Revised Chemo Plan

Clarification and correction on Ethan's treatment plan or as it is referred to at the hospital Ethan’s Road Map:

The Chemo part is like an Outline with the Roman numerals ( I., II., III.) represent what we are calling “rounds” and the each round has what the hospital calls “Cycles” of Chemo (A. and B.) The kind of Chemo he receives during cycle A is different than Cycle B.

With that in mind here is the Plan. Again this is the plan and the chances of us staying in line with the plan are slim to none. Based on the truthful advice of those that do this all the time and are willing to be upfront and honest. We are setting the expectation that we will not be done with this till later dates than listed below and then it will take a good year for things to recover (i.e. his strength, chemo fog, etc..)

Here is the Road Map:

I.               Round 1

a.     Cycle A  Done

b.     Cycle B  Done

MRI

II.             Round 2

a.     Cycle A, December 18, 2013  Done

b.     Cycle B, January 8, 2014

MRI

III.           Round 3

a.     Cycle A, January 29, 2014

b.     Cycle B, February 19, 2014

MRI

IV.           Radiation starts March 5, 2015 (5 days a week for 4 weeks)

Again we don’t expect this to go as planned but hope that it will.

Ethan is doing well and has started back up doing home school again. His eyes are still steadily improving however they are not yet good enough to play video games or read. He can make out letters and words but it seems to be like trying to read the letters of the distorted images (usually letters) on a web page that makes sure you are not a computer. Reading an entire page of that would tire me out too. Still lots of laughter and joy in the home.

Back at it!

From Drew:

We have now started chemo again and are in round 2 of 6 and more specifically Cycle A is done as of 12/20/13. Probably the smoothest cycle thus far. Ethan and I laughed so much the second night that we had to stop a couple of times so he could recover. The nausea was/is virtually non existent and we are 48 hours post Chemo and he came outside today to help wash the car (held hose). He was exhausted about 1/2 way through. So it doesn't take much to wear him out but his desire to overcome is strong.

Gandalf:
We have received  the pathology report and a video on Gandalf.  He is officially a Germ Cell tumor: Mature teratoma, grade  1, measuring 3.5 x 1.2 x 1.2 and he was removed in one piece. I pause at this moment just to say watching the video of the doctors tugging and pulling the tumor out of our sons brain brought on a set of feelings that I have never felt and not yet been able to place into words. OK back to it. Gandalf was mostly pink with a bright red area. He was slightly sticky. There was a small section(1.3 ×.02 × .02) of gray- tan tissue as well. This Gray tissues is most likely actual brain tissue that was removed while cutting him loose.

Post MRI s:
Edema (swelling) and mild diffusion restriction (slowed blood flow)  was seen in both post MRI s located in the splenium of the corpus callosum (the communication between the two halves of the brain), thalamus (Similar to the old operators but of our senses),  and the right optical lobe(left field of vision). Brain stem (basic function like breathing) is normal.  Cerebral aqueduct is back to normal.

The symptoms associated with of all this are mostly his eyes. There are 2 parts to this. First his eye movement. He has a bit of a crazy eye. :)  Most likely due to the edema and the pressure on the brain stem being removed. With the pressure gone, the signals between neurons (wires) are having to adjust back to normal. Kind of like "sea legs" and after being on the water for a long time having to adjusting back to being on land. The second symptom is what he sees is odd. It originally was blurred and warped but now what he sees shaped like the letter Y laying on its side.   So when he looks at a straight bridge the right side of it is normal then as it passes through the left field of vision it separates into 2 bridges creating a Y shape. Needless to say I won't let him drive my car yet. He also has two blind spots. If he looks straight at your nose he won't see your right eye or the left side of your chin. He told me the other day it looked like my tongue was coming out of my beard.Yes i was sticking out my tongue at him like a 5 year old. :) Edema's in the brain have been known to take up to 6 months to go away so we are not in a rush. The ophthalmologist can see that the eye nerves are swollen by looking in his eyes. There is and has been very slight but steady improvement in all these symptoms.  We are encouraged by this and hopeful it will continue.  At the moment there is no reason to not expect a full recovery with time.

