Rough Weekend

On Friday afternoon things were going great. Both Hans' Oncologist and his surgeon had just popped in to check on him, and the plan was to go ahead with Chemo over the weekend. But then we checked Hans' temp at 7 pm and he was running a fever of 103.4. Poor baby! As per protocol, they did blood cultures, just 6 hours later they came back positive for an infection is Hans' central line (the IV tubes placed in his chest). He was immediately started on three antibiotics. He had a rough time when the antibiotics started going in and fighting off the bacteria. He had to be moved to the ICU on Saturday morning, so that he could be closely watched. He needed doses of Norepinephrine and Dopamine to help him regulate his blood pressure. Luckily, everything they did for him started working pretty quickly and he was over the worst of it by Saturday afternoon. Since we had Elle with us we went ahead and splurged on a room at the Mariott right across the street. That way she could be with us and we swtiched off being with her and being with Hans yet still be close. It was truly a luxury to take turns sleeping in the cozy bed at the Mariott. Elle isn't old enough to be a visitor at the ICU and only 2 people are allowed in at a time.
Hans was well enough to be moved back up the 9th floor yesterday by 1pm. We are now in room 926 and are hoping that the anitbiotics will completely take care of the infection in the line. Now it's a waiting game to see how soon he's well enough for chemo. The poor guy has been through so much since his surgery. The good news is that we found out the Pneumonia is cleared up. Thank goodness. We are hoping for no more surprises, no more nights in the ICU and that Chemo can start relatively soon and we can get back home!

Huggable!

Just wanted to share this photo from yesterday, Thursday, January 25 of Hans hugging his new "Valentine" dog from his Aunt Susy. He loved it!

Thanks to everyone here in Texas and elsewhere for loving and supporting the Weberling family...y'all are awesome!

I'll miss you, Hans, Elle, Lara and Kevin. Love you so much.

Stay strong, Hans!

Hugs,
Megan

We are halfway there!

Today marks the halfway point in Hans' treatment! He began treatment on October 25th, just four days after being admitted to Texas Children's. The first part of treatment lasts 6 months, so today we're halfway there. Incidentally, three months from today - April 25th - is our wedding anniversary. It'll be extra special this year. The second part of treatment is basically just a monthly medication and check ups.
Hans continues to look better and they are now weaning him off of his pain meds.
It has been great to have Megan and Phil here for this past week plus. They actually bought a car while out here, and Phil had to go back Saturday to start up school at San Jose State, so Phil's brother Tommy is flying out tonight to make the 1800 mile road trip back to Santa Cruz with Megan. They found a VW Golf TDI like Kevin's here. They are apparently hard to find in CA, so we're glad they found one here!
That's the update for today. Thanks to everyone for the little and big things you've done to help us out through these past three months.
Lara

We are feeling pretty good

So, we have now been up on the ninth floor for one night. It is good to be there. I feel like we are able to sort of unpack and move in. We are just most comfortable there since it's all Oncology/Hematology and you don't feel like you have to be hypervigilant about each and every procedure. They do some things differently for Oncology kids - and they know it best on the 9th floor. We've been through a lot this past week, but Hans continues to amaze us. He hasn't been crying or complaining very much throughout all of this - he just sort of gets quiet and intense through the worst of it.
I want everyone to know that he is looking really really good. His Respiratory Rate is starting to come down and his belly swelling is finally starting to lessen. I guess our prayers are working!
We just need to see Hans get a little bit better and he can charge ahead with Round Five of Chemo, and then get HOME once again! Round Five of chemo is a 6 day round, so we'll still be here for a while. Hans' doctor is thinking he should be ready to start that by Monday - but, we'll see...
We'll keep you posted!
Lara

Room Switch-a-roo

The latest is that Hans has been moved to room 930 so be sure to put that number when submitting your e-grams! Lara and Kevin are glad to be back on nine, their 'home away from home' where their new friends and their friendly nurse friends are. Hans is continuing to do better - even back to his old familiar ways... - yelling at his t.v. shows .... smile :)

Carmen

Move to a 7th Floor Room

Hans moved from the PICU to the 7th floor (Progressive Care Unit) yesterday afternoon. He's feeling a lot better, but is still in some pain from the surgery, has a touch of pneumonia, and has a high respiratory rate. His fever is gone and he loves his new fire hydrant and flame quilt made by Christy, the daughter of Elle's teacher, Mrs. Horn.

