Doing Great

Okay, well, I don't want to jinx things, but I did Reece's first infusion at home today and it went GREAT! I was shaking like a leaf because Tuesday at our Hemo. doctor after his infusion his site bled for about 10 min. straight and he was screaming like crazy. Our doctor wants us to come in on Monday for an inhibitor test which I'm a little nervous about. She also said that if after today's infusion it bled again like that I needed to come into the hospital. SOOOO, no pressure on mom. Since David is in Phoenix this week for work I had my mom come over to help me. Thank goodness, it went really smooth. We turned on his Monster Inc. movie and strapped him into the high chair and he never moved. The numbing cream must have worked because he never even blinked when I stuck him. Also, luckily, he didn't bleed at all afterwards. Just popped a band aid on there and put him down for nap. No biggie.

Thank you so much to my friend Marsha in California for her suggestions and words of encouragement. It really helped make this first experience at home great.

Daddy's In Charge

Okay, this video pretty much says it all. Let's preface this by saying, at least Reece is wearing his helmet. This is what boys call fun I guess. Olivia and I were watching in horror. And, yes, Reece is wearing his PJ's which are totally soaked and LOVING it. I stopped the video just before David stripped him down to a diaper and let him run around like that. NICE!!!

Trunk-N-Treat

We went to the annual Halloween festival at Olivia's school this Saturday which they call Trunk-N-Treat. It's sooo cute, the members of the church decorate the trucks of their cars and sit in front of them and the kids walk by and trick or treat. Then they have free food, train rides, and inflatable jumping houses for the kids. It's always a good time and this year was no different. We met our friends Maryann and Joe with their son Clayton up there. Reece was of course in heaven because we let him walk so he pretty much did his own thing the whole time. Since our neighborhood is so new there are only about 6 houses near us so we're using all the excuses to wear our costume before then. She has her fall festival at school also on Friday so I think we're good. Here are a few pics from the Trunk-N-Treat.

This is Olivia & her boyfriend Zander :o)

Whoo Hoo!!

Well, I had my first successful port access this morning! This is my first attempt after the disaster a couple of weeks ago. It was much easier this time, as his swelling was gone (which allowed me to feel the port easier) and his skin was not irritated. I got it on the first stick and completed his factor treatment. We did have a couple of nurses holding him down because he was crying pretty hard, but once he realized it didn't hurt and the toy we were showing him, he was fine. I'm going to go back a couple more times having the nurse there for my security, but I'll bet we're doing it at home in a couple of weeks. I was so excited, I picked up a little McDonald's on the way home for a celebratory lunch :o)

New Addition

Okay, so I may be a glutton for punishment, but we've added a new member to the family....Travis. He is a Sheltie rescue that is between 1 and 2 yrs old. When he was found at a construction site, he had a broken leg and when the vet looked at it, they discovered it was too damaged to save it. So....he has three legs. We fell in love with him at a little dog function they had at a park near by. He is SO layed back and sweet that we thought he was perfect for our situation. We brought him home yesterday and poor thing, sat by the front door all night waiting for the foster family to come back. I moved his new bed and his special blanket that they brought for him next to the door so he could be comfy and he slept there until I took him outside at 6am this morning. Now he's hanging out in his bed in the living room with Reece and I. When Reece saw him this morning he starts panting (that's what his sound is that dogs make) and hugged him. Travis just sat there and let him do it. I'm really hoping that he is happy here and that the kids enjoy him. I'm sure that Olivia wants a more active dog, but with Reece around, we really need one like this. Here are a few pics of him. You will notice that he thought the kids couch was his bed at first, and Reece thought the dog bed was for him. Too funny!

Sea World Trip

Last Friday we took Olivia on her first trip to Sea World in San Antonio. We went with some friends of ours, the Charltons and we had SUCH a good time. We decided that Reece wasn't ready for this kind of all day fun since he refuses to nap anywhere but his bed. David had a meeting in San Antonio so we met him down there Thur afternoon and went to the River Walk for dinner. We walked up and down the river for awhile and took a boat tour after dinner which they loved. When we got there on Friday morning we parked right up front and went right in when they opened without any wait. It was the perfect time to go, the weather was perfect and there weren't any crowds. I think the warmest it got was low 80's which was SO nice! We decided to do several shows with rides and walking in between. I think everyones favorite part was getting to feed the dalphins. I've never been so close to one and it was amazing. We all had a fabulous time and Olivia was ready to go back the very next day :o) Here are some pics of our big day.

1st Field Trip

Well, Olivia went on her first school field trip today. Her preschool class went to Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls to the pumpkin patch and fall festivities. It was sooo cute, last week they all decorated a t-shirt in tie dye so they would match for this trip and the one scheduled this Thur. The whole experience went really well and the kids had a blast. As neat as the whole trip was, I think they all enjoyed their first bus ride the most.

Here are some cute pics from the trip.

Sign of the Times

What 5 yr old doesn't have an Ipod and Laptop?

Online Barbie is just as good as the doll. "It's all about the games girls"

Update

Well, so much for Reece being happier when we got home. Poor guy picked up some kind of stomach bug at the hospital before we left and is still not over it. Now Olivia has it so we're all laying low for a couple of days it looks like.

