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Monday, April 22, 2013 10:17 AM CDT

Well once again it has been months since I have updated!

Antonio is doing great! I cant believe he has been in remission for almost 9 years! Its absoultely amazing! He is my miracle and I thank god every day for him.

Healthwise he is doing wonderful. We have our yearly scans next month and every year it gets a little easier because I just know in my heart everything will turn out fine.

Antonio is completely a normal middle school kid. Yes, he does have hearing aids, but to him and I that is normal ;) I was kind of worried about middle school and him having them (because kids can be so mean sometimes) but Antonio never complains about them and he has so many friends that i dont think anyone would try and mess with him :)

Our life feels so "normal" I say that because "cancer" life is so much more crazy then "normal" life. We get up in the morning and eat breakfast, get ready for school/work and go on with our day. Some nights we have baseball or basketball or just play outside at grandma and grandpa's house other nights we just chill at home and watch tv or play the Xbox. That is a "normal" life, no worries at all.

I dont miss the "cancer" life...Waking up to a child throwing up because they are sick from chemo...driving to childrens hospital almost daily (with a puke bucket) to have your blood drawn to see how your counts are...having to be isolated from the outside world when your counts are low or at zero because nobody knows how dirty/germy this world is until you have cancer and can catch any and every virus so easily...spending days or weeks in the hospital, sometimes completely isolated to our room because you have a virus that can be contagious to the other children with cancer and feeling completely toxic because when doctors/nurses come into your room they have to dress in gowns, gloves and masks just to come in and check on you...blood transfusions, lots and lots of blood transfusions! ...not being able to take a normal bath/shower because you cant get your "tubies" wet...having an ng tube (tube inserted through your nose that goes down to your stomach, that is used to feed you because you have NO appetite) People every where you go looking at you funny because you have a bald head and tube in your nose and kids coming up to you and saying "whats wrong with you"...this is just a FEW things we had to go through, i could go on and on, but it would take all day.

Not every day as a cancer patient is horrible! We had wonderful experiences too. Seattle childrens hospital is an AMAZING place. We have made many friends and I am so grateful for everything we have gone through there. Some days were very hard, some days I didnt even know if Antonio was going to survive, but he fought hard and survived this battle. We lost lots of little friends during our journey, but we gained angels that i believe have watched over us.

Antonio is a true inspiration to a lot of people. I love sharing his amazing story! It gives other families with the same cancer hope and strength too i think.

I just want to put out there that if any family wants to talk to me or ask questions about our journey I am always available via email. tonio0802@yahoo.com We have been through it all and even though its been years since we went through treatment, i still have lots of resources. :)

Thank you to everyone who still reads, stop by and leave a comment, I love reading them :)

Olivia (antonio's mama)

Tuesday, December 4, 2012 5:21 PM CST

WOW!!! I cant believe its been so long since i have written :( i am very sorry to all of you who check for updates on Antonio. Well no news is usually good news! Antonio is doing amazing! His scans back in May were all clear! No low blood counts, no high/low thyroid levels, everything came back comepletely NORMAL! My little miracle :) In Septemeber we celebrated Antonio being in remission for 8 years! Absolutlely amazing! What a blessing I have :)

Antonio started middle school this fall. He is loving it! It took a little time to adjust to such a big new school, but after a few weeks he was fine. He just started Basketball and is excited to be playing again.

Healthwise Antonio is doing well. We go to Childrens Hospital once a week for aural rehabilitation which helps him with his speech. He has done wonderful with that. We have been doing that for almost 2 years and i truly believe it helps. Other then speech problems Antonio is doing great! No problems with his health in any way. We go back next May for our yearly appt.

I get so caught up with daily life that I sometimes forget all we have gone through. I still do a fundraiser every year to help bring awareness to our community. Childhood cancer is never really talked about unless you are going through it with a loved one or know someone who has it. Before Antonio was diagnosed I never thought about cancer, especially children with cancer. Its very sad that you have to know someone or be going through it yourself to realize how hard and heartbreaking it is. Children are amazingly strong and they dont know any different when they are going through cancer, to them its a normal thing because they are so little and havent experienced life. Antonio is a true blessing from god, he has showed me what real strength and courage is. Looking back at pictures and reading things about our journey amazes me. I dont even know how i held it together on some of those days. Its Family and Friends prayers and encouraging words that always made us get through the hard days. All the amazing people who prayed for him and sent well wishes from around the world! Antonio and I are very blessed and I will forever be grateful to everyone helped us during all those rough times.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a very happy New Year :)

Friday, May 11, 2012 12:34 AM CDT

hello everyone!!

I know its been months since i have updated, but no news is usually good news :) Antonio is doing awesome! He is almost done with his 5th grade year in school. He is excited to be in middle school in the fall, me not so much...lol He is growing so fast! I wish time would slow down sometimes. He is such a blessing and I am so grateful for every day we have together :)
He is leaving for 5th grade camp next week and as excited as he is to go, i am trying really hard to keep it together because it will be the first time he has ever left home without family. I know he will have the best time! :)
He is in the middle of baseball season and is doing great this year :) he even has pitched a few times and is really good. he has some aches and pains sometimes, but he still sticks with it.

He has his yearly check up in 2 weeks. It might be the first year im not to worried about it. Things are going so well, i cant imagine a set back of any kind, but i would still love all the love and prayers. We have had the greatest supporters throughout the years. All the thoughts and prayers have been amazing. Antonio is one lucky kid! Once his scans are over i will update again. :)

Thanks for your continued prayers and love

Olivia

Friday, February 10, 2012 5:16 PM CST

Well it has been months and months since i last updated. Well no news is good news i guess :) Antonio is doing amazing! He's a happy 5th grader and loves it! His elementary school only goes up to 5th grade so he loves being the big kid at school. He is excited to start middle school in the fall. I cant believe I will have a middle schooler this year! (i feel old) His schooling is going well. He continues to be in the resource classes for extra help with speech and other things. He goes to aural rehabilitation once a week, which i love! I get to participate in that and we are able to work together on improving his speech. I think it has helped alot, but he still has alot more work that needs to be done.

