100th Post!

Friday: January 31, 2014

We had Cooper's eligibility meeting this afternoon. As we already knew, he was found eligible for Speech, PT, and OT. We thought we were busy now, starting next week I'm not sure if we have a spare minute. We are very satisfied with all the therapists and can't wait to get started.

Cooper seemed a little more upbeat today. He did take two long naps with only a 30 minute break in between them. We are hoping the next three weeks are amazing. He has a three week break from Chemo!  We will still have to go every week for blood work.

Cooper and Harley

 



 

Holding Hands

I guess our "tater bin" is now our "toy box"

 



Mommy's Favs of the Day: Cooper was so funny...I was making a pizza and had cut up some ham. He, very sneaky, would grab a handful and eat it. I had to play along for a long time so he would keep eating!

 



Thursday: January 30, 2014

Not much happened today. Cooper and Mommy slept in, yay! Then we spent the first part of the morning cuddling. Cooper is still weak and doesn't have much energy. He took a long nap and wanted more cuddle time when he woke up. He was able to play for a while this afternoon and was in a pretty good mood. 

 

Cooper playing in the sink

 



 

Mommy's Fav of the Day: I love his grin

 

This is some of Cooper's therapy, a big container of rice!

 

I couldn't catch Cooper in action, but it thought it was funny knocking over the mailbox. This may not be a good sign!

Wednesday: January 29, 2014

I didn't post last night due to Cooper being up until after 2:00 a.m. After fighting with him for several hours, I was ready for bed myself. He didn't rest well even though he seemed very tired. All day today he was restless, pale, and weak. His eyes are sunken in and are very dark. His blood counts were down, but thankfully not enough for a transfusion. Chemo is so hard on the body and it's heartbreaking watching him suffer through this.

Cooper had his therapies in Roanoke today. We made it to Pearisburg when he got sick and threw up everywhere. (Thanks to Chemo!). We had to turn around to trade vehicles because his car seat was soaked. After this one spell he seemed a little better.  He did great for his speech session and tried really hard for his OT, but by the time it was PT's turn Cooper was finished. She was able to get him fitted for his gate trainer. If he will use it, it will help him walk around the house independently. We hope to try to put him in it tomorrow if he feels up to it.

He ate a little better today. He ate several French fries at McDonald's. I fixed him his blueberry pancakes when we got home and he ate some of those. I fixed myself a bowl of oatmeal and he wanted some. He ate about 1/2 of my bowl. I couldn't get him to take his Carnation in milk before going to bed, so I hope he doesn't wake hungry.

Cooper driving his police car in his Spiderman PJ's

 





This boy loves the computer. He actually saved two documents and created a hyperlink! Daddy said maybe he could teach Mommy a few things!

 



 

Mommy's Fav of the Day: (yesterday) You can't really see it in this picture, but Cooper is standing up without holding on to anything! He did this for about two minutes!

 

 

Cooper enjoying some French fries from McDonalds!

 

 Mommy's Fav of the Day: (today) I just love that little grin!

 

Cooper drinking from a Mason jar, Country Boy!

 



Monday: January 27, 2014
 
Cooper has had another good day. However, we are a little concerned. We are thinking his blood counts may be down, this would be due to his Chemo. He is very pale, seems weak, and wants to sleep most of the day. Even feeling like this, he is in a good mood.
 
He thought it was funny to tell Daddy that everything was "hot" today. He learned another new word tonight: pole. He was playing with his fishing pole and I told him it was a pole and he started mocking me. It seems like he is learning so much now!
 
Cooper also seems to be eating better. Nothing like before, but making progress. I forgot to post last night, but yesterday he ate one large fried mushroom. He seems to want whatever you are eating. This morning he wanted my fruit loops so I gave him a bite, for lunch he ate a few bites of my egg sandwich (he has NEVER liked eggs!), and this afternoon he actually ate a few bites of grilled cheese and several bites of French fries.

We go for blood work Thursday, we are praying his counts are normal.

Sitting at the booth at Macado's like a big boy

Actually eating some food!