He has been having headaches that come on very quickly and start right behind the eyes then move down his neck. They rapidly increase in pain, using a 1 to 5 measurement with 1 being little and 5 being very painful,  the headaches go from 1 to 3 or 4 in as little as 20 minutes. The ophthalmologist, Dr. Leon, pushed for a spinal tap to measure the CSF pressure and he was right it was at 29 when it should not be over 18. The why is not known and will be discussed until post Christmas.  They removed about 6 m? to relieve some pressure and he has had no headaches sense. In an attempt to control the pressure, a diuretic call Diamox will be used. It has been known to lessen the production of CSF.

Now we wait till after the holidays and for the doctors to meet and discuss what steps to take next. We will continue to have blood drawn 2 times a week and work on finishing the semesters school work. Then Cycle B of round 2 of Chemo will start on January 8. With the complete removal of Gandalf the Chemo plan will stay the same as well as the number of radiation treatments however the quantity of Radiation during each treatment will be less. :)


Thanks again for all the support it is at times very overwhelming but very important and very needed. THANK YOU So MUCH!

Chemo then Christmas!

From Beth:

Ethan is getting back into life a little bit each day. He is seeing improvement in his vision, but still gets frustrated with it. We had a check up on Friday Dec.13th. Eye doctor can still see swelling , but also sees improvement.

We also saw Dr. Velez, our oncologist. We are picking up chemo where we left off before the surgery. This means we start tomorrow (Wednesday). We have four more rounds to go. We will be admitted to hospital to do chemo for 3 to 4 days and be home for the weekend. It is our hope that Ethan will be feeling better by Christmas and to be able to enjoy it!:)  He has been looking forward to Christmas for months!!

(Ethan has tried to talk Drew and I into putting lights up on the house for a couple of years now. We have not been motivated to do this in the past, but was thinking if anyone who knows Ethan and would like to surprise him with lights when he comes home from hospital just give me a call 985-377-4452????)

Ethan and I have started up on some school. I read everything to Ethan and then he dictates to me what he wants for answers. This has been a challenge, but good for him too! :) Moving forward with life is a challenge when your body is still very tired, and the eyes are not doing what you want them to.

We have been blessed with our sweet neighbor, who has been making meals for us for over a week now. It is sometimes very overwhelming the kindness of so many of you giving and supporting Ethan and his family through this journey.

We are truly a blessed family for many friends and family that walk this journey with us!! Thank You!

HOME!

Ethan came home on Thursday. We had thought it would be Friday, but when the Doctor came in and said, Would you like to go home?" I could not pack us up fast enough!

 

Ethan was very excited to be home. He walked into the house all on his own and was able to walk through out the whole house! He kept saying everything seemed different. We all just watched him embrace being home.

Our first day at home was interrupted with a trip back to the hospital to have a couple of stitches put back in the drain spot.  Dr. Roberts was able to get us right in.  The whole endeavor was an adventure.

When we got there I was helping Ethan get his bandage off of the drain spot. Apparently, I was a little too slow, because the dr, reached over and said, "Grit your teeth, Ethan! ONE, TWO! HUT! HUT!" and then he ripped off the bandage- it hurt because with the bandage came some baby hairs that have been growing back. Wow!! Then the Dr. handed me some gauze and I realized I would be assisting in these quick stitches. As the doctor got his "C" like needle threaded up, Ethan asked if these stitches were going to hurt. The Dr said, "Yes" as he began the first stitch. Ethan was squeezing one of my hands very hard while I am dabbing the blood with the other and of course, I'm cheering Ethan on! He is the MAN!!! Dr. Roberts was fast and as soon as he started it was over. Ethan was in a bit of shock and I couldn't help but laugh at this whole story.

We needed to stop by the eye clinic next. (All these clinics are at the hospital) The eye doctor wanted to talk about Ethan and wanted to examine him.We had not planned on this, but having some feedback on how Ethan's eyes are healing would be welcomed. Ethan endured yet another eye exam- he was a very tired trooper!

