Super Hero Cooper

 Gaver Farm was one thing that Cooper was so sad he had to miss last year during active treatment. It is one of his favorite places. SO we were so happy that we could kick off the fall season with a trip to Gaver Farm with both of the kiddos!

All has been going well in maintenance but we are learning that things change constantly. For one, Cooper is needing immunoglobulin infusions quite a bit because his antibody levels are low due to all his body has been through in the last year. So in order taboos his immune system, these infusions have been needed a bit. The unfortunate thing is that they come with some yucky side effects as a lot of biologics do, and it is about a 4 hour infusion with monitoring, so it makes for a long day. Additionally, Cooper's liver levels have been through the roof due to the way that his body processes and metabolizes the daily chemo that he is on. Due to all the toxicity, his liver levels are about 18 times what they should be. They are currently watching him to see if a clinical study for the drug alepurenol is going to be needed in order to shunt his liver to process the drugs differently. We will see how the next blood check goes!

 We are beyond thankful for this day. We remember vividly how horrible it was to look at other's first day pictures while we were sitting in the hospital with a child we knew would miss out on the next 8 months of his life. We struggled to tell him the truth about him missing his first day of school because we knew it would crush him. This year he is doing so well! He started on the first day with everyone else and was so so happy. He has the most wonderful group of friends with the most caring and considerate parents! We are so thankful for them! They have empathy, the include him, they treat him just like everyone else, but they also recognize the struggle. They are the best kind of people, and we are grateful...you know who you are. Cooper is ready to conquer 1st grade and make 2019 his year!