A Night Away

Today is the first night I've spent away from Grant since the little guy's been born.  I flew to LA bright and early this morning for a jam-packed two days of finance conferences and meetings.  Thankfully I'm able to catch a late flight tomorrow night so that I don't have to be away from the kiddos (and Damon, of course ;) for too long.  I have to admit that I am looking forward to my first night of uninterrupted sleep in over five-months.

Daddy Damon did a great job of taking care of things at home today; he slides into the Mr. Mom role seamlessly.  Despite his fashionable mesh top, Grant's still having some issues with the dressing on his broviac.  Because changing it is a two-person job, Damon was able to solicit the assistance of the at-home nurses...whew!  We'll have to crank up the mL rate of his feedings to try to pack on the pounds so that he's a candidate for the internal, porta-cath soon.  These daily dressing changes are tough!

I'm already looking forward to coming home tomorrow.  The sleep will be nice, but I will trade it for spending time with the family any day :)


Grant's 'guilty' look - - those eyes are going to
make me cave every time he's in trouble!

A little bored without Mom around - - just kidding!
Probably tired from the wild house party with Dad tonight :)

Halfway There (of Phase I)!

Today marked the fifth of ten treatments in this first phase of chemo - we're halfway there!  We did receive a welcome surprise at clinic today, as we found out that Grant will be receiving only one med (vincristine) instead of his normal two for this round of chemo and next.  Today's clinic did take longer than expected though, as Grant's broviac site showed signs of infection - probably the result of air and moisture sneaking in when he's pulled off the dressing.  In addition to administration of an antibiotic, Grant is now sporting a stylish mesh 'shirt' to try to prevent him from exposing the site...let's hope it works!  Damon started laughing hysterically when the nurse fitted the mesh on him - - I think the picture below says it all (you can probably surmise why Damon was laughing so hard & mimicking the thumping of club music).

The Oncologist is extremely happy with the way Grant's responding to the treatment, and he seemed pretty happy to hear that we're not seeing too many side effects nor changes in behavior.  Five more treatments before the MRI to see if the chemo cocktails are working!

Grant's stylish mesh 'crop top.'.

Not in the mood for pictures tonight - lol.



Grant's Biggest Fan

Grant has amassed a large fan club, but his single biggest fan is Alexa; she is quite the doting big sister.  The little guy always has specks of glitter somewhere on him, a sure sign that Alexa's been playing with him (the glitter is from dress-up clothes, dolls, glue pens, etc....).  She loves the fact that her 'Granty' is getting bigger, and I know she's eagerly awaiting the day he's able to play with her.  He'll probably know the Disney Princesses before he learns his ABC's ;)

Alexa has handled everything that has happened in the past 1.5 months as well as I think any three-year-old could.  She's had a few rough days at school, but thankfully her teachers are informed of the situation and give her extra tlc when she needs it.  It's cute to listen to her role play with her dolls and stuffed animals - on Saturday, she wrapped up a stuffed dog in a blanket and told me I had to use hand sanitizer before I could touch her 'baby.'  It doesn't stop there; before she left for school this morning, she reminded me to change Grant's tube (feeding bag).  I'm glad to know Damon and I will be in good hands when we reach old age!

Round #5 (the halfway point of the Induction Phase) of chemo tomorrow....please keep Grant in your thoughts and prayers.  We're hoping he continues to tolerate the treatment well!

There's no denying these two are siblings;
Grant looks so much like Alexa did as a baby.

Loving on her brother (after hand sanitizer, of course).

Happy as can be!  Ready for round #5....

Hovey Hospital

I think Alexa's illness earlier in the week has caught up to us - Damon and I were both a little under the weather today, and even Alexa went to bed much earlier than normal.  Thankfully, we have an arsenal of surgical masks and hand sanitizer that have appeared to help prevent Grant from catching the bug.  He just has a slight cold and runny nose - no fever (whew!).

