A busy, busy weekend

Good morning! Well, I have a ton to talk about. I guess after 5 years of reading my diary that really should not come as a shock to many. This weekend was jam packed. So, I guess I will take it in order. It all started on Friday with Sydney's birthday. Wow, seven! I am still amazed. She had a great day hanging around the house spending time with Mimi and Papa. That night we would have her birthday dinner at the Japanese kitchen, her favorite restaurant. For the other kiddos it was a sad day. Although the reality really did not sink in for them it surely did for us. This was the last day the kiddos would dawn those halls and the last days we would see many of those teachers that had become such a huge part of our lives. For four years they have been daily fixtures in our lives. They will be missed so much. One, however, will not. Miss Claudia, one of our favorites and one of Sydney's first teachers, will be spending time with us at the Dungan household throughout the summer. It is really quite a coup. We are extremely excited.

Miss Claudia is as tough as nails and I think she will be great for the kiddos. They won't be getting anything by her. As much as I love my kiddos, I know full well they need to be led with an iron fist. Boot camp summer here we come! She is no push over and she knows all of their tricks. Poor, poor Ainsley. All kidding aside. Miss Claudia has been one of their favorite teachers. Had Arborlawn stayed open Ainsley would have been entering her class this year so it is actually perfect timing. I think this will work well for everyone.

Saturday was Sydney and Ainsley's official birthday party. To be honest, I had my reservations. I thought it was going to be a flop. Lynley and the kiddos had chosen to have it at GSX, a local gym. I thought they were out of their minds. Boy was I wrong. It turned out to be the perfect place and entirely age appropriate. The kids had a blast and perhaps more fun than they have had anywhere prior. They really did a great job catering to the rugrats. If you are look ing for an activity this summer I would highly recomeend it. Apparently they have some great children's programs and a mother's day out program. Best of all, when it was over, it had completely drained them and they were all ready for a nap. This backfired on me because as soon as the kiddos fell asleep Lynley put Dr. Bob and I to work on the gate in the backyard. We spent the better part of the afternoon replacing and re-architecting 2 wooden gates. By the end of the day she had successfully worn us all out. The good news, however, is that we now had two brand new gates that actually work. Grrrr. Power tools. My manhood was returning. There is something special about holding drills, banging hammers and drinking beer with your veterinarian.

Sunday was a bit more relaxing but still busy. As Lynley calls it, it was Cinderella Sunday. It is chore day, time for Lynley to clean the house and for me to become mountain man, conqueror of the laundry pile. We had both mastered our respective chores by early afternoon. When the kiddos woke from their naps we made a trip to Cook's to visit Hayden.

They have finally completed most of the staging process. The good news is that Hayden is stage III. The bad news is that he is high risk. This means that he will be following the most aggressive of protocols. We spent a little over an hour talking with them and providing as much information and support as we could. Although I was saddened to hear that he was staged high risk I was quite pleased to see the trial that they had selected for Hayden. My mind is not quite clicking this morning so I don't remember the specific protocol number but I can tell you a little about it off hand. The protocol changes up induction with the inclusion of Cytoxan and Topotecan during the first two rounds of induction chemotherapy. It then follows the same regimen that Sydney did. Rounds 3 and 5 include Cisplatin and VP-16 and rounds 4 and 6 include Cytoxan, Vincristine and Doxorubicin. There is then a randomization between single and double transplant. The reason that I like this particular regimen is that I believe that it offers some pretty good possibilities. For one, I believe it still allows you the opportunity to participate in the ch14.18 antibody trial on the back end and I have not checked to be sure but I think they will be eligible to participate in the Sodium Thiosulfate (STS) trial during the Cisplatin rounds. This could potentially protect his hearing. If it is possible to hook onto this trial concurrently it is something that I would definitely talk to my oncologist about.

Well, enough of my jabbering. I have to run.

Purpii awaits!