The eye doctor saw improvement in all areas of his eyes. Ethan has two blind spots that we hope will heal. He still has a warped look. Ethan described it to the eye doctor as being in a house of mirrors and then the mirrors crossed over each other. (???)

The eye doctor said again, "Time is what he needs to heal."

Last night, Ethan started having the excruciating pain behind the eye feeling. We scrambled a bit to get some pain meds from the doctor. Within 45 min., we had them in hand and Ethan was able to take them- they were fast acting and he was feeling great quickly! No pain!!!

Ethan will be recovering this week and then we go back in to see the eye doctor. On the 18th, we see Dr. Greene and Dr. Valez about the pathology report on the tumor and to find out what the next step for Ethan's treatment will be.

We are very grateful for all the support and prayers! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

 Here are a few pics from the week:

 Mrs Hoff's English Class from Nebraska Christian sent cards and a banner for Ethan.

 

Ethan's gma and gpa were here 

Sunday recap

Yesterday, we decided to have the Tordial given every 6 hours and that has allowed us to stay on top of the headaches the last 24 hours. Prior to that, he was getting bad headaches about every 12 hours they were bad enough he would squirm and moan due to the pain. We have been pushing hard to not use the Valium.

I brought up some comedians on computer yesterday and he couldn’t help but laugh and after about 5 min asked me to shut it off cause it hurt to laugh. Still has his humor :) Today’s nurse was named Mary and Ethan asked her if he was her little lamb. lol


He ate better yesterday too.

He is still sleeping 20 hours a day. We have been pushing to get him to stay awake longer.That has proven tough. This morning, Dr. Greene came in and grunted because Ethan was still asleep. This is why we're doing an MRI and an eye exam for Monday(today) because all this sleep has him (Dr. Greene) “puzzled.” It’s not that Ethan is not trying, he just can’t stay awake!

The blurry vision is still there and he asked mom today if that would go away. He is clearly processing thru that…. So am I.  YUCK! They say it will get better, but Beth mentioned she read some report that mentioned the edema's (swelling) around the Thalamus and the Occipital Lobe but also the Brain Stem. This had not been shared with us. I read it myself tonight and now need to decide how to handle it. Makes a guy wonder what else is not being told??

We are very grateful for all the family support we have received this past week!!

Saturday Update

Ethan had a good Saturday. He did have some head pain the night before and again this Saturday afternoon. We have figured out that keeping up on the pain meds. and not letting them run out will be good to keep pain at bay- we hope.:) 

Dr. Greene has scheduled an MRI and eye doctor visit for Monday. We have some direction- this feels good.

We moved down to 4 west floor. This is oncology floor. Ethan is glad to have some silence; there is not as many beeps going off on the 4th floor.

 He ate mac and cheese, yogurt, and of course, hot chocolate. He was able to take a shower and sit in a chair for a little bit too. He has kept his eyes open for the longest time saturday, this is improvement. Still blurry, but he is finding the positive.... no homework till the eyes are better!:) Each day it is a few steps forward.

 Charlie and Alvena (Ethan's Grandparents) also Clint and Amie (Ethan's Uncle and Aunt) And cousins Sydney, Caden, and Olivia all came to be with Ethan for thanksgiving. We feel very blessed that we were able to be together through this emotional week.

 thanksgiving meal

A week ago, Thursday, we were walking on the beach enjoying together with our friends Chad and Ming. They blessed us with 24 hours of R&R before the big surgery day. We enjoyed the cold weather (Ethan loves being cold at the beach) and most of all the peace that God has given Ethan while E is in his hands. Today, a week later, we have the same peace, and much to be thankful for with the tumor gone, all the while Ethan's destiny being protected by his creator.

 Many tears, prayers, and truths spoken this week.  I am grateful that we are not orphans, but children of our heavenly father. God's love never fails!

We have been very encouraged by all the prayers, messages, and visits.

