A lot has been going on in the past week, and I have not had any spare time to get onto updating Dylan’s website. Our friend Sally from Australia, who has been living in England for the past 4 years came to spend a week with us. We have been busy showing her all the New York sites in between hospital visits like Central Park and the Statue of Liberty. It has been great to see her again and to have the company. Sally leaves tomorrow afternoon, I hope we showed her a good time and gave her lots of amusing memories. Then last night, Cain arrived! Yes the boys are reunited and are bouncing off the walls with excitement. Dylan cannot contain himself, he has a smile from ear to ear that has not left his face since the plane landed. Tim’s family all chipped in to pay for the flight and thanks to Qantas we were able to get a reasonable fare. Today after a platelet transfusion, we took Sally to Times Square and while we were there the boys went to Toys r Us, to spend Dylan’s birthday vouchers and spent the evening happily playing with yes…more cars! I am so proud of Cain, he flew on his own without any concerns. Tim was very worried and so was I, but when Cain arrived he said it was fine and he would do it again without any hesitation. He said he was not nervous at all, in fact it made him feel very grown up. Cain has changed so much since I saw him at the beginning of the year. Not only is he taller but he is not as anxious as he used to be, he’s eating better and he is beaming with confidence. I think finally he has settled into our “odd” lifestyle arrangements. This whole cancer life has such a huge impact on the siblings and as a parent focusing on saving one child’s life, it is very hard to balance the siblings emotional state, and continuing to keep your own emotional state in check. Seeing Cain doing so much better is such a huge weight off my shoulders, and really has lifted my spirits. Cain will stay with us until mid January, allowing him time to settle back in Australia, get over Jet lag and settle into the new school year at the end of January. Cain starts high school next year and is a big step in any child’s school years. High school in Australia is a little different to American schooling, basically it’s the equivalent to middle school. Dylan is doing amazing. His white blood cells and neutrophils have risen on their own, no need for any GCSF anymore. His platelet counts have fallen though. Dylan feels perfectly well and is full of energy like any other 8 year old boy. Bone Marrow biopsy is scheduled for this Friday along with his HAMA test. We are hoping for him to be HAMA negative so that he can continue onto round 2 of the hot 3F8 trial. CT scan is scheduled for next Tuesday, followed by the MIBG scan next Wednesday. At this stage if Dylan’s scans show stable or improvement and if he is HAMA negative, he will have round 2 of the antibodies on the 4th December. Thursday is Thanksgiving here in America. We will watch the Thanksgiving Parade in Times Square and then head back to RMDH for the Thanksgiving lunch. I still have more to say, but it’s getting late and will have to save it for another day. A big hello to our dear friend Michelle ( Glitter Girl) we are so happy to hear from you again and send you lots of warm cyber hugs XXX
