3rd round of chemo for Blake

We finally got a bed at the hospital at 1pm today. We went to clinic yesterday for blood work and they said there was no open beds for Blake to get chemo and to go home and wait for a call. This was extremely stressful for me on many levels. Blake was really happy that he could sleep in his own bed again.
This has thrown off all his chemo and meds schedule. Just trying to keep up with all his meds and shots is overwhelming, now it has all been pushed back a day.
He is now on IV fluids for about 2 hours and then they will start chemo. Also we will be here for 3 days instead of 2 but will forward his chemo meds by 4 hours each day so we can get out of here by early Saturday morning.
They don't have enough bed to treat all the kids who need chemo treatment. They are building a whole new wing that will have the clinic and the hospital cancer floor all in one place, but won't be ready until late next year. Until then, kids will have to wait for beds for chemo treatment.
I will update later with more info when I can get my laptop back from Blake...LOL

Blakes clinic info today

We just got back from the clinic. Blakes blood work is great, no restrictions at all on activity.
He is stage 4 cancer because the spots in his lungs did shrink in size which means they were cancer.
His other lumph nodes have gone back to normal size. They cannot say he is in remission yet because of the spots in his lungs.
They will do another CT scan after his 4th chemo round which is his last. Depending on that scan they will decide if he needs radiation treatment for another 2 months.
His next chemo treatment is next Wednsday at 2:15. That is kind of late to start so they will probably hook him up to IV fluids while in the clinic, then we will go straight to the hospital again for a 2 day stay.
On the lighter side, the 1 gold fish cracker he ate right before the CT scan did not show up on the scan. I will not carry gold fish with me again and try to feed the birds.
We will continue to fight on to get rid of his cancer. Thanks for keeping up with Blakes battle and for prayers.

Friday Clinic Chemo For Blake

Friday Chemo: Oh, he was not happy about doing chemo understandibly. 2 days in the hospital for chemo and then back for more the next day, not happy.
We went by sonic so he could eat a nice cheeze burger before chemo, they got his burger wrong and I was in the cross fire. Duck!
Because of the chemo his taste and smell has changed. He is very sensitive to food smells and especially the IV fluid smell when they wash down the chemo. He hates that smell.
When we got there they accessed his port and gave him anti-nausia meds first. Then they hooked him up to chemo which lasted about an hour. The whole thing lasted about 2 hours. Just long enough to watch Pirates of the Caribbean, again. He couldn't get the WII to work.
Home health delivered his medication and supplies for his 10 days worth of shots to our house while we were at clinic and Troy had to signed for it. Shots started Saturday night.
This chemo he had makes his blood pressure drop so they had to keep monitoring him every 15 minutes checking his blood pressure and for 15 minutes after finishing it. It was fine though.
So glad the worst of the second round is over. He will have one more dose on Wednsday to finish this round which will make him sleep most the day again.
We are half way through his treatment and he is still hanging tough. I can see it is wearing on him and he is ready to put this all behind him as all of us are.
He is now getting his 10 days of shots, starting last night.
He is no longer afraid of needles. Don't know if that's a good thing or not.
Thanks for reading and keeping up with Blakes Battle and for your prayers, thought and love,Katie, Blake, Troy and Scott

Blakes Second Round Of Chemo.

Blake is sleeping right now. We are still at the hospital and will get out after chemo tonight probably around 10pm we get to leave. I'm on the hospital computer in the playroom.
Blake started fluids yesterday about 2pm and about 4:30 they started his chemo. He has gotten all the names of the chemo meds down pretty well, I don't. Chemo ended about 10pm last night and hooked him back up to fluids for the rest of the night and today till chemo at 4pm.
He did fine through most of it and even ate 2 meals. Orange chicken and then a hamburger with french fries. Good thing he ate all that because he did not feel well last night. They had to give him anti-nausia meds that also knocked him out and he is still sleeping. He has not thrown up this round at all.
He will get 2 more chemo meds today and then we go home. I think he will be sleeping alot this go round. Tomorrow(Friday) he has the last of the 3 day dose in the Grapevine clinic at 1pm and will last about 2 hours then the shots start again for 10 days on Saturday. The nurse will bring all the stuff for the shots to our house on Saturday. On Wednsday he will have the final dose for the 2nd round of chemo. Confusing, I know.
I asked Blake last night to feel his neck to see if he could still feel the 3 swollen lymph glands. He couldn't feel them and neither could I. The doctor came in this morning and he said they have gone back to normal size. This is awesome news. He said it takes about 2 rounds of chemo to kill the cancer and 2 more to make sure its gone.
The doctor has Blake set up for another CT scan in about 2 weeks to see what improvement he has made. We will know for sure after the scan.
Blake has been wearing a hat ever since we shaved his head. Now his little spriglets are falling out too. No more stubble. We can see the hairline receeding and soon will all be gone. He will probably be wearing a hat through the whole thing till his hair grows back. Can't find many winter pull over hats in the summer in Texas. It is the only ones that he will wear.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support and love, It means so much. Love Katie, Blake, Troy and Scott.

Uncle Paul and Blake with shaved heads.

Blakes Battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma

This is Blake, my 17 year old son who was diagnosed with Hodgkins Ly​mphoma on 6-25-2010. He started his chemo treatment on Wednsday 6-30-2010. Blake will be having 4 rounds of chemo that will be 3 weeks apart, followed by radiation treatment. It should last about 6 months all together.

Blake is the oldest of my 3 boys. His younger brothers are 15 and 11 and all are coping well. My boys father died suddenly over 8 years ago.

Thank you all for all your prayers, thoughts and love. It has all made a world of difference to all of us and very comforting.​

God Bless all of you for taking the time to keep up with Blakes battle.

Please visit Blakes page links for updates and if you would like to make a donation, it would sure be appreciated.

We are coping pretty well even though the hospital bills are now starting to come in. I put all of the links together on this page that would possibly generate some income to help us out. Straight up Donation Page. Handmade Crosses for $20 or less and Hebalife Healthy Products.

Thank you for any help you might give us. God will get us through this situation as well. God Bless, Katie



He needs lots of beanie hats now.