Lehigh Valley

Sorry for not getting an update out last week but all is well. Last week's appointment was uneventful for Max and Tracy. This weeks appointment also went well but there was a somewhat large crowd this week so the appointment took longer than normal (and not because of talking about Bon Jovi's newest album). Max's neutrophil count is a little low at 858 with a normal range between 1,500 and 8,000. If the count next week is below 750 then chemo will be skipped for that week. We won't know until after the blood test but Max needs his monthly shots anyway so the trip won't be a 'waste'. I get to take him next week because Tracy will be attending Gwendolyn's end of the year party at school.

I've managed to nail down his schedule for follow up appointments in Philadelphia the week of July 9 so that he and will be there Monday, July 9 for an MRI and an endocrinology appointment. We'll return Thursday, July 12 to get the results of the MRI, have his eyes checked and figure out what is next at a meeting with his oncologist at the end of it all. If things are going well we'll probably get him setup for surgery to have a port put in place after he gets back from Block Island.

As a quick note, I got a chance to talk to Max the other night about what he thinks of his visits to Lehigh Valley. He told me that while sometimes he gets a little nervous about the needles that it is always okay in the end and really likes going there. I asked him if the shots hurt and he told me that he doesn't even feel them anymore (we do use a lot of numbing cream to help with that). He said that sometimes the needles in his hand hurt but not for very long. Tonight he told me that there is no pain in his hands. He did get a Ariel tattoo on his hand so it was impossible to tell if there was any bruising.

Sleepless in Flanders (in the morning anyway)

Today went well. Max continues to have trouble staying asleep after about 4:00 am and is, obviously, quite tired during the day. It is now something he recognizes as a problem but seem incapable of dealing with. Review of the trial medicine with the doctors simply confirmed that most medicine is geared towards A) getting you to sleep or B) keeping you asleep if you sleep restlessly. Max doesn't suffer from any of that as he goes to bed quite well between 8 and 9 pm each day and sleeps soundly until 4 or 5 am most days. There have been single days where he has slept until 6 or even 7 but those are few and far between. Unfortunately what it all boils down to is that we've stopped the medicine and Max will likely continue to rise very early. Hopefully he'll continue to stay out of trouble but now that I've written it down I expect a flood in the house shortly (hopefully not worse).

In addition to Max's sleep issues he started to complain yesterday about a pain in arm/wrist when he was in occupational therapy at school. Tracy talked to the doctor today about it and they've decided to wait a week to see if it continues and is likely caused by the chemo or this is just some passing thing. If it is stemming from the chemo there are a couple different medicines that could be used to stop the pain but they would, oddly enough, make him sleepy so he'd still get up at the same time but be drowsy during the day. Hopefully this pain does not continue but we'll see.

Max's labs from last week aren't all back so it will be another week before we know if his hormones from puberty are still be adequately suppressed. Since there aren't any physical signs we expect good news on those labs.

In other news, Gwendolyn's softball team has made the playoffs and originally had a game scheduled for tonight but that has been postponed until Thursday because of the threat of a storm. Hopefully playing after school will suit them well as at their final game on Saturday they got creamed because the game the started at 9:00 am and the girls weren't really awake until after it was all over.

In case you noticed that Max's blog is still lacking pictures I'm patiently waiting at my spot in the queue of things on Tracy's list. I've heard a rumor that I'm next but that source wasn't very reliable (Olivia says "yes" to a lot questions and consistently answers "10" to any math question).

Memorial Day, Max's Cheesburger Hill, Lehigh Valley Visit for shots

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. We celebrated by marching in the Mount Olive Parade; Max & Bob marched with Cub Scout Pack 47 while Gwendolyn, Tracy and Olivia marched with Brownie Troop 1199. This year Max was well prepared for a long walk because last year Bob learned, after two parades, that Max had no problem chastising his Dad in front of the town in the middle of a parade. We had chatted many times the week before about how long the parade would be and how it might rain or be really hot but that we'd been walking a lot so this wouldn't be as painful as last year. I'm not sure but I'm pretty certain that all that talk was in vain and what really sealed the deal was my epiphany the night before when I told Max, "If you can get through the whole parade without complaining I promise there will be a great surprise at the end of the day. But remember no complaining and no asking about the prize." Max looked at me, thought about it for a moment and started to say something when I interrupted him and said, "Remember, no asking about the prize means not all … including right now … got it?" Max said, "Yes, I knew that but wasn't going to ask about the prize. What I wanted to know was if it is like when I open presents – is it that kind of surprise or is it more like a Happy Meal prize?" I explained to him how that was still asking and he said, "I'm sorry I didn't know … do I still get the prize?" We left it at "Yes" but agreed not to talk about it anymore (after all I needed time to figure out the prize).

