PLEASE, HELP FIGHT CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA

ANOTHER ENTRY IN A DAY OF A CHILD WITH LEUKEMIA PLEASE, FIND IT IN YOUR HEARTS TO DONATE AT LEAST $5


Posted Dec 17, 2006 7:04pm
Well, we are waiting for the results of Drew's Bone Marrow Bio.
...that was done on Thursday to determine if he will go to the next
phase of his Chemotherapy...I hope and pray that he will move
forward because if not he will have to endure two weeks longer of
induction which means more Steroids and delay his
treatment...Today, he is sore on his right hip from multiply biopsy
and very, very sleeping (redraws from the Dexamothsone (steroids).
Considering all things he is in better spirits and his ANC (actual
neutropil counts are at a 1500 below a 500 means...no fun,
visitors, etc.) Yeststerday, we ventured out to Randy and Jay's for
dinner and to Hines Parks light show...He loved it...he told us we
were at the North Pole but, sad that he could not see
Santa!!!
I would like to thank you...Luanne for the gift basket of wine, the
steam roller for Drew and teddy for Sarah...it sure brighten our
day...Brian and Amy I do not know what to say...U guys are super
awesome and amazing people...Now we will be able to get Drew a Art
or Music Therapist to help him understand things a little
better...most insurance companies do not pay for therapist unless u
are crazy...and we have great insurance so go figure...We got a
reference from the hospital and one might be able to come directly
to the house which will be nice on days where Drew is not feeling up
to it!!! Thank you guys this is a very special gift...
Everyone,,,we have signed up at www.carepages.com and type in Drew
Valinksi please, please post message of encouragement...we have
started this web page to keep everyone posted with treatments, pics
etc. so check it out and give typed words of thoughts we sure could
use them especially after a night of one to two hours of
sleep...
For some of you who have asked or are curious Sarah just started
cereal and is rolling and almost sitting up...but, does not like
the teething part of a 5 month old
I know some have ask What can I do or say? Well, first leave us a
message on care pages...drop a card in the mail to Drew and Sarah
to cheer them up...come over to visit Drew and Sarah (just make
sure u have not been or been around anyone sick) or Does anyone
want to dress up as Santa and visit...but, most of all pray, pray,
pray and enjoy your family this Christmas!!!
Love,
Us

JOURNAL ENTRY ONE MONTH AFTER DREW WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER

Posted Dec 29, 2006 11:55pm-this is a journal entry written shortly after Drew was diagnosed....please, give-

Induction complete---

Now Intensive Consolidation...New drugs, new side effects, new hopes, new prayers, Gotta love Cancer!!!

Finally, it is 10:30 p.m. and my house is quiet. The sound of both kids breathing in and out through the baby monitors fills the air and I have a deeper sense of relief and need for quiet. Tonight, Drew had a horrible time taking his medication...he fought so hard to be in control...to not have to give into his mother...( I guess it is a good thing my baby is a fighter...it just makes him that much tougher) so, here u have it my life...my reality---Drew and Mommy fighting over medications while Sissy is screaming in the background with both Labs barking...Again, Gotta love Cancer!!!

The last few days have been emotional, physically challenging, and better considering Drew is off Steroids and Sarah is teething. Drew and his friend David visited...compared cars, conducted trains, ate lunch and exchanged Christmas gifts...the visit started well but, ended with an emotional bang!!! After, all said and done yesterday Clinic was pretty good...it start at 9 a.m. with a blood draw..Drew was on NPO again which means no food or drink (other than clear) two hour before a procedure such as a spinal or bone marrow. What torture for a three year old coming of steroids and anxious about his procedures to not be able to eat breakfast. Finally, we had the Lumbar Puncture (LP/spinal tap) and each time a procedure is done it is very hard for Chris and I. Drew gets morphine for pain, numbing cream on the entry sites, and versed (a drug that is supposed to make him forget the whole thing). Although he gets these drugs, it is very clear that he feels everything that they are doing. He must lie in a fetal position (like the letter C ) and be held in that position by the nurse while the Nurse Judy does the procedure. We somehow through this awful procedure do enjoy the side effects of the morphine since we get a glimpse of the chatting, imaginative Drew that normally seems suspended in the haze of the other drug side effects. There are no words to describe the feelings you have as you watch your child curled up in pain, being jiggled back and forth as they insert the long needle, the spinal tap. There are no words to describe the feelings of watching the marrow come out for the bone marrow aspiration or the spinal fluid drip, and the syringe of yellow chemo drug (MTX) enter his central nervous system. It is both terror and relief...relief that with each procedure, each medication, each moment, we are saving his life! Without Chemotherapy he would die. However, I still wonder what my life was like before November 14, 2006? How would it be today...If there was no Cancer or no Chemotherapy? What gave me the to feeling or need to push for that finger poke at my pediatric office...and demand answers because my son had a fever (just a fever...just a cold)? Why did my life change forever...Who decided that I needed Cancer in my life to survive? When will this horrible nightmare be over...and when can my baby boy be normal (other parents teach their children words such as dog, and, cat...my son is learning Zantac, Zofran, Dexsonmethsone, Methtrextete, Vincristine, Cytarabine, Mercaptopurine, and Cytoxan)? Where can I go for these answers and get them?

Please, I ask for you to pray and hope for a better day for Drew, the Chemo drugs do what they are suppose to do (kill Cancer), his doctors and nurses help, guide and take care of him...that he his is brave, strong and courageous...

Thank you to all that have given us word of inspiration, thoughts and prayers...

Thank you Polly for your wonderful gift...You are an awesome person with a beautiful heart...Words cannot express what I am feeling so, I give you a hard, long cyber hug from my families arms...

No I do not Gotta love Cancer...I hate it...but, I do love my Boy!!!

Love and have a Happy New Year!!!

HEAD OVER HERE NOW TO GIVE

Jennifer