Where did Spring go???

Last Wednesday we took the boys to Castle Park...what a beautiful afternoon. Sitting in my chilly trailer ("learning cottage"),

I could really use another warm spring day!

Stopped...

So the big news is that Owen has stopped chemo treatments. His team of doctors met and decided that the risk of his increased reactions to the carboplatin outweigh the benefits of him continuing the treatment. His MRI results have shown that the chemo made the greatest difference during the induction phase of treatment, causing the tumors to slightly shrink. Since he has started the maintenance phase of treatment, which he received 6 out of the 9 rounds, the tumors have remained stable. As long as the tumors continue to remain stable and Owen's visits with the neuro-ophthalmologist go well then Owen won't need further chemo treatments. His next MRI is scheduled for April 6th and he'll have a follow up appointment on April 13th to go over the results, flush his port and give him pentamamine (to ward off pneumonia.) If the MRI shows that the tumors are stable then Owen will just need to go to CHOP once a month for a check up and the pentamamine. He will continue to get MRIs every 3 months and his port will stay in until the doctors determine that he is completely out of the woods. So we are all cautiously optimistic!

MINE!!

No...Owen has yet to learn the word "mine" but he definitely sees anything that Joey is eating or playing with as needing to be in his possession. Owen was given cheerios for breakfast yesterday and completely refused to eat them...but would gladly eat Joey's cheerios and then scream "No!" when Joey would try to take a bite. You can see his expression last night when Joey wouldn't share his Pokemon cards...Joey gives in very easily...Owen's pleased as can be!

Love these pictures...

On our way home from the gym on Saturday, after my mon had given the boys hershey kisses for the car ride home...this is what I was watching in my rear view mirror. Joey does not have a hoodie on he is "Cornholio" (if anyone out there admits to having ever watched Bevis and Butthead) and Owen was happily letting the kiss melt in his hand and trying to lick all the chocolate up.

On Sunday we went skiing at Camelback. It is amazing that Joey jumps right back into the sport even though he hasn't been on skiis since last season. By mid-day he was a bit of a jelly-legged mess.

Monday was a snow day so Joey got to go with us to CHOP. The roads were covered on the way down, traffic moving slowly so it took about 2 hours to get into the city. Owen made it 3/4 the way through treatment before he broke out in hives again. Treatment was stopped and Owen's vital signs were monitored for about at hour. You can tell how much Joey loves his brother because he is always sitting as close to him as he can get. In the car, Joey sits in the middle seat...at the hospital he will sit on the side of the chair until Owen pushes him out of his space :) Joey is so good with his little brother...even feeding him ice cream after his treatment to help him "feel better." I was actually really glad for the snow day...a selfish part of me feels like taking Joey out of school each Monday to go with us because he always lightens the mood of the day.

Shower Time

Silly Boys...both ended up in the shower together

Gearing up for a big day tomorrow. Should be

interesting with the pending snow storm.

A fun weekend...went too quick...finally got skiing with Joey, Me-Ma and Great-Dad (my mom and dad). Conditions were cruddy...what can you expect from the poconos but the company was wonderful...will post pictures tomorrow.