Memorial Day morning started out a little drizzly and, in case you've forgotten or not heard, Max hates getting wet, especially when it is because of rain. We loaded up the car with kids, a stroller, water, and rain coats. Thankfully by the time we got to the marshalling area the storm had passed and it was pleasantly sunny. We had to stand around for about 30 minutes while everyone got situated. Max entertained himself by naming all of the instruments in the High School marching band (what is the horn that is bigger than a French horn but smaller than a tuba and is not a trombone? Oboe? We discussed that at length but no one in our group knew for certain).

As soon as the parade started I remembered that I had wanted to remember to bring small flags for the boys to hold and candy for them to toss to the crowd. Unfortunately this was the first time I had thought about it since the July 4th parade last year. I hold only a modicum of hope that I will remember for the July 4th parade this year. Anyway, as soon as we started walking the cub scout pack in front of us started throwing candy to the crowd of 4 or 5 people at the beginning of the parade and our boys immediately ran up and snatched it out of the road in a mad scramble. We tried to reign the boys in but it happened again just a few minutes later so we had to stop our pack, and all of the people behind us, for a minute while we told the boys in no uncertain terms that they were not to stop again or there would be trouble. With the next toss of the candy by the boys ahead of us I watched to see what would happen and was pleasantly surprised that while all the boys looked not one made a move to claim the candy. Then a few of our parents ran up to grab what appeared to be a new candy. !@#$%s Ugh.

We made it to the bottom of the beginning hill and started up the far side and I was realizing that Max hadn't really said anything but was simply holding my hand, keeping pace, and looking a little tired. We were next to Roy, another scout leader who had marched with us last year (and heard Max's rants), and he must have thought the same thing I was thinking but he put it to words by telling Max that he thought he was doing a great job. I wasn't sure what Max would say but hadn't wanted to say anything myself for fear of starting a rant but Max surprised me by telling Roy that he was a little tired because of the hill and had a small cramp but was otherwise doing okay. Once again I had my heart melted by my not so little boy. Thankfully the hill wasn't all that steep and Max made it to the top without incident. I got him to drink a little water when the parade stopped for traffic but otherwise he simply walked with everyone else up until the end. Near the end he said that he was too tired to wave and complained that my hand was sweaty. I told him that I was fine with him not holding my hand by he had to keep up the pace. He said, "No, I want to hold your hand but I also want you to know it is really sweaty." Not knowing what to say we marched until we saw TR and Kathy near the very end of the parade. That brightened Max's spirits enough to get us across the highway which was the 'finish line' of the parade. His prize ended up being that he was allowed to watch a movie, Over the Hedge, when we got home along with the promise of a McDonald's Happy meal after his hospital visit the next day.

For dinner yesterday Bob cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. When we asked Max which he wanted he said McDonalds. I felt bad that he had been so good all day, especially at the parade, but also knew that he was getting it the next night because I was running out for a softball game. I tried to talk to him about that and he said he understood and would settle for "Mommy Chickens, Mommy French Fries, and ketchup." I told him that the whole point of the grill was to make less work for Mommy when cooking dinner but he wasn't happy about that. Not sure why but I then told him that when he was little he used to love McDonalds' cheeseburgers and that he would eat them all the time and wouldn't touch the chicken nuggets. He couldn't tell if I way lying or not but he just kind of smiled at me like he thought I was so I said, "Really. You even stole Mommy's sometimes." That made him laugh and he decided he would have a McDonalds's cheeseburger for dinner. I don't remember now how I got out of that but in the end he ate a home cooked cheeseburger with ketchup on it. It is odd that such a thing is a milestone for a near 8 old year old but for Max it was quite an accomplishment. For Tracy and I it means that we can go to cookouts this summer without worrying about what to feed him. Unfortunately Olivia took 2 hours to eat just 3 bites of a hot dog but that is a story that is just too painful to recount right now … perhaps with time ;)

Today was the first time that Tracy was taking Max for shots. We use numbing cream on both 'cheeks' to make the shots less painful and Tracy had only done that once before and hadn't really understood where the shots went so this morning she asked me to mark his butt so she got it done correctly later in the day. Being the incredibly funny Dad that I am I used a fat permanent green marker to draw a dashed circle on his right cheek and then a nice smiley face on the left cheek. Not sure how that went over at the hospital (it didn't come up in conversation with Tracy yet) but it had Tracy laughing this morning but quickly led to reminders for Max from both Mom and Dad that no one at school should be shown Dad's handiwork (probably should've thought of that beforehand).