Antonio is in the middle of basketball season. It is his 3rd year playing and he loves it. He is a little smaller then most the kids on the team, but that doesnt stop him from continuing to be a great defensive player :) I love to go and cheer him on at all his games, i think i am his #1 fan :) Watching him play every week is sometimes emotional for me, not that anyone would know or understand. I think back to years ago when his doctors told us he wouldnt be able to do contact sports and things like that. He has so much drive for life and nothing seems to ever stop him! Now i do draw a line and i dont let him play football and more contact sports..lol He would love to play football, but he gets a little banged up just playing basketball and baseball I dont want to risk it...lol

As time goes on I sometimes let things slip my mind. I am glad I have this journal to look back and remember how things were back then. It isnt something I would want to ever re-live again, but our story has given me a life time of strentgh and I am grateful to so many people who have always been there for us through the ups and downs. Antonio is so extremely blessed. We still get letters from random people asking how he is and we just got a lovely letter the other day from a girl named Rachel and it brightened up my day to think that so many people care about Antonio and they dont have to even personally know him. I hope that our story has helped other along the way too. I have met so many families throughout the years that have been diagnosed with neuroblastoma. We are a small community of people, but our kids are the strongest fighters you will ever meet :)

Thank you to everyone who still keeps in touch and thank you for your continued prayers throughout the years. Antonio is amazing young man and I am the most blessed mama :)

Love

Olivia

Monday, August 1, 2011 10:09 AM CDT

Hello Everyone!!

I know its been awhile since I have updates, i am really horrible about it and Im sorry. Antonio is doing great! :) Tomorrow is his birthday and he is going to be 10 years old!!! Every year amazes me more and more. To think the doctors told us he had a slim chance of surviving past the age of 5 years old. He has beat the odds in so many ways. :) I love to watch him grow every day into this amazing young man. He brings so much joy to my life and i would be lost without him. Not a day goes by that I dont realize how blessed I am to have him. Everything he does excites me and he brings me to tears sometimes just watching him live life and love it so much. He has the biggest smile and its contagious :) I am so proud in so many ways.

We have been busy with appts a lot lately. Antonio has started aural rehabilitaion (different kind of speech therapy) So we are up at Childrens Hospital once a week. He also has been doing some neuropsychology testing to see if any of his treatment effected him and the way he thinks and learns. Even after 7 years we are still so busy with appts. I feel like i take so much time off work lately. I have used up almost all my vacation time just for appts :( It is stressful being a single mother of a cancer patient, I have so much support from my family and friends, but sometimes all the appts and traveling can get overwhelming. We are very busy with appts, sports, ect, but I wouldnt change any of it. Living a busy life is great and watching antonio enjoy life is all worth it :)

As for all the fundraising i have been doing this year, we have raised over $3200 :) I am not sure if I will do any more fundraising this year, it takes so much work, but i might have another pancake breakfast, that was an easy way to raise money and it was fun. I of course will spread the news if i decide to do one.

Thanks to everyone for the continious support and love you have given us throughout the years :)

love

Olivia

Monday, May 30, 2011 12:15 AM CDT

Just less then 2 weeks away from my events and I am so nervous! It takes a lot of work to plan these things and as the days come closer and closer I always find myself asking why do i put myself through all the stress! Then I look at Antonio and remember why. I remember the pain we went through, the chemotherapy that made my baby so sick and weak, constant throwing up no matter where we went Antonio was puking...store, resturants, car, parks, hospital, clinic, at home ect. I remember him having to take so many meds and me having to schedule them to be taken just at the right times cause if i was off by even a half hour Antonio would start feeling pain or nausea. I remember countless blood transfustions, clinic appts, sleeping on hard beds/couches for weeks/months. I remember Antonio's stem cell transplant like it was yesterday. the scariest experience I have ever gone through! Antonio was so sick he didnt move for days, I couldnt even hold my own baby to comfort him cause it was too painful for him to move or be touched. All these and more is what a parent of a cancer patient has to go through.
We had lots of fun times too and amazing omg moments during treatment. Antonio was so strong and brave throughout treatment. Being only 2 years old and having to go through so much amazes me. I look back on those days and think to myself I dont know how I did it. I am not a very strong person, but when it came to antonio I did what I had to do as a parent. I was there every step of the way, i held his hand, wiped his tears, told him constantly it would be okay even though i sometimes felt like i was lying to him because I never knew if things would ever be okay, i cleaned his puke, rubbed his bald head and secretly cried cause I wanted his hair to come back and just for things to be normal, I watched him smile, i watched him play video games and master games at only 2 years old, we watched blues clues and elmo's world so much I think i know every word to every show! We spent 15 months in and out of the hospital. those 15 months were the hardest months. We lost a lot of little friends along the way. Having to go to a child's funeral is heartbreaking.

I am very blessed and lucky to have Antonio. He is a constant reminder that life can be too short. I know now why i do these events. I do it for him and all the other children who have gone through what we have. Even after 7 years I dont forget the pain. Raising money for childhood cancer research through the ALSF is a fun way for us to bring awareness to our community and raise money for a great cause. I will continue to probably do this for the rest of my life no matter how stressful it might be, those little kids have it way harder then me.

I really hope my events turn out great and I hope we raise alot of money for childhood cancer research. Either way I cant wait to spend the day with my family and friends and support such a great cause!

Sunday, March 6, 2011 4:57 PM CST

Hello Everyone :)

Yesterday Antonio had his last basketball game for the season. He is pretty new to basketball and its his 2nd year, but he has improved so much. He made his first basket at his last game yesterday and it was so exciting :) He was so proud of himself and I of course was so excited and proud too. After the game we went to pizza and they handed out trophies. Antonio was up last to get his trophy and the coach said something small about each kid. When Antonio went up I couldnt help but tear up and cry a little. He is so amazing in so many ways. I cant help, but cry everytime he accomplishes something I used to think he might never be able to do. People probably look at me like I am crazy and emotional, but if they just had a glimpse of what Antonio has been through in his life, they probably would understand more :) I am so proud of him! I just thought I would share my joy with everyone.

