Some Pics

Elle and Friends at Kamp Kickapoo

Marla, me and sheri in cabin

me and Elle at camp

(for vickie!) Elle (2nd girl back) on Water Weenie

Elle and Caley

Hans at Cole's Pump it Up party!
Hi,
Just want to let you know that Hans is doing great. He is getting used to his new teeth, though he will say that he likes his old teeth better. We went in and saw Dr. Russell on Thursday. She told me that Hans is by no means alone in having serious dental problems. In fact, some NB kids, when they have certain therapies at the 'right' stage of development don't even form permanent teeth buds. It's a very brutal therapy. Some kids come through it with no dental problems, but many have issues. And, the kids who have to battle relapse just go through that much more. We actually don't have xrays to see if Hans' permanent teeth have developed or not, we just have to wait and see. Yikes! Of course, the Oncology dept is very fccused on making tumors go away, so they don't always have a lot of time for hand-holding around other, less crucial issues. At least now Hans is eating normal lion-cub diet. When he couldn't do that for a couple of days on his teeth, I was pretty freaked out about him not having enough reserves to make it through the night. So, we've been stress-dosing him with his steroids, and will finally start to wean him
off. Hans actually isn't scheduled to go back to TCH until after we go and do scans in Philly 6/23 and 6/24.

We have another round of ABT-751 under our belt, with little or no issues. There are some docs and parents out there starting to think that the ABT751 is the wave of the future to keep kids in a first or second remission. How cool is that?

We have been busy around here with end of the year stuff. Elle has four more days at Glen Loch. I am going to miss her being there! She'll be at Wilkerson, a 4th/5th Intermediate next year. I keep running over the logistics of everything. It's going to be a little tricky. Glen Loch is close and we can easily bike there. I'm going to miss that a lot! We are working with the staff up there to get Hans set up for Kindergarten there in the Fall. He's going to do a full Diagnostic. I am hoping they will have some kind of aide available to help keep an eye on him, and watch for signs of Adrenal Shock (he seriously seems more sensitive to it while on the ABT-751 but maybe it's just chance). But, they might actually recommend a homebound program. I have no idea, I am just hoping that they are able to do the diagnostic sooner rather than later! I think we'd all do better if we had time to prep Hans for what to expect in the Fall. He's says he's ready for Kinder though.

Hans is thrilled that our community pools are open for business this summer! He has a slow and steady dog paddle that works for him after he goes off the diving board. I guess I just have to 'advocate' for him with some of the lifeguards. He can stay afloat and get to the side, just not quite as quickly as the other kids. I really don't think it's anything to have to kick him out of the deep end over, tho. He also is so funny, he asked me to buy him a back scratcher - an item long on his wish list. He is pretty cute ooohing and aaaahing while he scratches his back now.

I'm going to try to sign Elle up for a 6 week course in Baton Twirling with some of her friends. This isn't her usual style, but hey, a girl can't have too many skills. Other than that, she'll do a soccer camp the first week of summer at Rice, and she hopes to be in Washington for Grandpa Dean's golf camp again this summer...

The golf tournament yesterday was pretty fun. Scott, Becky, Athena, Tracy and Shannon were all working so hard. We just showed up to have fun! I want to thank my friends Carmen, Ginger, Michelle, Vickie and Dana and their families for coming out to support that event! The guys got to golf and then all of us hung out poolside and the big kids did paddleboats. Very neat event! But, sorry, mom, I totally forgot my camera. I think Carmen/Jim may have snapped a couple shots. Here finally, are some other pics.