As yesterday was a holiday the hospital was a little busier than normal today but not too bad. The new nurse couldn't get Max's IV started on the first try so another nurse got him hooked up. I think that we're all hoping that his July scans go well so that he can get a port put in even tough it means another 9 months of chemo. The bad part of the day was that the lab work took a really long time to come back. Max started his day this morning at 4:18 am so by 4:00 pm, when labs still had not returned, he announced that he was " .. done with this ridiculous place and it was time to go home." It didn't work out that way for him but he did get a tour of the kitchen area where he was allowed to grab some cheerios and milk to hold him over until his labs came back. That seemed to work but they didn't get out of the hospital until 5:00 pm. On the bright side, while there was traffic on Route 22, which is the first route out of the hospital, the rest of the way home was smooth sailing.

Another good thing that happened today is that one of the women from church brought over dinner for us while Tracy's Mom was here with Olivia this afternoon. I had softball immediately after work so I had picked up McDonalds for the kids before running out. Tracy and I got to eat BBQ chicken breasts, corn bread, and chocolate chip cookies for dinner. The BBQ was fabulous and the chicken was amazingly tender and we are grateful for all the effort that went into the meal. The church offered to do this every Tuesday but we felt guilty about that so we agreed on once a month – the Tuesday's when Max gets his shots because on those nights the kids all get McDonalds as a special treat for Max doing so well with the shots.

Max did have some extra hormone lab work done today and we should know those results in about two weeks. I have started the scheduling process for his July follow up MRI and medical appointments but that will take some time to complete. Because he has the MRI and has to see 3 doctors we qualify for the Complex Scheduling service where they will try to coordinate seeing all the doctors the same day. Unfortunately the scheduling software that they use is being updated June 5th so they can't schedule the doctors until after that. I do have his MRI setup for 1 pm on July 9 so hopefully the doctors will all be that Thursday but time will tell.

Showdown at Lehigh Valley

Today looked to be a record breaker as far as time was concerned. Tracy and Max made the trip alone for the first time so Tracy got to blast music while Max watched a DVD. By the time Tracy had finished her lunch they were only 15 minutes away so it seems that there was little to no stress now that she's comfortable with the route. Max was seen almost right away so his blood workup was started pretty much as soon as was possible. During the talk with his doctor they decided to try some new medicine to help Max stay asleep at night as his rising so early in the morning is leaving everyone a little frazzled. This morning even Gwendolyn was up at 6:30 am and she NEVER gets up early. Anyway, they decided that since Max shows no signs of having any issues with chemo and because his initial labs showed normal red and white cell counts that there was no need to wait for the more involved breakdown of his neutrophils but would get the chemo in and finish up for the day. Unfortunately, before his chemo was done and they could leave, a water 'gun' fight erupted.

For those that don't know Max is all about getting other people wet but HATES to get even the tiniest drop of liquid on himself. It is so bad that he will rant and rave about how you have ruined his shoes by simply getting a drop of water of the rubber part. I swear this is true. Anyway, Max immediately got involved with a syringe of his own that was filled with saline instead of water (can you sense where this is going?). Lots and lots of wetness filled hilarity ensued … until … Max took one in the eye from one of the ladies with the super soaker of syringes. Fortunately hers was filled with water and not saline but Max immediately crumbled like a fallen soldier. It took another 20 minutes to get him calmed down enough to return to the car. He almost got to bring home the giant syringe but Tracy put the kibosh on that and instead it will be kept there, with his name on it, for eternity (or until someone takes the tape off and takes it for their own).

Tracy flies solo (sort of)

Things seemed okay when Tracy and I talked about her trip to Lehigh Valley with Max and Oma (her Grandmother) last night. That sounds ominous but so far there is no plot twist coming, that I know of, that will alter the course of the story and turn things into a complete disaster. I called home at 11:30 am just to remind Tracy of the current time as she has a penchant for losing track of time when she is doing … well … anything. She answered the phone from outside the house where she and Olivia were covered in dirt because they'd been planting flowers. Tracy told me that she was trying to rush but still had to put away the flower stuff, clean herself and Olivia, run to the store, feed Olivia, and … well you can imagine that wasn't going to fit into the next hour so she cut her list a little short.