I am still planning my fundraising stuff. We are now being sponsored by applebees so that is very exciting. We are going to have a pancake breakfast through them on Saturday June 11th. I am really happy that the community is getting involved with our fundraising efforts. :) I will keep everyone updated as I get more details.

Love
Olivia

Saturday, February 26, 2011 2:15 PM CST

Sorry it’s been so long since I have written. This year has been great so far. I started doing event for Alex's Lemonade stand foundation and we have so far raised $1165. That was just from our web networking fundraiser. That was a very easy fundraiser. I just kept posting our story and website on Face book and my friends and family would donate and repost it. It was easy and a great first fundraiser

I have 2 more events planned this year so far. Our second event will be our Tee-off Against Cancer Golf Tournament on June 4th at Foster Golf links in Tukwila, WA. I have never done a charity golf tournament event so I am still learning as I go, but I do know a lot of golfers, so hopefully the event will be a success.

Antonio's Alex's Lemonade Stand will be

Sunday June 12th
Renton Village
Wells Fargo
355 S. Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057

We got our best location ever! We are right downtown Renton off a busy street surrounded by lots of business' and restaurants. I am really excited about it this year because it hopefully will be easier for us to raise money and awareness being so out in the open. We will have our blood drive during the event. I am looking into getting guest appearances or anyone who can help bring in a crowd.

Antonio is doing so well. He is almost done with his basketball season and will be starting baseball in a few weeks. He is doing well in school and is still dancing around the house non-stop :) He is really into Michael Jackson right now so maybe he will bust a move at his lemonade stand...lol He is getting so big I cant believe it! He likes to remind me all the time that he will be 10 years old this year. Make me feel old, but at the same time so blessed because I am just amazed by everything he has gone through in his life. He is such an inspiration to me and I know so many other people.

I will keep everyone updated as our events start coming together more. :)

ps. To the people who have written in our guestbook. Please let me know if you guys need anything, even just to talk or if you want to know anything about what we went through during treatment. I had a few families that helped support Antonio and I while he was in treatment. Its nice sometimes to talk to someone who is or has gone through the same experience. Your families are in my thoughts and prayers.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010 5:54 PM CST

hello everyone :)

The year is coming to an end and once again we have so much to be grateful for. Antonio is doing amazing! We had our last scans in July and they all turned out great and we are officially done with scans! We only have to go back once a year for some blood work:) Its amazing to think about how far we have come since he was first diagnosed. What an inspiration Antonio is to me and I'm sure a lot of other people.

Antonio started 4th grade in the fall and is doing well in school. He continues to play baseball and basketball. He also started break dancing and hip-hop classes this year. He loves to dance! He is just your average 9 year old boy and nothing really ever keeps him down. We are very busy and I dont mind it at all. I love watching him do all these things I once thought he would never be able to do. I am not sure who looks at this site anymore, but I do want to thank everyone for the continued support throughout the years. We are very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives:)

2011 will bring a busy year for us as we will be hosting another lemonade stand and other fundraisers for the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. Antonio loves having these events. I will keep everyone posted on what will be going on as we plan it out.

Thanks again for all the support and I hope everyone has a Happy New Year :)

Monday, August 2, 2010 3:22 PM CDT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANTONIO!!! =)

Antonio is 9 years old today!! What a blessing:) So hard to believe that also 6 years ago today on Antonio's 3rd birthday he had his surgery to remove the tumor in his stomach. That was a hard day for all of us. After a 4 hour surgery Antonio was admitted to ICU and spent rest of that birthday sleeping. Its amazing how much things have changed :) Antonio is doing so well and has been in remission for almost 6 years!! Every birthday is such a blessing and I feel so lucky every day to wake up and have him here with us.

I know its been awhile since I have updated, but things are going well. We found out last month that Antonio is officially done with all scans and testing! Well besides the once a year blood work. What a milestone that day was:) He still has to go to little side appts, like audiology, urology, dermatology and Endocrinology. He is having a mole removed this Thursday for a Biopsy, but I am not too worried about it. All his counts and blood work have been pretty good. So i am trying not to stress out about it. Basically another scar to add to the many they have put on him. It wont get him down and he will be out playing and running around after I am sure:) Everything else is great! He starts the 4th grade in the fall and is so excited to be having both his cousins going to school with him. He is probably going to start basketball again soon and also some dance classes cause he loves to dance! So many things to look forward too. Life is Good!! :)

Saturday, December 26, 2009 12:46 AM CST

Hello Everyone~


I cant believe its been months since i have last updated. Well no news is good news as usual. Antonio is doing AMAZING! I am so blessed=) Its hard to believe 5 years ago around this time we were all wondering if it would be our last holiday with him. 5 years later he is 8 years old and stronger then ever before. His cancer seem like a distant bad dream. Things are so normal, I never thought I would ever say that. His life is all about school and sports, not doctors and chemo. What a joyous change for the better. Every holiday, birthday, special events are always just that much more special cause he is with us. This year has been a year full of celebrations. Birthday, 5 year remission Anniversary, 5 year transplant anniversary. All such wonderfull things to celebrate.

We did more fund raising for Alex's lemonade stand which always brings so much joy to all of us. To help other children who are going through the same pain and suffering Antonio went through. Its just something small that we do to make sure we never forget and reminds us everytime just how special life is and how good it feels to help others.

Antonio is doing well in school. He has starting playing basketball this winter and is loving it! Played baseball for his 3rd year earlier in the spring. He enjoys lego's, bakugan, football, loves playing his DSi and Wii. Spends his afternoons after school with is cousins and my family. We are now only seeing the doctors once a year. Such a blessing=)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, we have been blessed with a wonderful one. Happy New Years to all!!

Friday, September 4, 2009 11:04 AM CDT

Hello Everyone~

So these past few weeks have been pretty busy. Antonio had scans a few weeks back and everything turned out great! very happy about that. Antonio went to disneyland with his dad for a week after scans and had a blast! He just started the 3rd grade weds. he is happy to be back in school.

