Super Hero Cooper

After treatment 3, not too much to report these days. Cooper has been meeting counts every week which is good, but that means an escalated dose of chemo. This week we had planned to go to the zoo but Cooper got mucositis, or sores in his mouth and intestinal tract from his escalated dose. He was in quite a bit of pain and we couldn't get the guy to eat for a few days, so unfortunately no zoo. With mucositis you are also at a higher risk of infection. Hopefully we can get this under control so we can keep him comfortable finishing out interim maintenance 2 and his last 2 escalated doses, as they expect this could get worse before it gets better. After treatment 4 we were able to get him out to the zoo and he also had a clinic buddy come over to play. Cooper's friend Bronson and his family came over for dinner and a play date. It was nice to hang out with a family who truly "gets it". He is also a year into maintenance so we were able to ask some questions to anothe

Cooper went in for treatment 3 of 5. Jason went to clinic this week with Walt since Kristy had just returned to work. It was an "easy" day with just 2 chemos that Coop tends to tolerate really well. His counts and everything look really good and they were able to escalate his dose. Unfortunately, because of the escalation, he got pretty nauseous but seems to be doing well now. Lastly, in the last week a lot has changed on the school front. There has been a really big spike in the flu, so even though Coop is ready to return to school, they need to hold him until spring break due to the spread of the flu. Thankfully Kitten and Walt will be here helping us out. Next hospital day in on the 29th and then he will have one more in active treatment!!!! Cooper made a super cool leprechaun trap! He made a slide to lure the leprechaun. He even put a bed, and a blanket in there to make him want to stay! Ha ha!  2 cute little leprechauns

Well this is the day that we have dreaded, but also been excited for. It is scary, terrifying, but also exciting because of what it means for our family. Kristy returned to work on Monday. While this was a beginning step in our full return to normal, it was also a very difficult day. It is difficult to process normal and also hard to balance both of us working full-time jobs while still dealing with all of the energy and stress that continues with cancer treatment of a child, and a baby. We are thankful that we have some grandparent help to make this transition. Kitten and Walt have been amazing and pretty much put their lives on hold to be here for all of the clinic days, but they are also helping us bridge the gap before Cooper is cleared to go back to school. It is tricky because we don't know exactly when that will be so they are helping with Cooper and Evyn until we get a solid date. We are so thankful for this and couldn't do it without their help, as we were skirting a

Cooper's current schedule has him at Hopkins every 11 days for 2-3 rounds of chemo depending on the treatment day. Being home for 10 days without a hospital visit or chemo felt like an eternity compared to what we were doing in intensification. We all really enjoyed seeing Cooper feel good and not running the roads to Hopkins. On Friday we went in for treatment 2 which was 2 doses of chemo that Cooper tolerates really well. They wanted to see how he tolerates the second and third doses since it is an escalating dose and also since he was starting this phase much lower and more suppressed before they determine a specific start date for school. They are also watching flu and sick trending closely before sending him back.  Since Coop was starting behind the 8 ball with a lower hemoglobin, he actually ended up needing blood again on Friday. Basically, when they gave him chemo on day 1 he didn't really have to fall far at all in order to get below the threshold for needing p

Since the start of IM 2 Cooper's counts have been good enough for them to clear him to do some public things with precautions. This was super exciting news for Cooper. He got to go out to dinner (we went at 4:00 to avoid crowds) he got to paint pottery, and he also got to have one of his best friends from preschool, Sebastian over to play. I'm not sure Cooper knew what to do with all of the excitement!  Cooper and Sebastian building LEGO!  Cooper was so excited to go to Asye Mezze, his favorite restaurant to get the "Opah cheese". Now keep in mind that going out in public for us is slightly more challenging than the average couple with 2 kiddos. We have to be psychos and wipe down everything, make sure hands are constantly sanitized, Coop needs a mask if he is around lots of people, etc. So....this was our first outing as a family of 4 to a restaurant EVER. Basically we had no clue what we were doing rolling in there with a diaper bag, loads of antibacteri

Many times on this blog, we have marveled at the amazing support we have received from all our family, friends and loved ones.  We continue to be humbled by those who put aside their personal lives and go out of the way to help us.  This extends well beyond our home and to the homes, and hearts of all pediatric and adult cancer patients and survivors.   As you all know, our local gym and their amazing staff and members have been a constant source of support for our family these last 7.5 months.  To go along with #CombatForCooper, we are honored to call  Keith Bauer  our friend and a member of our BodyCombat family.  Keith has been running marathons over the past years as part of the Mario Lemieux Foundation either in honor or remembrance of a particular cancer patient in hopes to help raise money for valuable research to go towards cancer research for underfunded programs.  You all may not know this but only 4% of cancer funding goes towards pediatric cancer research!   We were extreme

We have had a big 2 weeks here at the Trueblood house, and by big week, I mean the adults got to go to the grocery store like normal human beings! No, that isn't a joke, we've been trying really hard to limit our exposure to the public because of Cooper's ANC at zero and for Evyn being cold and flu season, BUT we really did have a pretty big week with some things that were actually pretty fun.  Since Coop finished chemo for intensification he has needed several blood and platelet transfusions. So unfortunately the 2-3 weeks "off" at the end of this phase was still filled with hospital visits and long days in clinic. However, we are extremely thankful that even though he was neutropenic, he never got a fever or an infection which is a real win in our book.  Based on his counts and how low his platelets were as well, the docs didn't think there was ANY way we wouldn't be delayed going into Interim Maintenance 2. We even pushed back Kristy's sta