I got the next call from Tracy at 12:45 pm, 15 minutes after she was to have picked up Max. Things seemed on track as everyone was in the car and they were already on their way. The only glitch was that the navigation software on her laptop wasn't working exactly right. I was able to talk she and Oma through turning on the GPS because it doesn't turn on just by plugging it in (seems to be a bit shortsighted) and within 2 minutes the computer was telling her where and when to turn. Things were still going well.

The next call came at 2:15 pm, 15 minutes after their appointment was to start. It seemed that things were already under way as Max had already been triaged. Tracy learned that he has gained 0.4 Kg this past week but he also drank a very large quantity of juice on the way out so it could all be water weight? Max had not yet gotten his IV but they are checked in and the process is started. Because of vacation there seems to be a new nurse at Lehigh Valley but it could be someone that Bob and Max have met over the past 3 years but whom Max says he does not remember. His recollection of names used to be great but he is quickly turning into Bob who forgets names while being introduced.

The last call came at 4:17 pm and they were already on Route 78 on their way home. A new nurse had started today and she had trouble getting an IV started on Max's right hand so Max was given a special bead for his necklace (String of Strength) and also a special prize for being such a trooper about getting stuck twice in one hand and then switching to the other hand. Once they were in the car, Tracy panicked a little because the mapping software wasn't telling her where to go but it turned out that the problem, again, was the GPS only this time it was on the floor instead of the dash so it didn't know where it, or Tracy, was at the time.

There could be more when Tracy and I have more time to talk but I suspect that this will be it until next week.

-Bob

Last Trip to Lehigh before Tracy starts to fly solo

On Tuesday, May 8, 2007, Tracy drove, for the very time ever, to Lehigh Valley! She drove there and back and while it was a little nerve racking with Bob saying things like “Are you sure you want to go that way?” and Max saying, “Daddy, stop yelling at Mommy. This is her first time and she’s doing a good job.” We got there right on time and without a ding, dent, or ticket.

This was our first chemo only visit to Lehigh Valley in a long long time so we weren’t sure how long it would take but we had very high hopes. Unfortunately it took longer than Tracy thought it would but it is so hard to just get in and get out because Max really does have a good time while he is there. This week everyone knew that it was, potentially, Tracy’s last non-solo trip so they tried to make her feel at home (Max has already indicated that he is looking forward to going with Mommy and loves everyone there so his comfort was not in question). The ladies at Lehigh Valley did a nice job singing Bob’s praises, talking up how much they will miss his smiling face, etc. (need to remember to send that checkJ ) but they also did a great job going over everything again with Tracy.

We were a little better this week about getting in, getting Max triaged (height, weight, blood pressure, and body temp), and getting his blood drawn for testing. There were more people there this week though and summer vacations have started so it didn’t happen right away but it gave us a chance to talk to Nancy, the social worker, again which is when we learned the vacation schedules there for the summer. When Max’s IV was getting setup he was very curious about the needle (we still don’t know how he can just stare at the process of putting the needle into his hand but he does and he remains perfectly still). Anyway, his nurse took out a new kit and used it to show him how the needle pops out, the straw that stays in his hand, and how the needle pops back into the plastic housing so that no one gets stuck accidently once it has been used. Then they showed Max how the syringe with saline works but they filled it with water and let him hold it. Then Nancy convinced him it would be a good idea to push the plunger (and squirt the water). No one got soaked but many got wet.

After all of that we headed home for dinner with the rest of the family.

MRI @ CHOP, Shots at Lehigh Valley

Today Max had his MRI scheduled for 9:30 am and we were to be here at 8:30. We left home at 5:35 am (after some debate about going down the night before but finally deciding it wasn't worth it) and we got here at 7:20 am. Unpredictable Philly traffic can be so much worse. It worked out though because Bob got to talk to everyone about the problems we had last time with Max taking two days to metabolize the drugs (and missing extra school) and also about the confusion with switching to General Anesthesia from his past sedation. There is more involved in GA that we didn't know about including a pre-visit down here to discuss things and meet with the Doc that would be with him during the scan. After our talk, they decided this morning to try a slightly different sedation method so he was given liquid versed to start. This is the same as his very first two MRI's. That got him groggy and silly (if you have heard Max tell jokes recently, I can assure you that it can, and does, get worse with meds). They are also planning on giving him additional meds with about 30 minutes left in the scan rather than a larger does at the very end. Finally, they're going to run a full liter of fluid through him during the scan to see if they can't jump start the metabolizing of the meds so he isn't mean for so long. Of course, I stopped bringing a complete change of clothes this time. Here at CHOP he gets special pajamas for the scan but keeps his own underwear. Hopefully Max won't have to go Commando for the rest of the day because I'm certain that everyone in the elevator and at Lehigh Valley would be told of this exciting new fashion.