Next Tuesday Sept 8th we will be celebrating!!! Antonio will have been cancer-free for 5 YEARS!!! I can't believe it! These past few weeks have been filled with happiness. I have thought about the past a lot. Remembering everything we have been through, all the struggles we have endured. Antonio is amazing, I thank god everyday for blessing me with such an angel. I want to thank all my family and friends and everyone around the world who have kept up with his story. I know i dont update much, but i do truely appreciate all the thoughts and prayers you have all sent us throughout the years. We are very lucky to have so many many that care about us.

We will be celebrating down at the Family Fun Center in tukwila at 6:30 on the 8th. if anyone wants to stop by and celebrate we would love to see you.

Thursday, July 2, 2009 10:10 AM CDT

Hello Everyone~

I have been asked to have antonio participate in a blog-a-thon, it will raise money for Band of Parents for info you can visit www.bandofparents.org. below i have attached the pledge site and a site with all the info

http://www.blogathon.org/pledge.php?blogid=83


http://www.bloggingforkids.shebecameabutterfly.net

Antonio is doing awesome. enjoying his summer so far=) We have scans on Aug. 4-6th. So keep him in your prayers. Thank you for all your support!

Olivia

Friday, June 26, 2009 4:17 PM CDT

So our lemonade stand is all over. Sorry it has taken so long to write about it, i dont have a computer at home and have to write when i can. We all had such a great time! we raised a little over $2100 for childhood cancer research. Every year i do it the amount seems to go down, not sure why, could be location or not enough advertisement. But over all its still alot of money and will hopefully help some kids! Antonio had a blast and I appreciate everyone who came out and helped me=)

Antonio is out of school, but starts summer school on monday. he will be in that for 5 weeks then he will have a little vacation before he starts 3rd grade=) WOW amazing!

He has scans on Aug. 4th-6th and then we should be done for a YEAR! YAY! hopefully everything turns out great. I am not worried at all this time cause he has been so healthy! I am truely blessed and amazed everyday!

thanks everyone for your support!!

Olivia

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 4:20 PM CDT

Well our Lemonade stand is less then 2 weeks away. I have been so busy planning and planning! We are all ready now though=) We will have fun things for all the kids to do, bounce house, clowns, dunk tank, crafts and more. We will also have the blood drive in Antonio's honor. I hope a lot of you can make it out for this fun and great cause!


Cascade Shopping Center
17060 116th ave SE
Renton 98055


http://www.alexslemonade.org/stands/11288

Please email or call me if you have questions or want to help out.

206-355-5137
gonzales.o@ghc.org

Tuesday, May 5, 2009 10:01 AM CDT

Sorry its been awhile since i have updated. I dont have a computer so its hard for me to be able to update sometimes. Antonio is doing awesome! He is almost done with the school year. 2nd grade has been very fun for him! He loves recess and P.E. the most:) He is very active and when i ask him about school he only talks about playing football at recess or sports in P.E.:) But to a boy that is the best part of the day i guess. He is doing well in school. Still struggles with speech, but continues to go to speech once a week outside of school and still has speech inside school daily. He has been over all very healthy in the past few months. I havent heard anything much about aches and pains which is so nice! He is playing baseball and loving it! He is so active and loves to be outside playing baseball, football, basketball, looking for ladybugs and other icky creatures:) He is all boy that is for sure.

I can't believe it has been 5 years since he was diagnosed. I took him to san diego in march the anniversary of his diagnoses and we went to sea world, the san diego zoo and wild life park. We had so much fun and saw probably every animal or mammal you could think of. It was a great way to celebrate his life and a great way for me not to be stressed and feel down cause it always kinda gets me thinking about that time of our lives. We had so much fun and it is something i will remember forever!

Although Antonio has been well for awhile now that doesnt mean i havent forgotten how it feels to go through the cancer world. it is something i think about all the time. I am very blessed and feel lucky to have antonio survive all the struggles he has had in his short life so far. I pray for all the families who have children who suffer from cancer, it is a tough road and I will remember it for the rest of my life how hard it can be.

I am hosting another Lemonade stand this year. Antonio is all excited:) He knows everyone comes out to see him and he always has so much fun! It will be June 13th noon-5pm at the
Cascade Shopping Center
17060 116th ave se
renton, WA, 98055

We are looking forward to this stand and hope to see lots of smiling faces! We will have clowns, face painting and working on more fun stuff for the kids. I will also have a blood drive in honor of antonio. I will post more info as it comes in, but i am excited and looking forward to hosting another stand:)

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 7:01 PM CST

So antonio had his scans last week and they all turned out wonderful! no new spot and the old ones that were there are gone! this is the first time we have EVER had clean and clear scans. We dont need to even come back until August! That is the longest we will ever be away from the hospital. Dr. Park said Antonio looked awesome. We are all really happy. In march it will have been 5 years since he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. Its absolutely amazing all the ups and down we have gone through. Antonio is my hero and although I will always worry about little bumps and aches and pains. After our last visit I feel more at ease. Its the first time in almost 5 years that nothing showed up. We can have a break and relax, its a great feeling.

I planned a trip for Antonio and I to go on in march. it will mark the 5 year anniversary of his diagnoses and I want to celebrate by doing something happy and fun! we are going to sea world and to all the other san diego attractions! Antonio is going to love it! I am excited too!

I am working on doing another lemonade stand this year. Still trying to figure it all out so keep looking for updates on it. Thank you all so much for supporting us and praying for antonio. We are very blessed!

Saturday, January 17, 2009 12:26 AM CST

Hello Everyone:)

Antonio is doing awesome! During these cold days in seattle he actually hasnt't been sick much at all:) Little colds, but nothing too big. He had a nice winter break and played lots with his cousins. Santa got him a Wii so he has been playing that alot lately and so has mama;) He continues to do well in school and is excited for spring to come cause i have planned a trip to San Diego to go to Seaworld:) I can't believe in March it will have been 5 years since he was diagnosed. Seems like longer, but wow! He has gone through so much and just shines everyday!