The infusions at home went really smoothly Sun - Tuesday which was a relief. Per the doctor's instructions, we removed the needle at home last night which was pretty easy. No tears and it didn't even bleed. However, today was my first attempt to access the port at the doc's office, and it wasn't so great. Reece's chest is raw from the tape that's been on it to cover the needle all this time, so when we had to scrub it with alcohol before the infusion today he went into orbit. Then, I missed on my first attempt so then I burst into tears and the nurses were consoling me instead of him. Poor David was just holding Reece and trying to not make me more upset. Then the nurses had to scrub the skin AGAIN and then they accessed the port for me and I did the rest. Reece cryed SO hard the rest of the time and all the way home. He has been fussy the entire afternoon too. Not sure if it's the bug, new teeth, or the new dressing the nurses put on the port site. He has to wear this needle until Sat. and David and I will infuse only once a day until then. On Sat. the needle comes out and we give him a break until Oct. 21 and we go back again for my next attempt. We will continue to go back twice a week until I have it down completely. Ugg, I'm hoping they ALL go better than today.

We're Home!!!

Woo Hoo, we're home!! We actually got home yesterday around 1pm, but it's been mass chaos since then. We are so glad to have both our babies back under the same roof! Olivia had a great week at school and staying with my parents. She is such a big girl and we are so proud of her! Here is a quick recap of the last couple of days.

Thur - We were quarantined to our room for half the day because there was a case of BED BUGS across the hall in another room. Oh yes, I forgot to mention this in the Friday update.

To make a very long story short, they had us stay put until all the rooms were thoroughly checked which was TONS of fun with poor Reece still on the IV pump and not allowed to even ride around in his stroller. After a couple of hours they decided it was just in the one room so we were allowed to leave. After a quick stroll and some lunch, he did FINALLY take his one nap for the day in my lap.

Later that afternoon Olivia's teacher, Ms. Kara came to check on us, brought by a goody bag which was SOO sweet.

Fri- After the administration had a chance to chat about the bed bugs they decided to move all of the kids on the 4th floor wing we were in, to a different part of the hospital so they could treat those rooms. SOOO, we were packing up to be moved to PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). Before the move, they were able to finally remove his IV pump though which was such a sense of freedom! After that, we moved down to floor 2 to a room which was NOT conducive to our needs. Reece thought it was a large candy store of all types of medical supplies and machines which were just at arms reach. We did have to rearrange things to keep him safe. Also the room had an entire wall of glass with a shower curtain to block out the light..which meant bright as day all night long. The good news was that our night nurse spent about an hour doing some serious teaching and even let us do his Fri PM infusion and his Sat AM infusion. After the nurses were satisfied we were ready to go home and do his treatments our discharge papers were issued. We have done two infusions at home now and feel really good about them. We're still trying to get down a good routine and find the best place to do it, but it won't take us long. We go back to the hematologist on Wed. for the needle removal and a check up. After Wed. we will do the whole process of needle stick and infusion. Right now, he still has the needle in and a tube which we connect to (see pics below.) Here is a picture of the nurses cleaning up his sight just before we left.
Thank you to everyone for all the wonderful support and prayers. They really helped all of us through this very stressful and emotional week. We look forward to doing Reece's treatments here at home which will allow him more freedom to be the rambunctious little boys he wants to be.

Love,
The Cowan Crew

Friday Update

Well, sorry I'm a little delinquent getting an updated added. With Reece being hooked up to his tubes and a POLE to drag around. We can't even leave him unattended in his crib unless he is sound asleep or he ends up tangled up. I've also had some trouble accessing the Internet here. On Wed. night we had a REALLY hard time sleeping. The nurses kept having to come in and attend to him which woke him up EVERY time. After the last vital check at 4:30 am yesterday he decided it was time to just be awake for the day. We weren't able to get him to nap until around 10am and I just held him for the hour to make sure he stayed asleep. Needless to say, yesterday we were all pretty worthless. The good news is that I was able to persuade his doc to give us some Benedryl for bedtime last night and I have renamed it....liquid GOLD. He slept like a champ and so did I. I made David go home to sleep though because he was a typical guy and was WAY too loud on Wed. night. So when he came back this morning, I went home for a quick shower and to wash some of Reece's blankets. I feel like a new woman today. I'm so excited also that today is Pet Therapy day so be on the look out for some pics of Reece with the dogs.

On a medical note, his port is looking good and his recovery is also going smoothly. He hasn't shown any signs of pain, on the contrary, he seems like he's 100%. If all continues smoothly we are set to go home Sunday still. David and I are taking some lessons from the nurses about how to access his port at home to administer his factor treatments. So far, it seems a little overwhelming, but I know we will get the hang of it. I'll be trying to get another post in either tonight or tomorrow sometime. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. It makes such a difference when you have such wonderful people helping out!

Here are some pics of Reece over the last couple of days. All I have to say is, thank goodness for DVD players!!!

Reece being silly

Snack time

Port Pic

Bath time

Monster Inc is his fav

Successful Day

Well, we made it through today really well. The surgery was a success and he was feeling great all day. So good actually he decided that he didn't want to nap AT ALL from when we woke up from surgery at 10am until 8:45 tonight. Needless to say, it's been a really long day. Going to get some sleep now because they are scheduled to come back in to check vitals in 4hrs. Will blog more tomorrow. Here are a few pics from today.