The start of a roller coaster ridenew

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride this first couple of weeks, but today is a good day. Even though we have walked this road before, it still has lots of pot holes and ruts.

The first week we had to psych up and suit up to prepare for this battle. I now think I know what a soldier going to war, having once been there, must feel like just prior to deploying. The first time, we only anticipate what it must be like; the second time, we know what lies ahead, turning our stomachs venturing into the known unknown. I don't know how anyone gets through this type of thing without God.

Last week was rough, we were at the clinic just about every day for either hydration or blood and platelet transfusions...the chemo kicked in...in a big way. It is hard to see the havoc it plays on Cody's body. The good....the great thing is amid the pain, cramps and vomiting Cody still is gracious and his humor stays intact. He has never had pity on himself or questioned God...he is an amazing young man and we are so very blessed to have him.

Saturday night at 2:30 AM he got a fever of 101.5, which is an automatic do not pass GO, go directly to ER....which we did and have been here since. By the time we got checked into CHOC it was 5:30 AM. Long night for both of us. It was determined that he had positive strep bacteria in his blood stream, nothing caught from anyone, just his white cells were -0- and we have all kinds of bacteria in our bodies just looking for an opportunity to blossom...which it did. This is the 3rd day of negative cultures. They typically want him to have 5 days of being clear before being released so we have a couple more days to go. However, depending on his white cell count in the next couple of days, they will start harvesting his stem cells to freeze and return to him for the last 3 cycles of chemo. This process takes 2- 6 days

Yesterday his hair started falling out. So "Child Life" (they assist the children so their stay will be more pleasant) had a hair stylist come in. At Cody's request he got a mohawk. He wanted to dye it red or black....but under the circumstances (and because I couldn't find any colored wax at CVS) we spiked his mohawk.....we had some good laughs. It should be good for another day or two before it all falls out.

For those of you that are praying , thank you for your continued prayers...for those that are not.....now is a good time. :)

Blessings,

Dallas