Max did manage to make it through the scan dry. He slept off some of the drugs for about an hour and then we ran to the bathroom. We were able to make our appointment at Lehigh Valley where Max talked through his shots with only a brief pause. He's still pretty unsteady and very chatty but otherwise seems ok. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Shots at Lehigh Valley

We had a 2:00 pm appointment so I picked Max up from school at 12:35 and we went home to put some numbing cream on his butt. We got to Lehigh Valley by 2:00 pm and we played with Play-Doh while we waited for his injections to be prepared. When we got his pants set so that he could get his injection, the nurse said, "Aren't we doing two shots today?" Of course, I had only applied numbing cream to one cheek so I had to answer, "Yes, but I'm an idiot." because I'd forgotten to do both cheeks. We decided to put the Sandostatin in the numbed cheek and that actually went well. Max tensed up but watched his movie, Monsters, Inc., through getting stuck and receiving the medicine. The same for the Lupron shot in the other cheek that hadn't been numbed. I'm grateful that he is so brave for the shots but also a little saddened that he's had the opportunity to get so used to everything.

MRI @ CHOP followed by Lupron & Sandostatin @ Lehigh Valley

Being somewhat tired from TR & Kathy's wedding this past weekend, Max and I headed down to Philly last night to stay at the Wyndham. I had recently gotten a new laptop (mine suffered some trauma when it hit the floor in Florida last month) and I did not realize that my new laptop had no built in microphone. That made using the mapping software a little bit harder but it seemed to be enough to get us where we wanted ... until we got to Philly where I needed it to find the hotel. This is the same hotel that Max and I tried to find at night a while ago and ended up driving around the Four Seasons. I set everything up before hand on the computer and things seemed pretty good. We got off at different exit than before but it put us closer to the hotel so that seemed like a positive step. Then I realized that we'd started at 15th, were crossing 12th and wanted to go to 17th but the computer had been quiet for a while. Turns out it was too busy figuring out a new route to say anything. I ended up having to turn it off because it kept telling me to turn left when I knew I wanted to go right ... stupid technology. Max and I ended up going in two full circles before we saw the tiny Wyndham sign at eye level. Everything else said Sheraton or was really high up. I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong but I'll be using the software again this afternoon to get us up to Lehigh Valley since we haven't traveled that route before. Hopefully it will do better where the roads aren't so close and stacked two high like here in the city.

Max had slept in the car for most of the trip so he was a little awake when we got to the hotel. He made light banter with the ladies at the front desk and had I taken him to the bar I'm sure he could've made a few more dollars (he made $2 at TR's wedding doing bar tricks). Max was asleep again around 10:30 and then we were both up at 6:30 this morning. Things went well this morning and we got the CHOP almost an hour ahead of time. That has worked out well as our start time was 9:30, it is now 9:33 and Max is already 50 minutes into his scan. I talked with the nurses about trying to give him enough up front to keep him down for the entire scan because last time he needed more right at the end and that ended up making him angry Max for a good two days.

When he gets back to this room our plan is to get him dressed and wheel him down to the cafeteria so that we can get some food for the road before we head to Lehigh Valley for his Lupron and Sandostatin shots. If we finish as early as I think we will I'll have to call them to see if they can take him earlier since our appointment there isn't until 2.

Since I got burned once before by typing a really really really long email and then losing it, I'm going to update you in waves today.


...


Just a quick update ... the nurse just came in to tell me Max woke up and had to be re sedated. Should prove to be a nice long day.


...


It took about an hour for Max to wake up and the trip to Lehigh Valley was pretty uneventful. Max slept and the computer tried to take me there in a round about way so I shut it down ... again. We ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria and ran into the nurses while we were there. Max was a little grumpy and very un-balanced so we took our time and I tried not to do anything to start him on a tirade. I let him get french fries and potato chips for lunch. I'm sure the nurses thought that was a pretty good lunch for a growing boy.

