A Great Week!

Last weekend went without a hitch! He took his medicines so well, really better than ever. Stuff that would have hurt our hearts before, he does with such ease! Even removing the tube from his port has become simple for him. It's a blessing, a miracle how much strength God has given him.

The first of the week was uneventful! Special visitors helped find smiles and we all benefit from it!

On Wednesday the call came, Aiden's donor has committed! We are overwhelmed by the good news, but emotional for its reality! What does this mean? It means Aiden will be admitted into the hospital on November 12th for surgery to remove his port and place a Hickman. This is another central line which will allow not one, but two tubes to give and take from his body. It's imperative for transplant! How do you explain to such a young child what is about to happen? We don't know, but we do know it's crucial. The next day Aiden will begin four days of full body radiation twice a day. This will require sedation because he will be in a room by himself for 20 minutes each time. Then, he will have two days of high dose chemo. All this will begin the downward spiral for his next few weeks. This will destroy his current immune system, as weak as it is, to prepare for the new bone marrow. The next day, a day of rest…for all of us hopefully! Finally, on November 20th Aiden will receive his bone marrow transplant! This is when we begin to beg for your prayers.

Thursday of this week Aiden went into clinic for his second week of this round of chemo. It should have been a short day, but his counts had all bottomed out. His oncologist was so surprised they took another blood sample to ensure there wasn't an error in the numbers. Everything had changed dramatically for the worse. That said, he needed both a blood and platelet transfusion. These were the first platelets he'd ever received, so we were concerned. Fortunately, he's got more strength than we do. He took it all with a huge smile and shared them with everyone in the clinic! Before the day was over, he had perfect strangers his age and older smiling/laughing. He is so amazing, it's difficult to put into words.

Another weekend of administering treatments at home! He did great again, but the weekend antibiotics are literally hard for him to swallow. Most people look forward to the weekend, but he would rather it be any other day. On Saturday, we tried to administer his daily chemo but his port wouldn't work. Before you can push the medicines/chemo into his central line, we are instructed to ensure it's working properly by pulling for blood. This time after multiple efforts, it wasn't going to happen. We called the "hotline" and after speaking with the doctor on call were encouraged to get help. Initially, we were told to go to the ER. We explained, his counts were at nothing and weren't comfortable subjecting him to that environment. The on-call physician was wonderful. She made arrangements for us to go to the 6th floor (where we have been and will be again) to see the charge nurse who would gladly take care of Aiden. She was a familiar face, one of Aiden's favorite nurses while he was in the hospital after the initial diagnosis. She fixed the issue, administered the medication through his port and shared a few smiles. It was a happy ending to what could have been traumatic.

Today, he had his first "Skype" experience with his classroom. It was wonderful! Although he was quiet during the moment, he talked about it for hours later. His pre-school has made arrangements to include him during "circle time" whenever he is up for it. This is such a blessing, it allows him time with friends he hasn't seen in months and a "normal" period in each day. After, Scott came for another visit. As much as you enjoy his pictures, Aiden LOVES his visits. Aiden had more life and smiles than most of us. It was so much fun and we are so thankful for the special friendship we have with Scott and his family.

Tomorrow we will make an unexpected trip to clinic. We had noticed several red spots on Aiden's shoulder today. We made a call to the doctor as a precaution. Come to find out, Aiden's platelets very well may have dropped again since his transfusion last Thursday. These spots are common for someone with low platelets and he made need another transfusion. We are hoping for the best, regardless.

Thank you for your constant support and love for our boy!

For now please keep praying!

News Channel 2: Aiden's Story