 



 

 Mommy's Fav's of the Day: before surgery we would always stop at the end of our driveway and let Cooper "drive" the vehicle into the garage. He loved it. We hadn't done this since his surgery. Tonight when we pulled in we let him and he had a ball. I really think he remembered doing this!

 

 

He was telling me something, but I'm not sure what!

We let Cooper stay up a little later tonight since he slept part of the way home. He was happy about our decision!

 



Sunday: January 26, 2014

Cooper has done some pretty amazing things today. He has been trying to repeat everything I say. He learned a new word today, "hot." I told Cooper it was hot in the house and he looked up at me and said, "HOT." He has been saying it all day. I was sitting in the middle of the floor and Cooper stood up on his own and took 2 steps before grabbing my knee. He has been in a great mood and has kept me laughing all afternoon!

Mommy's Fav of the Day: I just find this picture so funny. I was running the vacuum and Cooper and Harley just there staring at me as if to say, "Mommy, can you please hurry up? 

 

Cooper decided he wanted to vacuum

 

Cooper never did learn how to go forward on this before his surgery. I pulled it out today and he was all over the house. I know he's too big for it, but it really helped him use both legs and feet.

Saturday: January 25, 2014

Cooper had another great night last night. He slept until 8:10 this morning, waking in a good mood. That mood is always short-lived due to the number of medicines I have to force him to take. At least we get to cuddle afterwards! For some reason he wanted to sleep a lot more than usual today. By 10 he was fighting sleep. I was able to hold him off until 10:30. I had to wake him at 3:00 for his medicine. He played for a while and was in a good mood, but fell asleep again at 5:45. We let him sleep until a little after 6 when dinner was ready.

Cooper always refuses everything I fix, so I've just been giving him things I know he will eat. Yesterday he loved a butterscotch sucker, so for dinner I mixed cool whip (for extra calories) with butterscotch pudding. He ate the entire cup. Then I put some rice with a pineapple sauce over it on his tray. He never did like rice, but tonight he ate several bites of it.

This afternoon he started giving Daddy high-five with his LEFT hand! He is still trying to walk, but hasn't made it more than one step. He did pull himself up by holding onto the door, nothing to grip, today. It seems like each day we find him doing more and more! We still pray every night that God watches over Cooper and continues to help him make a full recovery and many more gains.

Once again, Cooper and Harley always together! 

 

Cooper finally found "HIS" drawer! He used to play in this thing for hours. After discovering it tonight and learning how to pull himself up, he was in Heaven. He pulled everything out, looked at it, then threw it on the floor.

Check out the sneaky grin on that face!

 



Mommy's Fav of the Day: He looks so old in this picture!

 



Friday: January 24, 2014
 
I gave Cooper his new Chemo today. This is the first of five days. So far he has done very well with it. He has actually had an amazing day. He slept all through the night, not waking until 8:30 this morning. Cooper's cousin came over to entertain him for a while this morning. He had another therapy evaluation this afternoon. We have one more next week before our final meeting.

We have noticed today that Cooper is using his left hand a lot. He has been putting weight on it and using it to hold toys. Progress!!! He is also a lot more mobile on his feet. He still holds on to the couch, table, and so on, but is constantly up and down. He has really made us smile a lot today!



Cooper using his left hand to give him support to walk!

 



Mommy's Fav of the Day: This is so sweet. They were inseparable all afternoon! It's safe to say they are best friends.

 



 

Harley is right there with Cooper!

 

Harley and Cooper begging for Ice Cream

I think they were in deep conversation!

 



Cooper watching Duck Dynasty and relaxing!

 



Thursday: January 23, 2014
 
Today didn't go like we thought it was going to. There were lots of obstacles in our path today that made our day quit challenging. We left the house at 9:00. Cooper had 3 hours of therapy evaluations, then Chemo, then a doctors appointment. We finally left Roanoke going on 7:00.
 