I have decided to do another lemonade stand this year. it will be on June 13th down at the kent town square. Perfect place!!! lots of traffic and a water park for the kids to play at. I am still planning everything so i will let everyone know once its complete planned. It is very stressful, but i am ready to do it again:)

Antonio has a scan on the 26th to see if the small spot under his arm is gone or not. So keep us in your prayers. Thanks to everyone who has followed Antonio during all these years. We are very blessed:)

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 6:55 PM CST

BENJAMIN WARD TOWNE

July 17, 2005 - December 30, 2008

www.caringbridge.org/visit/towne

My thoughts and Prayers go out to the Towne family today.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 4:03 PM CST

Hi everyone~

sorry its been awhile since i have updated! Antonio is doing great! We had our long term appt in the beginning of last month and that went well. They just went over all the things that can happen now that antonio is so far out from treatment. Little nerve wrecking, but hey he is still here and for the most part health! we go back next month to do a CT for a follow up.

Antonio is enjoying school and looking forward to christmas:) and what does he want this year??? a nintendo Wii! when he told me this i said, i dont know if mama can afford a wii this year, he said "oh its okay mama, i will ask santa for it" haha very cute:)

Antonio has come down with rare high fever a few times in the past few months. the first time it turned out to be a rare type of strep in his blood? and just a few weeks ago he had high fevers with no symptoms that turned out to be strep throat?? even though his throat wasnt red, they decided to check and he ended up having strep! all in all he has healed from those and is doing wonderful!

please keep Ben Towne in your prayers..he is still fighting and i think of him everyday! www.caringbridge.org/visit/towne

Friday, October 31, 2008 3:20 PM CDT

Happy Halloween!!!!

It has been 4 years today that we came home from the toughest part of treatment (stem cell transplant) It absolutely amazing to me how far Antonio has come since then!

He is 7 years old now and in 2nd grade! He has grown so much this year. He is reading books to me and has so much to say all the time. I never thought i would see the day! He loves football and pokemon. Everyday i am more and more blessed to have him in my life and healthy.

Antonio will be going back to childrens next month for repeat of his CT scan to see if that spot they found is hopefully GONE! please pray that his scans are all clear!


Today i got some sad news. Ben townes a little boy who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma last year has relapsed. My thoughts and prayers go out the him and his family. Please pray for him. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/towne

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 5:19 PM CDT

Hi everyone! Antonio is 7 years old now! absolutely amazing! We had a wonderful birthday party full of lots of pokemon gifts:) He had a great time! I will post new pictures when i get a chance!

Antonio also had his scans last week! We got results on monday and they aren't exactly what I wanted. I was hoping everything would be clear and Dr. Park would tell us that we didn't have to come back in 1 whole year! But instead they found a small spot in his left lymph node under his arm and we have to go back in 3 months to have more scans. My heart was broken and the tears filled my eyes. Antonio hasn't had anything new show up ever. So this was hard to hear. Although it didn't glow on the MIBG (which is great) there is still something there and Dr. Park wants us back in a few months to see if its grown or hopefully its has disappeared!

Antonio kidney function is stable which was great to hear. Hid heart is ok too, they are going to do a 24 hours heart monitor in three months to make sure his heart is ok. His echo showed a slight abnormal heart beat, but nothing to alarming. Everything else turned out great. Antonio is gaining weight ok and growning great! I just pray that in three months there is nothing on that scan! Things have been so great lately i just couldn't imagine having to go through any treatment again.

Antonio is pretty much ready for school. He is going into the 2nd grade! He is pretty excited! other then all that we have been just enjoying our new place and having fun with the summer!

Thursday, July 17, 2008 10:52 AM CDT

Hello everyone! Sorry its been so long since i have written...but no news is good news:) Antonio is doing great! He is enjoying his summer vacation. He just finished baseball a few weeks ago and had a blast playing! His health has been pretty good! He hasn't really even had a cold in the past few months. (knock on wood) He has been spending his summer days with my sister and her kids. They have been going to parks and swimming and just having lots of fun! While i'm stuck at work:) Antonio is very excited about his birthday in a few weeks. I can't believe he is going to be 7 years old! Its so crazy! Of course he is counting down the days!

He has his scans the first week of August. If all is well we will not have to go back for 1 whole year. A little scary, but nice at the same time. I am a little stressed cause we are moving, we have his scans and his birthday all in one week! I know it will be fine. I am always so happy when Antonio has a birthday. Just makes me so happy to see him growing up when almost 5 years ago i wasn't sure if he would even be here for all this. I am extremely blessed! Please keep Antonio in your thoughts and prayers as the next few weeks come. He usually does awesome during scans, but the longer and longer we go with out going, i know it has to be all new again for him. thank you to everyone who still reads these! We love you all and thank you so much for your support

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 2:23 PM CDT

Hello everyone! Just wanted to update everyone about Antonio. For the past few weeks he was really sick. We actually never really found out what was wrong with him, but He was having fevers of 104-105 for 9 days! it was so crazy and he felt so misserable! He is feeling a lot better now. Basically i wanted to give everyone a little update on life today:) Antonio is almost done with 1st grade. although it has been a very struggling year for him, I'm still trying to decide if i should hold him back cause he is struggling in a few subjects. I think his teacher and priciple are on the same page as me and he might re-do first grade just so he is ahead instead of behind. He also has missed a lot of school this year. This winter had him sick A LOT! He is very smart, but is having trouble with reading. I just don't want him to get too far behind everyone else. He loves school so much, well he loves PE and playing outside:) but then again all boys love that! He is still going to speech once a week. In the summer it might jump up to twice a week again. That is his trouble with reading, he isn't hearing the words right! So we are working on it. He is playing baseball again. Although our weather here has been so weird, he hasn't even had a game yet! they have canceled all of them lately. Although Antonio has been feeling so sick lately he is still in good spirts:) he loves playing with his cousins and He is SO into POKEMON its crazy! he is my pokemon boy! He is enjoying life, just like all kids should. I was at his practice the other day and as i watched him i teared up a little cause i look at him and he is so FULL of life! I am extremely lucky and so blessed to have him:)