Thank you to the many who are praying for our boy Ethan!!!

God has been ever so faithful to be in our presence each day with his peace and love.

Blessings!!

 day before surgery

 uncle clint

 Aunt Amie and cousin Syd

A Bright Black Friday

From Drew:

Ethan is doing good today. He slept most of the day yesterday (Thanksgiving).  He has been up and about for two different wheel chair rides today. One for a CT scan and the other with the PT (physical therapist) He enjoyed them. (Can't remember them.) Dr. Greene said it was due to narcotics.

Ethan still keeps his eyes closed most of the time. Due to the inability to properly focus. When he opens his eyes it's like wearing someone else's prescription glasses and it hurts. This, however, is getting better.  His eye movement is better too.  He no longer has "crazy eyes", where his eyes are out of control. He still has to move his head when looking up (his eyes don't want to move up.) The blurred vision is still a problem but it appears to be improving. While washing his hands he read the sign below. Seemed to make him relieved that he could. It sure relieved me as well.

He has requested and eaten mashed potatoes, part of a donut, and drank some Gatorade.

They removed the drainage tube from the back of his head this morning (that was too cool) and the bandage.  His head looks like the stitching on a baseball and the Dr. offered to sign it- lol.

The Dr. still is keeping us in ICU one more night.  The Dr. wants him up walking and moving about before he moves out of ICU and to regular room.We have learned today (from PT) that for a brain surgery he is actually recovering very quickly. .. THAT would have been nice to know earlier!

Over all things are better today.

Thanks for all the support.

Ethan is doing OK

From Drew:

He just got up to use the restroom for first time. It was a push to get them to let us use the bathroom because he is still so out of it.

They had him on Valium, Benadryl,  and Morphine today.  When neurologist (Dr.Greene) made rounds, he said he couldn't even tell how Ethan was doing because he was so sedated and immediately changed that; which I am grateful for.  We are off all that and down to one med, Toroidal (a kind of a super ibuprofen). He is much more coherent now. :)

Due to not getting a good assessment, we are staying in ICU one more night.

Ethan really can't see much at all.

MRI showed dark and slightly darker areas (indicating differences such as bruising, mild stroke or swelling) around thalamus, (which is a bit of a switch board for most of our senses) and a small area in back of occipital lobe. They are making no promises but say "not something to get depressed about" and they think it will all get better over a couple of months. (???)

Tonight, Beth went home with family to recharge for night.  I am about to go to sleep on a padded 18 inch wide mattress. I'm betting I sleep like a rock.

When the CAT is away (or just sleeping because of meds) The mice come to play.

A couple of Ethans buddys came by to visit.

Morning

Ethan is sleeping at the moment which is good. He threw up about every hour throughout the night. Some of this was expected (any brain injury causes this) but the quantity has been more than expected. He is taking Zofran for nausea, but it has not made any difference. They gave him Benadryl around 9 AM which basically puts him to sleep.

There was swelling in the occipital lobe even before they started so retractors were used and this has most likely caused some bruising of the brain which explains the continued slow pupil reaction (sluggish but improved), blurred vision and the lack of vision to the right field. (They went in on the back left side). This may go away as swelling goes down? (Will keep him on steroids an extra day). Doctors are ducking direct questions about this, so it is my guess they are more concerned then they lead on.

MRI is scheduled for this morning to see what it all looks like inside. This is a regular procedure post brain surgery and they are expecting to see occipital swelling, bruising, and no sign of Gandof (tumor). Hopefully he goes toca regular room (not ICU) after MRI so his younger brother can visit.

The second time he woke he rattled of a bunch of questions like; "where am I? what's going on? what are these tube doing?. ... ect." then fell right to sleep. This let me know straight away he was doing good.

Later he woke and said "well I am alive!"He was concerned that his mom was cold, wanted to watch a movie with Tabi, and asked if his friends had been by.

He did asked for donuts again too. :)

It is expected to be a five day recovery and chemotherapy is expected to start again in 3 to 5 weeks in order to clean up anything missed.

