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.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Nice weekend...third shot at stem cell, here we go

They say the third time is the charm. We'll see. Hans got called into clinic this afternoon. He counts looks robust enough to try again. Yesterday Hans tried a new local Bakersfield clinic for labs. CBCC is a local adult cancer center that has agreed to see Hans for labs. I was surprised to see how packed the place was! For a mid sized city of 350,000, I couldn't believe how large their cancer center could be! Anyway, Hans ANC is a nice 6k, HGB about 10, and platelets at 67. This is interesting. With platelets not quite high enough to make counts to proceed with another round of treatment just yet, it's a good time to give a third round of harvest a try. We are in clinic right now for Hans' dose of Mobozil and another boost of GCSF. We have to stick around 'till 6pm and then come back in the morning to check that CD34. If it's even at 7 they may decide to proceed with a line placement and then possible harvest Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

We are trying to go with the flow. It hasn't really been too easy! Hans creates his coping mechanisms by knowing what's coming and knowing what to expect. It has been frustrating for him not knowing at all what is happening. We are trying to work out a Thanksgiving at home, but we still don't know when we'll start the next round of therapy. We don't even know what we'll be giving him, but I think we are all starting to lean towards a reduced, 3/5ths dose of the ICE.

That's the scoop. More I don't knows than I knows! We had a great weekend. Five straight days at home! :)

Thanks for checking up on us.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

May the days at home continue to be pleasant and the stem cell harvest be 100% successful!

Love, prayers, and great hope abound in a world of miracles!

Hugs for Hans, Elle, Lara, and Kevin...beasties, too!

Aunt Susy