Graduation Day!!!

We are all smiles today, because Little Buddy had his last every Radiation Treatment this morning!  LB is super excited that he doesn't have to go to the "nap doctor" anymore (called that because from his sedated point of view he went there every morning to take a nap).  He has been very fast to smile all morning, and you can see in his eyes how happy and excited he is.  I really get the feeling that he understands that he's crossed a difficult barrier, and he feels more positive about things than he's felt in a long time.

As LB arrived this morning the nurses were waiting with "graduation" presents for him.  He got a new blanket, a bear, and a graduation certificate. (Mom and Dad also got a graduation present for big sister and little brother for being so patient with us being gone so much.)  LB, as always, won over the hearts of the nurses and doctors at the Huntsman Caner Institute, and there were even tears shed by them as they had to say good-bye to their little friend with the bright smile and beautiful eyes.

It will take him a couple of weeks before he starts to feel better from his radiation therapy, so he will still be nauseated and tired for a while, but he should be feeling somewhat better by the middle to end of April.  It has been a long six weeks going up there everyday, and a long month before that up at Primary Children's so are glad to have a four week break before LB starts his chemotherapy treatments.

So, looking ahead for the next month, LB will have to go up to PCMC on the 9th and 10th for some tests (MRI, hearing tests, kidney test, etc), and then the week after that we are going to take him to get a more permanent feeding tube put in his stomach (called a J-tube).  He still is having a difficult time swallowing, and putting a tube in a J-tube will be more comfortable for him, and won't get pulled out nearly as easily as a nose tube (his current NJ-tube) does.  They will give him a couple of weeks to recover from that, and then the first of May his chemo will start.

So, we are happy today and are looking forward to a bit of a "vacation" this next month.  We'll continue to keep you posted week by week and let you know how he's doing.