The whole family is happy to be in a room on the 7th floor...Elle was able to visit Hans!

Hans might be moved to the 9th floor by tomorrow...pending availability. I think he starts his next round of chemo later this week, so he'll be staying in the hospital for a while.

-Megan

Hans is out of PICU!

Kevin just phoned to say that Hans has been transferred out of PICU and is back in the Progressive Care Unit. His new room number is #728 so be sure to send him a card from the TCH web site.

Kevin also said that Hans has been more comfortable and alert today. He's still retaining some fluids but is looking better each day. The doctors did find that Hans has pneumonia in the right lung which has been contributing to his elevated respiratory rate. The good news though is that the antibiotics that he has been on for the last five days are the same as those used to treat the pneumonia so they will just continue treatment for another five days or so.

Lara and Kevin are optimistic that Hans will be transferred to the oncology floor (the ninth floor) in the next few days. As soon as Hans is well enough he will begin his next five days of chemo in this phase of treatment. He will then get a couple of weeks off to recover before starting phase two of his treatment plan. This will involve more chemo, radiation and his stem cell transplant.

Hans has shown such strenght (as have Lara, Kev and Elle) - we're confident he will fight his way through phase two as he has through phase one. Thanks to all of you for holding Hans, Lara, Kevin and Elle in your hearts and prayers.

Kathy (Kev's mom)

PICU & Basketball

Just a note to let y'all know that Hans is still in the PICU...getting better...waiting to be transferred to the 7th or 9th floor. Lara and Kevin are spending their days and nights with him, and Elle and I have been down to visit whenever we can.

-Megan

Meanwhile, here's a few pictures of Elle's first basketball game.

Elle and two teammates watch the action of the games before theirs.

Elle's ready to play!

Lined up for introductions.

Introducing Elle of the Lady Cougars!

The Lady Cougars' Coach giving them some pregame tips.

Elle's first basket!

Passing the ball in to a teammate.

Recovery Update

Hans has been moved from his room on the 7th floor to the ICU. Last night, he had a high heart rate and a fever. It turned out that he had fluid in the area where the tumor was removed, and the fluid was putting pressure on his lungs. Today the surgeon did a small procedure to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure, which caused an immediate improvement in his vital signs.

It was a long night for everyone, but Lara and Kevin are glad that he's in the ICU, where he's getting the care he needs. There are no phones allowed in the room, so leave messages on their cell phones for now.

-Phil and Megan

Two Thumbs Up!

Hans and Phil on the way to the clinic, Tuesday 1/16/07

To echo what Carmen posted earlier, Hans had a very successful operation. The surgeon said that he removed the entire tumor plus all the residual material, and was very confident that he got it all.

The day was spent waiting for updates from the nurse, but he only had good news. The surgery went well all along the way, with no complications or trouble areas. In fact, things went so well that after recovery, Hans went to the 7th floor, which is the Progressive Care Unit (PCU). The PCU has a very high nurse-to-patient ratio, but is not as hectic as the ICU, so this was more good news.

Lara and Kevin are at the hospital with Hans. They aren't supposed to use their cell phones on that floor (and actually, Megan and I have Lara's cell phone with us and Elle at their house), so you can call them in the room. The number is (832) 826-0712; you can also try Kevin's cell phone, and he'll either run out to the elevator or just call you back. They might be there until Thursday afternoon, before they move back to the 9th floor for more general care.

Elle missed school today, due to the ice storm, so it was nice for her to be able to be with her mom and dad (nice for them too!). She somehow got past the "you must be at least 14 years old" checkpoint and saw Hans in the recovery room. Even though he was pretty sedated, he responded immediately to her voice, quickly opening his eyes and looking at her.