Thanks for all the support and prayers!!

Gandof has left the crainium

Surgery went well today and they were able to get ALL of the tumor. 

Yep ALL of it! It had a hard shell and had "adhesion" to the areas around it but it had not grown into any parts of the the brain. i.e. the brain stem. 

It "looks like" a germ cell tumor and will be sent off for testing. 

Surgery was 4.5 hours and he was under from 8:45 am till 4:00pm. 

He has woken up and cracked a few jokes, moved everything and seems to be doing very well. The only area of concern is his sight is still blurred but as long as it doesn't last over 2 days his vision should be normal.

First comment while waking up was, "Is it over?"

 

The plan

Quick update from Bethie:

"Ethan will have an MRI on November 19, and then the big surgery will be November 26, at 8:30 am.

He will be in the ICU for a while (maybe a week recovery ) if all goes well, we will start chemo a week after.

Drew and I are feeling heavy about everything. Ethan is joyful every day so we choose joy with him.  Jesus joy is our strength."

Gandalf Grows Up

From Drew:

"Funny it seems the more tired we get the harder it is to do these. We are just 2 months into this.

First a quick snap shot of where things are at after which I will fill in details as best I know them and make some corrections to older blogs.

First and foremost lots of questions yet!

We (Ethan, Drew, Beth) sat down with the Doctors (see below) Thursday the 7^th to discuss where things are at. The spine is clear both in tumor cells and tumors. We now have a sub classification of Germ Cell Tumor which is Mature Teratoma syndrome. This is treated by surgery then chemo and radiation. So in the next couple of days we get to give the Doctors a go ahead with this.

Details, remember seems like there are quite a few unknowns yet (to the best of my ability)

The meeting we had with the Doctors (Dr. Velez (Oncologist), Dr. Greene (Brain Surgeon), Shree (Nurse Coordinator) and Emily (Social worker). They had everyone there because Dad (Me) was rather snippy with them earlier in the week.

The terminology that is now being used to describe the tumor and cells is “mature” not “aggressive” however, aggressive may be a trait of mature. So, it is still a Germ cell tumor but they now say, “Mature Teratoma Syndrome” but based on my reading the “syndrome” part is confusing to me yet.  The basics of it are the Gandalf has grown up (mature) so it can no longer be bribed with candy (just chemo) and now we have to use something with more influence (surgery) to affect it. They checked the spine (MRI) for masses and the Spinal Fluid for any tumor cells. I earlier mentioned checking the Fluid for markers and this was inaccurate they were looking for actual tumor cells. Both the MRI and the Fluid are clean which is great news and means it has not spread.

Mature Teratoma is “less malignant” and from what I have read should be benign? This has created confusion on my part because I don’t understand how it can be both and from my research it may not be good but I will ask more about that Monday. I would speculate it ties in to my confusion with the “syndrome”. I think we will have much better answers when we physically get to the tumor.

Another question that will be answered is wither the tumor is just pressing on or grown into the Medulla (Mid-Brain) (see picture)

The Treatment now being suggested:

Surgery first, this will answer many of the questions (hopefully) and to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Then chemo can work and we believe it will due to past germ cell patients and what it did already to lower the Alpha feta protein (AFP).  It was stressed to us that there is not pressure to remove the entire tumor due to its responsiveness to chemo. This also lowers the need for the surgeon to take risks during the surgery. The entrance for the brain surgery will be back upper side, caddy corner to one of the eyes if you will and slightly higher. (see picture) There is a natural division between lobes of the brain here (Optical and Parietal) that will allow them access without having to damage the brain. It seems the biggest risk is moving the blood vessels located close to the tumor out of the way while they are working.

The survival rates are in the upper 90 percentile. Yes still a lot of different potential risk are involved but they are all in the single digit area.

After surgery most likely there will be another meeting of the minds with the new information and a new treatment plan will begin."

MRI results

Yesterday,  Ethan had his MRI.

The MRI showed his spine- Thankfully, the spine was all clear and free of tumors.