Saturday, March 15, 2008 10:56 AM CDT

4 years ago today our lives changes dramatically! 4 years ago from today Antonio was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma. This day as i think back about it was an emotion and devestating day for our family. I didn't know anything about neuroblastoma, but i learned very quickily the daily routines of chemo, puking, crying from pain and frustation, and it was a fast reality to life that I am a mother of a child with cancer. Antonio did amazing through treatment, i still can't believe it has been 4 years since he was diagnosed, but at the same time its seems like years and years ago since we stayed in the hospital. I can proudly say my son has been in remission, N.E.D (no evidence of desease) for 3 years and 6 months:)

There isn't a day that goes by that i don't think about cancer! Although it may suck to have this constantly in your mind, it actually doesn't. I truly believe this whole ordeal has made me a better person. I look at life and know how fragile it is. I have seen so many children pass away from neuroblastoma. the saddest thing is almost all the kids we went through treatment with did pass away and at every childs funeral i attended I would just cry and wonder if this could possibly be happening.

I am so blessed and lucky that Antonio hasn't relapsed and has been pretty health. Yes Antonio is sick alot, he misses school cause he is always sick with a cold, ear ache, stomach ache, the list goes on! I take every little cold and fever as nothing! When he is sick with these minor things we just rest till he's better. These things are no big deal from the crazy days in the hospital. Antonio has been so sick throughout his life that when he get a fever of 103 it doesn't really bother him. he will still be running around and i am the one that is telling him you need to rest. He is so full of life nothing is going to hold him down and i am so happy about that!

As of right now we don't go back for scans till june. I still am scared all the time of relapse. unfortunatley this is a feeling that will probably never go away! But for now and for everyday we will take it one day at a time and just enjoy our lives the best we can:) I am sorry i never update. I am horrible at remembering, but no new is usually good news!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007 5:39 PM CST

Antonio is doign great! He is looking forward to christmas and love looking at all the lights and doing all the fun things we do around the holidays. He made a gingerbread house at school and wants to make another one:) he is counting down the days till santa comes and is so excited! He has been feeling pretty well lately. i think it took some time to get over the stress of scans cause he has been a little cranky since scans, but I think its just the winter season and its all gloomy outside. he loves being outside and its just too cold to do anything outside! He is getting over a cold too! His sleeping habits have been weird lately. he wakes up around 3:30am every night and is wide awake! Not sure why cause i don't put him to bed too early. Oh well, it will pass i'm sure. I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday and happy new year!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007 0:37 AM CST

Antonio scans came back all clear! We are very happy. We had a long week of scans. Antonio was amazing as usual. He was very brave! He even stayed strong when they poked him 7 times trying to put an IV in. Everything is clear on his scans. Those little marks on is right lung are still there, but stable. The only concern his doctor had was his counts are low, they have dropped alot. She said his bone marrow should reproduce at least 70% or more and his is only reproducing 60% She is just going to watch him closely. We will have to just go back for labs in a few months. then we don;t have scans for 6 months:) i'm pretty happy about that:)

So we will go on and pray that things continue to go well. We will also like to say extra prayers for all the other sick kids out there. Thank you for checking up on Antonio!

Sunday, November 4, 2007 4:38 PM CST

Hello Everyone!

I know its been awhile since I have written. Antonio has been doing great! He is enjoying 1st grade. He loves school and has so much to say everyday he comes home from school. He really loves P.E. he has always loved being active and playing sports:) I am so proud of all the progress he has done in school. He read and does math so well:)
He hasn't had any aches or pains in a few months now and I am so happy about that. The last few month have been so close to normal its crazy! I never thought we would get to this point. Yeah he still goes to speech once a week, but that is it. No more physical therapy or occupational therapy. Just one speech appt a week!

We had a special dinner to celebrate antonio being in remission for 3 years. It was a wonderful and emotional day. He had lots of fun and so manyu people showed up to celebrate with us:)
He has his scans again at the end of the month. I am trying really hard to stay calm and not stress out about them. I feel everything will be okay. I am also planning our last event for the year. I am hoping to raise $1400. more so that our total for the year will be $10,000. I am not sure if it will happen, but I sure hope so.
I will let you all know how antonio's scans turn out, when we get the results. Please keep all our other little friends in your thoughts and prayers. Sylvia, Alexis and Ben, and all the other kids fighting this horrible disease!

Tuesday, August 28, 2007 0:44 AM CDT

Well Antonio had scans today. Things went well. First he had an audiology appt. and got fitted for new hearing aids. His haven't been working very well. I think its cause he has had them for two years and his ears are a little bigger now:) So he is getting some new ones. He really likes getting his hearing checked. They play games and its fun for him. Then we went to Radiology to have a CT of his chest. He is always so good for his CT's:) He always just lays their so still. Then we had to go get his labs done. He did not want to get poked! When we walked down the hall to the room he said "am i going to get a shot?" I said "they are going to take a little blood." He turned around and RAN. I had to chase him down the hall:) It was kinda funny cause I don't know where he thought he was going, but he didn't want to go to that room:) I caught him and walked him back to the room. He whined a little then I told him to just close his eyes and it would be over quick. Then when the lab guy poked him I said Ok its all over and Antonio was so Happy cause he said "mama it didn't even hurt" He was so excited cause now he said he can do shots and not cry:) He cryed and whined more before the actual poke:) So now he said he wants to do it again "tomorrow" (he always says he wants to do everything tomorrow):)

So after all that we went to meet with Dr. Park our wonderful Oncologist! While we were waiting we went and saw some nurses and ran into Alexis Grace and her mom, grandma and sister! What a wonderful family they are. I talked to Jill(alexis' mom) She is such a great person to talk to. I enjoy talking to other family's who have gone through the same things as us. I feel like they know how I feel more then anyone else. Alexis is absolutely the most beautiful baby and her sister is such a cutie too. (Antonio said to me after we left, mama Thats a cute baby and girl huh?) Well it was very comforting sitting with them before we got our results.

