Quick trip to the Farm

Oakley's treatment was once again pushed back but we didn't let this get us down. Nope, we took advantage of his counts being GREAT and headed to the farm. We took off Friday afternoon after David's work. He put in a good day of work on Saturday. Church on Sunday. More farming on Monday. Blood was drawn Tuesday morning and we took off for Utah Tuesday afternoon. It was a quick but very enjoyable trip.

Oakley LOVES the farm and even more, riding in the combine. He's always asking to go to the farmhouse so we were glad that it worked out so well that we got to stop at the farm on our way to Utah.

Riding in the tractor with Dad

Driving the Combine with Grandpa!

I think Oakley has Grandpa wrapped around his finger. Whatever he wanted Grandpa gave him. Oakley wanted to jump, Grandpa jumped. (I was grateful Grandpa was willing, I wasn't!)

Just liked this picture. He was all tuckered out from playing outside. He was lucky that his Uncles didn't mind taking him out to look at the cows or jump on the tramp whenever he wanted to.

Oakley has also been blessed to have such a sweet and talented Great Grandma around. She sewed a quilt and put it up for auction in Oakley's name. The quilt was gorgeous and the fundraiser did awesome. We were lucky and got to be there when they held the drawing. Oakley of course, didn't want to cooperate, (I think he was a little worn out from riding in the tractors). Harley helped out and drew the name. Thanks again Grandma for all your hard work in making the blanket!

Once again the whole family got to tag along for the ride...in the tractor and hanging out in the hospital. What a bunch of Gallup troopers we have! :) We truly enjoy the time we get to be together!

Platelets, & another fever

Actually this week started out just needing a platelet transfusion... with a slight fever we were watching. Again, I ended up having to take him into the hospital, waiting for an hour to have a type and cross drawn for his platelet transfusion, only to be told we didn't need to come in for that and to go home until the platelets arrived. Yes, I was fuming again! One day they will get this all figured out and by then, we won't need them! Ha ha!

We did get to go home for the night however and didn't have to be back until the next afternoon. Oakley did great, I think it was because he didn't have to be accessed again, already had that done from the day before. He still had that slight fever that he didn't want to let go of so I told the nurse we'd probably end up back if his fever didn't break.

Yep, a trip back to Wyoming Medical Center that evening. His fever started creeping up and I felt that I had already waited too long to take him in. What a pain. We know what has to be done but there's always a protocol to follow. We sit in the ER for what seems like FOREVER, they tell us his counts are low and we're moved upstairs. Oakley still doesn't care for this hospital. He completely shuts down. Actually I think he's kind of fond of one nurse, he doesn't mind letting her take care of him. Anyway, after a dose of an antibiotic and a dose of tylenol, his fever of course dropped (literally in an hour) but now we're stuck there for the 48 hours required.

Luckily my parents had come out for a visit so we had someone to watch the kids. I know I've said it a million times but Thank You so much to everyone who has been so willing to take care and raise my other two kids while I've been busy with Oakley. I feel that a thank you isn't enough and I will repay all of you someday!

Sorry I don't have any pictures again, I'm limited with my resources since I'm not at home and don't have full access to the picture library. I'll update later with pictures.

Week 11

This trip we got to bring the whole family with us. It really worked out quite well. It was Labor Day weekend so David had a 3 day weekend. This was Oakley's 3 day treatment so David would only have to take off one day for traveling. Yeah!

Oakley was pretty upset that we weren't going to get to go stay at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Carl's house this time around, they were sick. We had to do some serious convincing and bribing, but we got him calm and convinced that staying in a hotel would be fun. We headed down Friday night after David got off work. We wanted to take Oakley swimming since his counts were so high and he was feeling great! The pool was awesome. It was warm water which Oakley took to rather quickly. Did I mention how much he loves the water too? Probably his second love to being outdoors. Anyway, when he finally got cold & tired of the normal pool, we were able to move to the hot tub which was the perfect hot tub temperature. It was also huge enough to accommodate Oakley's floater and the other two kids with their life jackets. I think they all would have stayed there all night if we would have let them. We made them get out at 12:30ish (AM) Yep, it was a late night but it was so worth seeing the excitement on Oakley's face.

Oakley once again did awesome! We enjoyed having the whole family there to hang out with. The kids had fun playing on the ground with their cars (we had a mat under them), cooking in the play kitchen and playing basketball. I wish I had pictures. I don't know why I didn't think to get pictures this time around. I think the family is tired of my picture taking. MEMORIES people!!!

We were able to have several visitors this time as well. My sweet childhood friend stopped in with toys galore for Oakley. He loved the puzzle and the Harry Potter card her little boy made. Oakley also received a beautiful quilt from his Gallup cousins. They patched together a quilt with blocks they decorated at the family reunion. What a great present. He sleeps with it on his bed every night to remind him of the great family support he has behind him!

The last day we were there, we were informed that Oakley would need a blood transfusion. David was tired of being there so he opted to have them place an IV and give him the transfusion simultaneously with his chemo. I had to leave the room because I wanted no part in extra pokes to my little boy. He did great though, received his chemo and blood and we still got discharged at a decent time. We were able to go to dinner and then back to another hotel for more swimming that evening. This water wasn't nearly as warm and the hot tub wasn't nearly as cool, but we did enjoy the company! :) Another successful week of chemo!

Thank you again to all who think and pray for our family & Oakley's quick recovery. I know that it's what has helped us get this far! :)