Will update soon with next steps...

Heavy news

We took Ethan in for his next round of Chemo on Wednesday, October 30.  Because we had already been through two Cycles, they wanted to take a look at the tumor via MRI. So at 2 pm an MRI was done of Ethan’s head only. As was expected the tumor had grown. Yes, that was expected! Generally, Chemo kills cancer but does nothing to the size of a tumor. It is the radiation that shrinks the tumor. Our radiation was scheduled for after chemo was completed. 

With this current treatment plan, they measure the tumor (after the 2 cycles) and as long as it has not grown over 40%, the treatment plan stays on course. Ethans tumor has grown 45%.  That is 5% too much to continue with the current plan of treatment. This means his cancer is slightly more aggressive then the average Germ cell so we have to be more aggressive in attacking it.

I think it should be noted that his cancer markers are low, which is good sign: at the beginning it was at 13, with our treatment it should be around 9, but it is now at 2 (alpha fetoprotein) I do not understand why they are low and yet it grows, but we'll be asking that!

So what now:

The 2 options that are usually taken at this point are not pleasant. In order to make this decision a MRI will be taken of his spine.(Tuesday, Nov 5)  Germ cell tumors have been known to show up there as well. Then maybe a spinal tap to collect cerebrospinal fluid  (CSF) to check markers there. After the data is collected and looked at they will come to us with some recommendations. It is my current assumption that we will have a sit down with the doctors before the week is out to set up the new treatment plan.

In other news:

Ethan went to friend’s house this weekend which was GREAT!!

Mom and Dad are struggling a good bit with this heavy news regarding E.

 

Chas is hanging in there as usual doing well playing the euphonium.  

Tab is doing great a school and looking ahead (wisdom) planning upcoming vacation.

A Call to Team Adams

A Call to Team Adams...

 This next week starts round 3.  We're approaching that half way point with Ethan's treatment plan. Of course pray for healing.  Pray that the chemo and the treatment plan is effective.  But lets also align ourselves with the Adams Family and pray and encourage them to have the strength to keep going. 

A few weeks ago I ran my first 1/2 marathon.  Running has never been a favorite of mine.  But last May my sister talked me into it.  This whole new world of running showed me that training is not something that can be done in a week.  It takes many many weeks of commitment to the training plan.  Had I been doing this on my own, I would have given up- specifically right at that half way point when hitting that wall.  Each time my sister and I were running- my thoughts would start saying, "Oh, you've ran enough, you can walk." or "Do you REALLY think that you have what it takes to keep going?" or the ever present "You're not a runner, you don't know what you're doing."  BUT what pulled me back was my sister saying "Come on Meag, you got this." and her dragging me and my spirit through that wall- helping me along to get to that finish line and goal.

We, as mankind, are not made to do this life alone. God knew at the beginning that Adam needed Eve.  A favorite story from the Bible that speaks this truth was then Moses, exhausted from battle, realized that when his hands stayed up in the air- the Israelites were gaining the victory.  When his hands fell, so would his people.  So Moses's team, Aaron and Hur, came along side and held his drained, worn out, and weary arms. And the Israelites won the battle.



No matter where you are,  you can be like Team Moses (Aaron and Hur).  We, as Team Adams, can continue to come along side Ethan and his family. They're reaching this 1/2 way point with the treatment.  It has to be getting draining.  It has to be getting weary. 

Just like Moses's arms, or training for a Marathon the encouragement from other is what is going to help get them through.  Let's join together to keep encouraging them! Keep listening to the spirit if there are things that you are hearing to do for them- gifts, money, food, time, even just a simple card, email, or facebook shout out.

-Meagan

Team Adams Bracelets

Hey Team Adams!!

Thank you all for what you are doing to help Ethan and his family.  There has been meals, gifts, money, etc.  The best is seeing those of you who are listening to the spirit when HE says give- you give!  I know personally, seeing what the church near the Adams's did was amazing.  People gave- not knowing exactly who Ethan was.  They heard that still small voice in their hearts and knew that they needed to contribute.

