last Tuesday. Yesterday he threw up in the Barnes and Noble parking lot, then again at home. At least he had a good afternoon playing with his friend, Daniel.

We are busy getting ready for our Texas Hold'Em fundraiser for the Leukemia Society (next Saturday), and the bike ride. We have raised about $7500 for the Society so far, which I am thrilled about. It is because of their work that Jamey's chances are so good.

Tomorrow we go to the doctor and get blood counts to see when he can start his next phase of treatment. You can tell that Jamey really wants to eat and feel good, but his body is not cooperating this week. He went through a similar experience last time he finished with a phase of treatment. We are hoping that next week his body will bounce back and he will feel really good week before he starts treatment aagin.

I need to get ready for my bike ride. I am up to 57 miles which takes me about 4 hours, but I need to be able to do 100 miles. From what I am told, if I can do about 75 miles, then I should have no problem doing 100. Whatever it is, it could not possibly be as bad as what Jamey feels. I have 4 more weeks of ride times. Soccer games start next week for Noah and Coby, so my weekend time is going to be even more busy with their games. I will need to find time to fit for my practice rides.

Rosh Hashana is almost here and it will be a good time for us to pray for Jamey to have a sweeter year. This is my favorite time of the year (also love the spring/Passover) when the weather starts to get a little cooler. I love walking to the synagogue and running into friends. Evertything seems to stop during this time of year, like someone is taking count and inspecting what we have done in the past year. This is a good time to look back reflect on the previous year, and make changes for next year to be sweeter. This is going to be a special Rosh-Hashana, as went through a lot this year. All we need is for Jamey to recover and get back to being a kid again. He is a good and strong kid and we know that G-d is watching over him. He will get better, the road there is just tough.

That is it for now. Are only wish this year for our family is to start healthy, and for Jamey to contine with his recovery.

We wish you all a happy new year. May this year be sweet and all your wishes will come true.

David and Karen