In St. Lou

Hi all. Riley and I arrived safely to St. Louis yesterday afternoon, and with no tantrums or screaming on the plane! Andrew is feeling much better these past few days. His blood draw yesterday showed his white blood cells were up, as well as his red blood cells. His red count was not as high as he would have thought, but it's still moving up.

If any of you St. Louis folks would like me to pick up any un-sold bracelets from you, just send me an email and I'm happy to do that this weekend before I return home.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Discharged

I wanted to let everyone know that Andrew was discharged from the hospital this morning in St. Louis. I have no other information - but his fever must be down and counts up in order to be released. Thought everyone would like to know and thank you for your prayers.

Happy Memorial Day!

Update on Andrew 5/23

Hi all. Andrew finished his 6th round of chemo last week and has been back in St. Louis recovering since last Sunday. This round was a lot harder for him - we think all the chemo is just really getting to him, making his body a bit weaker. He's been more tired, battled some mouth and throat sores and even felt nauseous at times. He's been working some, but mostly from home this week, as his energy has been very low.

Yesterday he went in for a blood draw to check his levels, and his white blood cells were at zero. This is normal for this period in his chemo cycle - but they did a few more tests and had him rest at home. Last night his fever got up to 102 - so he was admitted to the hospital. With a high fever there is risk for infection - so they will keep Andrew in the hospital in St. Louis for the weekend, running lots of tests, checking for any infection and bringing his fever down. This is all very normal for someone going through chemo. Actually, all the doctors and nurses in Houston have been surprised this hasn't happened until now. Andrew is on antibiotics, receiving lots of fluids and of course making the doctors and nurses laugh. Andrew also had a blood transfusion this morning, to help boost his red blood cells. He will receive another pint this afternoon.

Andrew returns to Houston on June 2 and will have his normal full body pet scan and meeting with his doctor on the 3rd and 4th. This is a BIG appointment, as the results of the scan will determine the next step. He may receive 1 or 2 more rounds of chemo in Houston or his doctor may decide to take a break for a while.

My mom is en route to St. Louis right now to give Andrew some extra support and I am headed there on Thursday morning to be with him until he goes to Houston. Let's all be thinking about Andrew this Memorial Day weekend and pray that his fever comes down and that he does not contract any bacteria or sickness.

That is all for now - thank you again for all your support. It is truly amazing!

CORRECTION

The article that Steve Kelly wrote about Daniel Shapiro running the marathon for Andrew appears in the Seattle Times TODAY. It was online last night, but came out today. Grab your Times and enjoy the article! Sorry for the mistake.

Seattle Times Article 5/16/09

Andrew just completed round #6 of chemo! Yippee! We rejoice with him and pray that this next week will bring him rest and minimal side affects.

Steve Kelly with the Seattle Times wrote an article in the paper today about Andrew's good buddy, Daniel Shapiro. To read the article, click here. It is a wonderful article and we wish Daniel the best of luck in his marathon and thank him for his friendship, love and commitment to Andrew, as well as to beating cancer. Daniel is a cancer survivor and we know the same will be true for Andrew. Again, click here to read the article about Daniel and Andrew.

Thank you Daniel!!!

Us sisters

were jumping for joy

all weekend-long,

hanging w/our big bro,

and pumping him up for round #6 this week.

GO ANDREW!

Portland Climb to Conquer Cancer

The American Cancer Society hosted an event this past weekend in Portland, OR. A friend of our family organized a team in support of Andrew. We were called "Team Comeback" and Andrew came up with the slogan, "If you believe it, you can beat it" for our t-shirts. There were about 17 of us on the team, as well as 3 little ones.

It was a wonderful event and we were proud to participate and raise money for cancer research. We were also very honored to be walking/running for our brother/friend/son Andrew. What an inspiration he is every day. I personally was very proud to be representing him and his fight.

So, whatever you are facing in your life right now... IF YOU BELIEVE IT, YOU CAN BEAT IT.

Team Comeback

i'm sure many of you have been checking for an update - sorry for the delay. i guess there is really not much else to report from andrews doctors appointment a few weeks back. everything will remain the same as far as treatment goes. she just switched one of his drugs (not chemo). the doctor was not able to give andrew any more insight as to "where do we go after chemo". she wants to wait and see - take each round at a time and then re-evaluate after each pet scan. we are coming up on round #6 next tuesday may 12th.

andrew has continued to feel well, although he definitely felt that this was his 5th round of chemo. he was a bit more tired and achey, as well as experienced some headaches and mouth sores. other than that, andrew has been working and continuing to stay positive.

i will leave you with a picture that was taken a week and a half ago. this picture includes martha and i's babies, as well as a few of andrew's good friends kids. it's a classic kid picture, isn't it? lots of distractions and nobody seems to want to smile for the camera.

take care and have a wonderful mothers day weekend!