So the Results are...Antonio is still in remission, but instead of coming back in one year like she had said before, We have to come back in 3 months:( Antonio has 2 small spots on his lung. They have been pretty stable, but she wants us to come back and do all our scans again in three months. So that means CT's, MIBG, Bone Marrow, and Labs. I am sad about this a little cause although i was nervous about going one whole year with out scans. Deep down I thought it would be nice and I thought maybe we could start to move on with life. We have been going to have scans every 3 months this year. When we should be going every 6 months. But I am very happy that they are on top of things and are being very careful to make sure these small spots aren't growing. Dr. Park told me that she is very happy with Antonio's progress, and just want to watch him closely. So we will wait till November and see how things go then.

Please keep all our little friends your prayers. Alexis, Sylvia, Ben and Gloria. Right now there are a lot of little kids who have neuroblastoma. My thoughts and prayers go to all those children and their families!

Friday, August 17, 2007 5:26 PM CDT

hello everyone! Antonio is doing great! He is all healed from his freak accident, although getting those stiches out were not fun. He did okay though. Antonio had a wonderful birthday! He woke up and was very excited to be 6 years old (i was more excited) He opened his presents and then we went and got his pictures taken. They turned out great:) I can't believe how tall he is. Then we went to chuck e cheese him Izaac and bella had lots of fun running around:) Then Antonio had a t-ball game. It was a very busy day, but very fun! We spent the four days before his birthday at the ocean. I took Antonio last year to the ocean for his birthday too and I think I will make it a tradition. He loves it there. This time my parents and my sister and her family came. It was so nice. Watching Antonio run down the beach without a care in the world is amazing:)

Antonio has scans on the 27th. I am not very worried about them. He seems to be doing so great lately. I am very pleased with all his progress. I am very pleased to say that next month Antonio will be in remission for 3 years...yeah!!! We will do soemthing special i'm sure.

Antonio starts the 1st grade on Sept. 4th. Oh my I can't believe it:) He will be going to school full time now. He's SO big! He is excited to start school again. I think he misses his friends.

Please say some special prayers from some people I have met, know and read about. Gloria's family needs your prayers, she is so sick right now and is needing all the prayers she can get. Alexis Grace and Sylvia are beautiful little girls who can always use the extra prayers even though they are doing well right now. please say a special prayer for a little boy named ben, he was just diagnosed with neuroblastoma this week. He will start his first treatment this weekend. My thoughts and prayers go out to all these families struggling daily with there kids being sick. My god bless you all.

Olivia

Saturday, July 28, 2007 10:01 AM CDT

I know it has been so long since i have written and i'm really sorry. Antonio has been doing great (knock on wood cause i don't want to jinx it) He has been enjoying his summer vacation. He is on a t-ball team now and it is just so fun to watch him and his team:) He is a baseball fanatic now, he wants to play 24/7:) which i have no problem with. He loves being outside and playing with his cousins. I am so happy that he is so close to them, i think it helps keep him grounded and not so spoiled. He knows that he needs to share and he usually plays very well with them.

Antonio had a freak accident the other day, i have know idea what happened, but i was going to give him a bath and i turned around for a split second and all of a sudden antonio was out of the tub screaming holding his private area, i thought he just bumped it, but then he said i'm bleeding, i looked and he had some how torn his right testicle. i freaked out cause i had know idea what to do cause it was a big tear and i put pressure on it immediatley. We called the aid car cause i wasn't sure if i should move him or what. They came out and said we could just drive down. Antonio ended up needing stitches on his right testicle. it was horrible and very painful for him. The doctor told me that it hurt him a little just putting the stitches in. That is a very sensitive area for males. amazingly Antonio did very well. he is funny though now cause he tells random people that he has a hole in his ball...lol its funny and i'm glad it doesn't bother him very much. it just did at the time. He will have the stitches in for a week or so then we will have to go in and they will take them out.

We have scans in a few weeks, I am not at all concerned that something will be there. He has been doing so well it just amazes me. I am having a hard time believing that he will be 6 years old in less then a week. I still remember the day the doctors told me that Antonio only had a 25% chance to live to be 5 years old. He has proved so many people wrong, including me. Some days when he was sick i never knew if he would make it to see the next day. Everyday he just fought so hard to live. His strength is what kept me going all that time. just waking up every morning and seeing his smiling face cause for some reason even when he was so sick he still was always able to look at me and smile. okay i'm sorry i can't about it anymore cause i'm getting teary eyed:) I just hope that everyone appreciates what they have and that they know that any given day your life can change dramatically.

We will be having a huge birthday party for Antonio of course:) I always want to throw an over the top birthday cause you know i feel that every year we have with antonio is so precious.

I promise to try and update more often, i will let everyone know how scans go when they are done. Thank you all for your continuted love and support:)

Sunday, June 24, 2007 11:19 PM CDT

So we had our big lemonade stand:) It went pretty well. The morning was a very stressful. My grandpa passed away the morning of our stand. It was a sad morning, but we knew we had to get busy and do what we were suppose to do. We sent everything up and it all went great. We raised a little over $4500. Not what we wanted, but it was really good. We had clowns there, radio station, and the sonics mascot. it was a lot of fun for everyone. I will post pictures when i have time.

It was really nice to meet new people who came down and were intersted in our story. I meet a mom (jill) who's daughter is battling neuroblastoma right now. She was a wonderful lady with lots of courage and strength. Also I go to fianlly meet Silvia. Silva is a brave little girl who also is battling neuroblastoma. I have been talking to her mom for a while now and she is also just amazing. Meeting other families who have similar lives as I do is nice, but exetremely sad at the same time. I hate seeing small children suffer and go through all this treatment.

I want to thank everyone who came out to support us. You all mean so much to us.

We had a news story done on us here is the link to it.

http://www.king5.com/video/healthlink-index.html?nvid=153932&shu=1

Thank you again everyone!!!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 6:27 PM CDT

Hello Everyone~

Antonio is doing really well. Things have finally calmed down around here. I has been nice having to travel back and forth to the hospital. I love Childrens and everyone their, but it can be really stressful being there.