If you're like me,  life is busy.  There is always things to do.  I'm a momma of two boys and I'm always amazed at how two little creatures can take a room in my house from clean to wrecked in the time it takes me to turn around!  But one thing i've learned because of lifes business, I need a symbol, an object to remind me of the important things.

Recently, we've had some great prayer bracelets made up for Team Adams.  These are a great REMINDER to pray for Ethan and his family.  I've been wearing my Team Adams bracelet the last couple days and it does it duty well! When I take it off to do the dishes- I pray.  When I look down, and my 10 month old is chewing on it- I pray.  They are super cute and made with Ethan's favorite colors!

 

 

  

  

If you want one and live close to Ethan and his family, get in contact with Bethie and she has one for you! If you want one and live in Nebraska, we have a contact that can hook you up too! If you live anywhere else, just let me know and we'll be happy to mail you!  Email me at ethanadamsblog@gmail.com

-Meagan

Time between

This time between Rounds has been good.  Ethan is hanging onto his joy.  He's happy, laughing and still has his high spirits.

The biggest symptom that Ethan has from the chemo is exhaustion.  Chemo just wipes him and he is tired and sleeps a lot.  Thankfully, his blood work has been great.  He's had blood work done three times and each time, it's been exactly where it needs to be.  Twice, it was so good that he didn't need to have the  booster shots to help his white blood counts.  The count was where it needed to be on its own.

This Monday, Ethan goes in to have his blood tested again.  If all is high and where it needs to be, the next round will start Wednesday.  Round 3 is just three days and then hopefully he'll be home for the weekend. 

  This last weekend, the whole family, plus Tabi's friend Caitlyn, were able to head to see Tabi.  So good to be together and to see Tabi. Time is always good when we can be all together laughing and having a good time!

Blood Drive Results

 Last Sunday, the Lakeshore Church in Covington opened up their generosity and had a blood drive in Ethan's name.  Twenty-two people participated in giving blood.  The time was spent in the mobile donation station. The Adams's got to meet and personally thank those who were giving blood.

 

inside the bus

Lakeshore went above and beyond- not only hosting this blood drive, but giving to Ethan financially.  The church had a love offering and gave it to Ethan.  This money was so generous and it will go to helping with his medical costs.

When the pastor spoke to the congregation about the blood bus and the offering they were going to take up for Ethan, he shared that though most of the people didn't know who Ethan was, they, as the church, were going to make Ethan one of their own and give to help take care of him.

Thank you Lakeshore Church for being such a testimony of Christ's Love.  Thank you for being a part of Team Adams! Blessings to you!

End round 2. Blood Drive Info

It is day 6 of round 2 of chemo. Yesterday was the last dose of chemo and today we are waiting these24 hrs. to make sure he is hydrated and bladder is good. This round of chemo can be hard on the bladder, so as a precaution they give him meds. to protect it and keep a close eye on his output.

 If you all remember at the beginning of this journey we learned what kind of tumor he had by looking at the markers (alphafete proteins) in his blood. These proteins are produced by this tumor.  This week we have an update on these markers. They have dropped to normal level (less then 9) this suggests the chemo is producing the desired results.

 

Ethan after day 4

 Drew and Ethan have finished one puzzle and are starting the 2nd (finished it before this post was done!) it has been fun to have Chas with us this weekend. Great to be together!

 

1st puzzle DONE

 

 All of us stayed together for the night.
Ethan's room is cold so we had stocking caps! Sure miss Tabi!

  Lakeshore Church will be hosting a blood drive October 20, 2013 for Ethan. If you are local the blood center is the place you can go to donate. See flyer below on details as to how blood donations help us.

A special thanks to those who have given finances, meals, words of encouragement, and prayers. We are grateful for the support!

Team Adams

Round 2

Today, all looked perfect on Ethan's blood work which means round 2 is underway!

He will be in the hospital for six days.

Thank you for keeping the Adams' in your prayers and thoughts!

The A-team at the hospital