April 30, 2010 Update

David and I left for Seattle on Tuesday for Evan's appointments on Wednesday. Evan's 1st appointment was a blood draw, which normally is not a big thing. They just have to access his port and draw the blood samples from there. But, for some reason, it wasn't an easy task this time. The nurse had a terrible time getting the needed blood to check everything they check each time. After several attempts, she was finally able to get the needed amount of blood. Evan was very upset by this time. This hasn't ever happened before and I pray that it doesn't happen again. It was hard on Evan and also hard on me.

Evan's next appointment was to have his eyes checked and, of course, they needed to dialate his eyes. Since the day didn't start out very well with the blood draw, I think Evan was a little easier agitated than he normally would have been. He has had his eyes dialated before and has never had that much problem with the procedure. The concluding prognosis was that Evan's vision has gotten worse in his left eye (his bad eye) and it looks like maybe his left eye is not as mobile and not tracking like it normally would; and maybe a bit worse in good eye, vision wise. The dr. looked at his optical nerve also and said that the nerve to the left eye doesn't show any color to it (as in pink meaning life and gray having no life or circulation). The optical nerve to his good eye showed some pink on the outside of the nerve but had gray lifeless color in the center.

The next appointment was with his oncologist. He looked at the lab work and said that everything looked good enough to start his 3rd round of Chemo. He checked him over and thought he looked good. Right after he left the room another dr. came into the room to look at Evan's shunt. In a nutshell, everything was a "green light" for us to begin his 3rd round of Chemo.

We headed to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription of oral Chemo. This was just not a quick trip to the pharmacy and then on our way home. We waited atleast 90 minutes for the prescription to be filled. By the time we were out to the car to head home, Evan was ready for a nap!

On our way home, Evan got sick and vomited in the car. This was not chemo related as he had not been given any yet. So, he must have gotten some flu bug. Anyway, he has been fine today and I started giving him his oral Chemo tonight. I would appreciate your prayers especially during the next few days for Evan and also for me. This part of the round of chemo is where vomiting takes place. I don't do vomit very well and it is a struggle for me to clean up, plus the chemo has to be given at 6 hr. intervals around the clock for 4 days.

God's peace, grace and strength continue to encompass us as we travel this journey. We are so thankful for wonderful family and friends that encourage, support and pray for us! It is priceless! May God be glorified mightily in all that we do, think and say!

Blessings,

David and Trena

(Here are some pictures of Evan living life. Please do not pay attention to the date on the pictures as they are not correct, at least the ones that say 2007 *smile*)