Grant's becoming a much more active, and his hand-eye coordination is seemingly getting better.  He's grabbing at everything now, including the broviac port that's hanging out of his chest.  As I was changing his diaper at 4am today, I noticed he had pulled on the line and exposed a portion that's supposed to be housed under a dressing.  So, I had to wake up Damon to get his assistance changing the dressing in the wee hours of the morning.  This proved to be the easiest change yet, because I think even Grant was too tired to put up a fight against Damon restraining him.  I had to laugh during the dressing change because at one point I asked Damon to move Grant's double-chin out of the way....I've never used those words in the same sentence before.  Another good sign that he's putting on weight!
 

Mesmerized by the ceiling fan.

 Trying to keep his busy hands away from his chest.

Too tired to stay up for 'Sunday Night Football.'

Happy (5-month) Birthday!

Today's Grant's five-month birthday...hip hip hooray!  It's pretty amazing to think about everything that's happened in the past five-months.  While it would be easy to get caught up in all of the medical drama we've endured (the diagnosis of the tumor, 20-days of hospitalization, two surgeries, too many doctors visits to count...), it has been a remarkable five-months watching the little guy develop into a sweet baby with a fantastic disposition.  There's no doubt that June 3rd is tied with March 5, 2009 (Alexa's birthday) as one of the best days of my life.  I'm a very lucky mother....

While Damon and Nana Hovey took Alexa to gymnastics, I was able to enjoy some quality alone time with my little boy.  No Blackberry, no cleaning, no trying to whip up a meal or changing the broviac dressing - - it was just playtime with Grant, and I loved every minute of it.  Morning is definitely his best time of the day, so we had a wonderful time playing on the floor and continuing to work on his sitting.  He was cooing, smiling and laughing the entire time. :)

The happy 5-month old!

Looks like Grant should be watching a football game.

Starting to fill out his clothes - his 3-mo. pants finally fit!

What a Week!

Today definitely felt like a Friday....everyone was very tired at the end of this hectic week.  Grant continued his habit of having pretty sleepy Fridays, as he slept for some long bursts throughout the day.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues through the night; he's been waking up every 1-2 hours at night which has made for some pretty long days for Damon and myself.

Nana Hovey reported that Grant blew his first 'raspberry' today, so I will be looking forward to seeing if he does it again tomorrow.  It's so easy to get hyper-focused on Grant's treatment and his condition, but it something like this that makes you step back a remember how fun all of the "normal" baby stuff is.  It's hard to believe that this guy is going to be sitting on his own, crawling and teething in the coming weeks and months!  We're in the 'easy' phase now, and I can only imagine the energy we'll need to chase a mobile Grant (not to mention Alexa) around!

Sitting upright with only a little support....

Starting to lean to the left.....

Oops... We'll keep working on it!

A Full Stomach

As Grant's treatment has progressed, Damon and I are constantly trying to differentiate what behaviors and features are related to a side effect of the chemo versus those of a normal four-month old.  We're probably over-scrutinizing everything on this poor little guy!  Over the past few weeks, Grant has completely shunned the use of a pacifier (he had become hooked during his hospitalization) and a bottle - - he's fed 100% through the NG tube running at a constant 24/7 pace.  It's an odd 'normal' to have a baby who never cries because he's hungry and never requires a bottle to be prepared.  The doctors speculate the chemo has probably affected his sense of taste, so it will be interesting to see if he reverts after this first round of treatment is complete.  I hope he does, because I'm not sure how he would be able to learn to crawl if he has to drag the drip-pole with him everywhere he goes.

Thankfully Alexa's fever broke last night, so she stayed at home today to make sure she is fever-free for 24 hours before going back to school.  Her BFF stopped by after school with a cute pumpkin bag full of candy from last night's trick-or-treating.  I definitely know Alexa's well enough to go back to school tomorrow, because I discovered the two girlfriends hanging out in her castle play tent binging on the Halloween candy - - there were open wrappers everywhere!  Given our recent luck, she'll be home tomorrow with a stomach ache ;)

Enjoying some time in the swing tonight...

Playing with his 'Sophie the Giraffe' collection.