About Me

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Bakersfield, CA, United States
Hans was a busy, happy, sweet and fearless three year old when he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. He fought his disease like a "gladiator" for nearly 6 years. Hans was an animal lover to his core. He was 'guarded' at home by his three cats, Black, Orange and Cotton. He also had his Golden Retriever, Honey, to keep him company. Hans enjoyed swimming, biking, gardening, grilling (he had his very own grill!), horseback riding, playing video games, building Legos, and flipping between Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Animal Planet. Hans loved all members of his family and he was a loyal friend. He had to go through a lot of treatment in his life. But Hans powered through it. His attitude was let's get this done! His motivation was always to get back home, to his family, pets, favorite foods and pool.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Wednesday

Okay - so it's been a while since I posted. Holly - have fun in Hawaii! PL - have a great turkey day at home. Wish we could just show up with out the flight and all that jazz... Thanks Sheila, for your offer of sending a copy out. I hope people take you up on that. I got three copies of the paper, Kevin took one to work and I haven't done anything with the others.

I feel a little pitiful tonight. We had a great appointment on Monday and actually found an Endocrinologist we really connected with! This was very exciting! Until we met Dr. Jeha we hadn't really gotten a good explanation for Hans' Hypoglycemic incidents. After meeting with him it seems to make a bit more sense. We also had a good appt. Tuesday with Dr. Russell. She actually seemed to have lightened up her attitude. She said we'll just take the Accutane on a monthly basis. This month we'll be off. So, maybe we can enjoy the month. I thought - okay -- no planned visits for four weeks. Will we make it ? Then, my cell phone rang. It was the clinic - Hans' Potassium was low in his labs, have him come back tomorrow to retest. So, we went back in today. We had them redrawn and I was sure they'd be fine - just a bad test - he's acting great. But no, they actually dropped .1! Ugh - so the docs and Shari did some thinking and consulting with Endocrine and they figured that Hans has been having too much Florinef, one of his daily steroids, while he has been on his stress dose of Hydrocortisone. So, we're going to try to give him some oral Potassium and then cut his Florinef in half and go back on Friday! UGH! I just counted it all up and we've had 8 medical rendez-vous in the past 11 days, by Friday it'll be 9 in 2 weeks. Before he had his incident last Sunday only two of these visits were on the books. It's pretty exhausting! I just can't believe Kevin is making it in to work! He has become quite the papa bear looking out for Hans, and his instincts were right on the money about the Potassium. Poor Elle was sick on Monday, and off today, so she accompanied me to two of these visits. But, she's a pretty good sport. They both are really.

For Thanksgiving, Kevin and I hadn't planned much. Planning seems to be such a joke lately, that we actually waited until today to order a pre-prepared Thanskgiving dinner from the grocery store. Turkey always sounds good though!

Thanks for your prayers. Please try to say a special prayer for our dear sweet little friend Chloe today. She has relapsed Ewing's Sarcoma and the docs have just told her family that her current treatment plan isn't quite doing the trick. She's seeking the advice of a new team of doctors and looking into some experimental treatments. She is one of the sweetest little girls I have ever met. Also, we can always think of our TCH friends with relapsed NB: Carlie, Ryan, Colby and Erin, as we also pray that Patrick, Hans, Roman, Will and Chloe will remain "NED". Thanks!

Lara

1 comment:

Kim Tyler said...

Sweet Lara,
What an ordeal, every day, something new pops up. Yet you all have been remarkably resourceful, buoyant, and courageous in taking each thing as it comes. Today is Thanksgiving. I hope you find some joy in the day, and especially some rest for both you and Kevin. One of the things I'm thankful for today is having had my heart opened by knowing about Hans struggles, and watching the beauty, strength, and courage of your little family. You are in my thoughts and prayers every single day, without fail. Much love and happy holiday.
Kim