Barring another "Arctic Blast", as the Houston Media has dubbed this storm, Elle will be back in school in the morning.

It has been amazing to see firsthand how much love and support the Weberlings have been receiving. All of the thoughts and prayers from friends and family, far and near, are working... keep it up!
-Phil

Hans is out of surgery! Hip Hip Hooray--

Just received a call from Lara and Hans made it out of surgery about 6p! He's doing really good and not on the ventilator. She said he's really really 'out of it'. Lara said he even said something to her. :o) They are so excited it is all over. Right now the doctors are arranging for him to be moved to the 7th floor which is for patients needing progressive care. They'll closely monitor him through the night and tomorrow. The surgeon said it went well without any complications!

I was with Lara and Kevin during alot of the day today and they were handling this extremely well in my eyes, so very calm. Even Elle was being a trooper. The nurse would call Kevin's cell with updates about every 1-1/2 hours. He was stable throughout and everything went along exactly as the surgeon had hoped. They began the operation at about 10:00a. Around 3:40p today they called with an update that the tumor was removed successfully. They were so happy to hear this. After removing the tumor they pressed on thoroughly checking all of the areas - for example, his liver -doing ultrasounds, sending samples to the pathologist all time consuming but had to be done in order to check for any remnant of cancer. The surgeon is extremely confident he removed it all.

I'm so thrilled for them as I know everyone reading this is. Way to go Hans! WE LOVE YOU SO!
Keep praying,
Carmen

Hans Is In Surgery

Hans went into surgery this morning as scheduled at 8:15a. Lara told me this morning on the phone that she and Kevin are 'calm'. It's going to be a long day but since school is cancelled (due to weather), their friends Megan and Phil who are in town helping with Elle, will be bringing Elle down to the hospital shortly which will be so comforting. The Weberlings were actually planning on being able to spend the night at home last night but plans changed. Hansie went in for counts yesterday and they were low so they needed to give him blood. Rather than send him home for the short while to be back at 6:30a this morning and with the extremely cold and icy weather forecasted, they decided to admit him last night. It was sorta better this way having him be there because he got to sleep in a little and the fasting he had to do wasn't a big thing at all. He was in good spirits this morning when nurses strolled him off as he waved bye to Mom and Dad. The little 'cocktail' they gave him helped out alot with the transfer.

They are in a room instead of having to wait all day in the surgery waiting room. This will be good so they can have a place to 'hang' during this long long day. The room is 905. Phone number is (832)826-0905.

Lara wanted me to tell everyone thank you so much for all of the prayers for Hans on this day.

Will keep everyone posted,
Carmen

Oops - my bad

Okay - so I was kind of sort of wrong about the blood donation process... I thought I had set up an account where donors could give directly in Hans' name for some kind of insurance break or credit on blood received in his name. I guess I got confused - this was early in diagnosis, and I was kind of a mess - I'll blame it on that. They do have a program kind of like that, but it is only for uninsured. Fortunately, we do have insurance for Hans. Nonetheless, we can still go out and give blood this week. Hans will be using units this week. I read on the Gulf Coast website that we need about 800 units of blood each day in this area. So - still go out and give if you are willing and able, but don't worry about trying to do so in Hans' name. I also did find out that you do not have to be a parishioner to give at Sts. Simon and Jude this weekend. Maybe I'll see you there!
Lara

Upcoming Blood Drive at Sts. Simon and Jude

I wanted to let everyone in the area know that there is going to be a Blood Drive, this Sunday, January 14th at Sts. Simon and Jude on Glen Loch here in The Woodlands. It'll go from about 8:30 am - 2:00 pm I signed up to volunteer from 12 - 2. I appreciate anyone who is able to come out and donate blood. Throughout this whole process we've really realized the importance of relying on the kindness of strangers - blood is something that can't be manufactured, yet it's so essential for keeping all these fragile little people going through their fight. Hans has already had a number of blood transfusions and is expected to need more during his surgery on Wednesday January 17th. You can give Blood in Hans' name through Gulf Coast by giving the following info: Hans Weberling, DOB 7-15-03, and hospital is Texas Children's Hosptial.
I know that many are not able to give blood - if you're pregnant/nursing, weigh under 110 lbs., history of Hep A or other blood borne illnesses, or even a recent tattoo or piercing (as Stefano pointed out). You can look on www.giveblood.org for more information. I think it'd be great for our friends and family out-of-state to give blood on Weds. Jan 17th in honor of Hans' surgery, if at all possible. A big thank you to all those who are able to donate!
Lara

