Life Update; 3rd Scans Coming Up

Hello! Max is still doing great and has been busy as a bee the last few months. He finished up T-ball before Christmas and just started soccer which he really loves. His hair is growing like crazy and he's due for another trim. We're going for the "fade" which he looks great with especially with his hair coming in a little curly! School is the big highlight everyweek and he can't get enough of it. He's made some great little buddies this year in class (he missed out on that last year...). Max is a very happy little guy!

Max was fitted with hearing aides just before Christmas. His hearing was affected by the last chemo drug he received prior to his stemcell rescue. The hearing loss was expected; it was just unknown how bad it would be. It ended up being quite significant. He spoke very loud all the time and was unable to hear us most of the time. "What did you say, Daddy?" He confused a lot of the letters in the alphabet like P, D T, C, etc. The hearing aides are great and only amplify the tones that he cannot hear. Digital technology! He adjusted to them in one day and noticed the difference right away. He said, "I can hear myself talking now." He's now able to learn the sounds of the letters and his speech (which wasn't bad even before) is improving markedly. His hearing loss is not temporary and he will wear the aides forever.

Max just finished his last round of the retinoic acid! Hooray. We hated that stuff. Poor boy would have chapped lips from his chin all the way to his nose; most of the time cracked and bleeding, too. It caused him to be very moody and emotional, as well as several other side effects.

Max is scheduled for his third round of follow-up scans this month. He just had the bonescan this week and has his MRI and bone marrow aspiration next week. We'll post the results when we have them.

A few monthes ago Andy noted on the kids growth chart (our bathroom door jam) that Max grew about 4.5 inches from 12/2004 - 12/2005. Good thing he didn't lose any weight while he was in the hospital!