Max's sandostatin drug is a little different than the lupron shot. The sandostatin must be prepared and injected in a very short period of time so we got to meet the pharmacist today. His nurse thought the needle was way to big so we went with a smaller one. Unfortunately the whole process of getting Max on the table for his shot took to long and the drug wouldn't go through the needle. He didn't cry for the first poke but he also didn't get any medicine. After some work on the sandostatin, Max got his second poke this time with medicine. This is much thicker than the lupron and, in fact, the residue on his butt afterward turned into a crusty paste pretty much right away. Needless to say he cried but not very hard and not very long. He was very brave but also thought two was enough. It took some convincing to get him to take the lupron. He was already tired so there were a few more tears but again nothing too bad. I was amazed that he didn't even say anything for the first poke so I was very proud of him.

It was at this point that angry Max came out and started to lecture me about many things so we headed home. Thankfully he fell asleep. He's on the couch now but I suspect, as does Tracy, that he'll be home tomorrow because he just can't go to school that angry. On Thursday he and I head back to CHOP for his eyes and to talk to his oncologist about the MRI and how things are going. Max will need blood work in two weeks to see how the Sandostatin is doing and then he'll be on monthly injections of both drugs for a while.

Lupron & Sandostatin at Lehigh Valley

Max got his Lupron shot and additional blood work to check his hormone levels today. Sometime in the next week or two he has an ultrasound of his abdomin to get a baseline of his gal bladder and other organs in the event he suffers from the Sandostatin. Everything went well and Max is going to start Standostatin, get an MRI, eye exam and follow up with his oncologist the first week of May.

Glucose Load Test, Lupron, Movie Day at Lehigh Valley

This morning started early, again, because Max decided to wake me at 4:45 am to find out what time we were getting up today. I must have neglected to tell him that we could sleep until 5:30 am. Our trip out to Lehigh Valley Cedar Crest was pretty uneventful. Route 78 going the other way looked horrific but our way was mostly clear sailing except for the truck that had driven through the yellow warning barrels and onto the Jersey Barrier. They already had two big construction trucks there with arrows on the back diverting traffic so it must have been there for a little while but the driver was still sitting in the cab of his truck chatting with the state trooper down on the ground. Can't imagine he thought that was a good start to his day either. Guess it really is all relative. We got here about 20 minutes early so Max got to play with his new Leap Frog hand held game. For 8:00 am in the morning, this place is pretty busy but also pretty organized. They give everyone pagers, just like many of the restaurant chains around here, so they don't have to announce names. We met Bert (Roberta) and she took us back to Max's room for the morning. He was pretty worried about things today but the numbing cream on his arm worked pretty well so there were no tears this morning! The hard part, as we sort of suspected, was getting Max to drink the glucose in orange soda concoction. Max shook with the first several sips and it looked like it would be trouble but Bert started counting to see how long he could sip for (and Max negotiated for two prizes since the drink was "really awful"). The whole thing took less than 5 minutes I think. We started the 2 hour timer and Max has been watching Nick, Jr. ever since.

We finished at about 10:30 and went to the cafeteria for a bite to eat since Max had been fasting since last night. They were in between breakfast and lunch but Max was able to find a banana, a piece of white bread, a bowl of cheerios, a container of milk and a couple packets of ketchup. While we were eating, Nancy from the 'normal' Lehigh Valley called to see what they were supposed to be doing for Max today. They knew about his Lupron but couldn't remember what they had told him they would do for the movie. Since we had forgotten to call them yesterday I offered that we would pick up the popcorn for the movies and be there at 1:00 pm. On the way over to the other hospital we stopped at a Giant to get popcorn and Target to get Max's prizes for the day. We made it with a little time to spare. Nancy came out to see what movie Max had picked but said she needed 5 minutes to tie up some work. Karen & Anne Marie took the opportunity to rush Max into a procedure room for his shot so that all he had to do was watch the movie. For whatever reason, Max wanted to lie across my legs so I sat on the stretcher in the room and he did lay across my lap - it looked ridiculous since I don't exactly fit on the stretcher but Karen stuck him and got the serum in before he really had time to cry. Still looked like it hurt but he didn't cry. First time for that and it was over in just a few seconds. What a change - he was really looking forward to the movie.

The movie was great and Max really enjoyed himself. He picked a Scooby Doo video that he has and everyone joined him in chairs and bean bag chairs. It was pretty comical to see. Even Dr. Phil sat for a few minutes and had a bag of Smart Food. They couldn't stay for the whole movie but Max kept shouting to everyone with updates so he was happy. He'd been looking forward to this for the whole month and it really made his day.

Lehigh Valley Lupron Shot

I forgot to write this up originally but the day was pretty good. We learned that Lehigh Valley will be able to do the glucose load test for Max before our next Lupon shot in February. That's good news both for distance and because Max likes going to Lehigh Valley.