Update from the surgeon

So, Kevin and I met with the surgeon yesterday. We want everyone to know that we feel extremely confident in our surgeon, Dr. Nuchtern. I just think he seems pretty incredible and I feel so fortunate that Hans will be in his hands for this intricate procedure. We found out that the surgery will take all day, and that Hans will likely be on a ventilator, and have a feeding tube and a catheter for a few days after the surgery. He reassured us that his recovery will be harder on us than it will be on Hans, since Hans will be heavily sedated and won't remember much of it. So we have a week at home before a long haul - after Hans is recovered from surgery he'll go right into Round V of Chemo - but by that point we'll be over the halfway point in this part of the treatment plan.

Hans is home once again

Hans was released from the hospital again yesterday. His fever really never crept up that high, and they did not detect any bacterial infection in the cultures, and he tested negative for flu. So, essentially, no news is good news. It seems that the cumulative effects of the chemo are surfacing and it's just taking Hans' counts a bit longer to recover from the chemo. This was to be expected - so I find comfort in the fact that Hans' case seems to be "text book" so far.
We have an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow, and we'll find out more about the surgery.
On a sort of positive note: Kevin had called the on-call Oncologist with several questions over the weekend. One of his questions was why did it take the doctors so long to do rounds on Hans on Saturday. The on-call doc remarked that since Hans is one of the healthiest kids on the floor, he was one of the last to be seen. I guess we take all the good news we can and focus on it. What else can you do???

Little Setback for Hans

Unfortunately, I'm having to report the news that Hans was admitted into Texas Children's today. He went into clinic yesterday for counts and his numbers were very low. He was going in for a transfusion and plateletes early this a.m. but he had a fever when they got there so they wanted to start him right away on a few kinds of antibiotics. He's probably fighting a little something off but they go ahead and act agressively by taking blood cultures to make sure it's not something very complicated like an infection in his main line. The normal procedure is to keep a watch on him for the next 48 hours. He's been sleeping alot today. Lara's brought along a book for her to pass the time. Kevin and Elle were heading down to the hospital once Elle's school let out for the day. Hans is now in room 914. The direct number to the hospital room for those that would like to call them is 832-826-0914. As before, don't forget to go to the Texas Childrens webpage (www.texaschildrenshospital.org) to create a card which volunteers will walk over to his room for delivery.

Thank you as always for your thoughts and prayers for the little guy!
Carmen

we're home again!

Hi Everyone,
I think my internet was down for a day or two, so sorry to be late in letting you know that we've been back from the hospital since Saturday. The fourth round of chemo went pretty well. It was quick! We were in Thursday and out on Saturday. Hans didn't exactly like Day 2, but with a little Adavan (SP?) he was able to sleep through the worst of it. He did so well, in fact, that they let us out of there by noon on Saturday and we just had to come back in briefly on Sunday for his shot of Newlasta. Newlasta promotes white blood cell growth and helps him bounce back from the Chemo.
Hans is doing great at home, and has been active as usual. We've been to the park twice today and he has been enjoying both his big wheel and his bike seat. It's fun to be able to ride with grandma!
He seems to be finally turning up his nose at Chicken Nuggets and Cool Ranch Dorito's. These days he's into PB&J, his dad's BBQ chicken, cereal and pancakes.
We say good bye to grandma tonight and then Megan and Phil will be back in time to help out for the surgery.
It was cool to learn that Mass was said in Hans' name today at Saints Simon and Jude by Father Vincent Nguyen. Thanks to Matilda Minze for putting in that request!
Happy New Year to everyone! I'll post more pictures soon...
Lara