We learned that insurance will only pay for 30 combined sessions of PT and OT, which was hard to hear because he will be needing a lot more than that. He also didn't get his Chemo today because it was so late in the day when we finally got the medicine. This time he was due only the pill. Our insurance would not allow it to be filled at the pharmacy next to the hospital. They said it needed to be filled at a specialty pharmacy, but thanks to the WONDERFUL pharmacist, insurance did an over-ride for this time only. Cooper is also on a steroid that requires three prescriptions: regular dosage, stress dosage, and emergency dosage. Insurance wouldn't cover the emergency dosage because it was an injection. If anyone can explain insurance companies to us, please feel free to do so.

Also, Cooper was due blood work. They didn't access his port because of the current Chemo pill. After sticking him several times and not getting any blood return, they decided "it wasn't that important this time for him to receive blood work." I hate seeing him get stuck, especially when they get nowhere with it!

We got home so late that Cooper had his meds, took his bath, drank his milk, had story time, and is in the bed. We are hoping for a restful night for all of us.

Cooper says it's okay to have suckers for breakfast!

 

Mommy's Fav of the Day: He is using that left hand to crawl!!!

 

Checking out the bunny in the office!

Wednesday: January 22, 2014

Cooper woke at 10:00 last night and drank 8 oz of water.Once again, sodium is what we thought. But, then he slept until 2 and there was nothing I could do to calm him. He refused his drink and didn't want to be held. But if I put him in his crib he would scream. Finally after 45 minutes of trying to get him to sleep we gave him Tylenol. After that he slept until almost 7. We are thinking it may have been his teeth. I really wish he was able to tell us what is wrong when he is hurting.

He was in a very happy mood for most of the day. We had an OT interview/evaluation this morning. Everything seems to be moving in the right direction. She told us that Cooper is doing amazingly well considering all he has been through.

I had a doctor's appointment in Roanoke this afternoon so Cooper got to spend some time with Maw Maw. He had a good afternoon with her. He was very tired when we got home, so we did our medicines and bath, and went straight to bed.

Cooper has a 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 2:00, and 4:00 appointment tomorrow in Roanoke for therapies, follow ups, and Chemo. Please pray that his Chemo goes well. This will be his first time taking this medication so we aren't sure how he will react to it.

Cooper playing his guitar

Mommy's Fav of the Day: How Precious!

 



Tuesday: January 21, 2014

We got a little worried last night. Cooper went to sleep at 8:30. But, at 9:45 he was up screaming. He guzzled down his remaining milk, then went right back to sleep. Then at 11:00 he woke again. I took him 8 oz of water and he drank almost all of it. This was a sure sign his sodium had spiked. I was expecting to get up every hour with him. However, after the second time he didn't wake until 7:30 this morning.

Cooper had a pretty good day. He was very clingy. I started cleaning and unpacking at 8:30 this morning and at 7:30 tonight I had one load of laundry folded and put away and Cooper's room put back together. It appears as though we may be living out of boxes for the rest of our lives!

The dietitian told us it was very important to have Cooper on a high calorie diet. She gave us tips like adding syrup and cool whip to things and using butter and vegetable oil. So for breakfast this morning I mixed pure maple syrup in with some vanilla Greek yogurt. He actually ate it. He had a few bites of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and some spaghetti and applesauce for dinner. Hopefully we are making progress with his eating. We are still giving him Carnation Instant Breakfast after his meals as a supplement.

He became very fussy this afternoon, drank about 24 oz of water within about an hour and had several wet diapers. Once again, these are signs his sodium is high. We are asking for prayers that his sodium will remain stable and he can rest. It's so hard on him when his sodium spikes because all he wants to do is drink and whatever he does, he can't get enough and is unable to rest.

Trying to decide which cabinet or drawer to get into next

 

The only way we can get Cooper to eat is to read "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" to him. We have two copies of this book, one we keep in his diaper bag and one we keep at home. They both are about ready to fall apart due to all the food that hits them everyday. Looks like I may need to invest in some new copies.

 

Mommy's Fav of the Day: Being silly at dinner!

 

Watch out, Cooper has learned how to make his own coffee!