Antonio has lost his first tooth. It was kind of a big deal around here. He got money from the tooth fairy, and Grandpa:) He keeps telling everyone he got 100 coins from the tooth fairy:) He's so funny. School is almost out. It should be a nice summer. Grandpa jsut bought a new boat, so we will have a lot of fun going out in the water. I can't believe Antonio will be in 1st grade next year. It is truly a miracle:)

We are having out Lemonade Stand on June 23rd. from 12-5pm. I hope it turns out really well. I will be promoting it as much as I can. I will be on KOMO new 4 next tuesday and we will be doing a psa commercial for NWA. I'm a little nervous, but it will all be okay. All for a great cause!

REMEMBER...

JUNE 23RD
12-5PM
LIBERTY PARK
RENTON, WA

CLOWNS, CRAFTS, GAMES, 100.7 THE WOLF. IT WIL BE A GREAT TIME.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007 5:13 PM CDT

Sorry it has been so long since I have written. Antonio is doing okay. We just got his scan results back today. The only thing is they found a new small spot on his chest. The doctor isn't too concerned she just wants us to come back in three months and re-scan his chest area.

It was a very long weekend. When we thought scans were done thursday, they came back and asked us to come back and do additional scans, which has never happened to us. I was really freaked out and when we went back Friday to do the additional scans, I was so worried cause it was memorial weekend and knew that it would drive me crazy all weekend. I did really good until Monday came around. I was sick and emotional.

I'm so glad things turned out ok though. I thought I was going to have a break down. I did my best to stay strong for Antonio, I'm going to tell you it was not easy.

I'm glad things are okay. I hope this new little thing in his chest is nothing. She said maybe its just a viral thing. Thank you all for your support and prayers:) We love you all

olivia

Monday, May 21, 2007 11:03 PM CDT

Hello everyone~

Well we did our first event and it went great! We raised $2675.53 at our silent aution/bingo night. I was so happy to see such a great turnout:) Antonio had a great time, he ran around with the other kids, while we were busy helping everyone. Everything thing went pretty smoothly. I had a lot of great helpers. I was very pleased on how everything turned out. I don't think I will do Bingo next year though, it was a little time consuming:) I hope everyone had fun, I know a lot you people went home with some great prizes!

We now that all that stress of planning the event is over, I now have a week of more stress. Antonio starts his scans tomorrow. Its never a fun week when we have scans. We try to make the most of it and visit nurses and stuff, but Antonio doesn't like to be poked and bothered. He does to an excellent job through it all, just when it comes to him having his blood drawn he hates that, but then again who likes it. He also has a hard time waking up from his anesthesia. He is always cranky and mean. I think it is better then before. When we first started doign scans after treatment, I had to bring someone with me cause he would just go crazy. He would undo his seatbelt and throw things while i was driving. Oh my was it bad and scary. A couple nurses told me that a lot of kids have bad side effects when it come to anesthesia. Hopefully everything will go smoothly.

I'm not as worried as I was a couple weeks ago. Antonio hasn't really had much pain. Actually he has only complained of pain maybe 3 times in the past week. Which is really good compared to the weeks before. He has been doing really well this past week.

Well I will keep you all posted on how scans go. Thank you all again for coming out last friday. I appreicate your support so much:)

Monday, May 14, 2007 10:22 AM CDT

Hello Everyone

So things have finally calmed down. Antonio's hasn't really complained of any pain for the past 4 days. Just little ones here and there, but the pain is nothing like before. He hasn't been crying in pain so that is good. When we went to Children's last week we did some x-rays, ultrasound blood work and then we had that bone scan the week before. Everything came good. They didn't see anything alarming. They do want us to do Antonio's six month scans early though cause I guess bone scans and x-rays don't show tumors. His regular CT scan and MIBG scans will be able to tell us if there is anything going on.

I feel like I can breathe a little easier though cause I think that if Antonio's pain has kinda gone away, then things should be alright. If there was something serious going on I think his pain would have gotten worse. I don't know though. It will be good just to have his scans early and make sure everything is okay.

Antonio has been feeling pretty well. He wasn't all that happy being at the hospital. He hates getting poked when they draw his blood. He still does pretty well though. He is all around just amazing:) We got to see our nurses though. That brings me so much joy. I love all those girls. They were so sweet (still are) and made things so much easier. Antonio always asks "can we see my nurses" Although I think Antonio was still too little to remember them, he still wants to see them every time we go there.

Planning for the Silent Auction/Bingo Night is going smoothly for the most part. We have so many auction items! Great one too:) I'm getting excited about it cause things seem to be all ready. Just a few things here and there.

REMEMBER......

SILENT AUCTION/BINGO NIGHT
MAY 18TH 6:00PM-9:00PM
CASCADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
16022 116TH AVE S
RENTON, 98055

ANTONIO'S 2ND ANNUAL ALEX'S LEMONADE STAND
JUNE 23RD 12:00-5:00PM
LIBERTY PARK
1101 BRONSON WAY N.
RENTON, 98057


ALL MONEY RAISED WILL GO TO THE ALEX'S LEMONADE STAND FOUNDATION A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT RAISES MONEY FOR CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH

Sunday, May 6, 2007 9:19 PM CDT

Hello Everyone

These past couple of weeks have been very stressful. Antonio started having some inner hip/leg pain about 2 weeks ago. He keeps waking up crying in pain, the pain seems to come and go. It's not there all the time, but when the pain hits he just crys so hard, tears just roll down his face. I don't know if his leg cramps up or what, but I can't really even touch him cause he doesn't want me to move him. The pain hurts for only a minute or so, but I feel so bad for him. We went to our regular doctor a little over a week ago and did an x-ray, but their was nothing there. So I waited a few more days and the pain was still there so I decided to call Children's and talk to his Doctor. They wanted us to come in and have a bone scan. We did that Friday and it came back normal. We are going to go back to Childrens on monday (tomorrow) to talk to the doctor, maybe they will do a ct scan or something.

We will be there Monday anyways cause Antonio is going to have a renal ultrasound cause they are also trying to figure out why he has blood in his urine. I though that maybe the pain was from his hip/leg was part of that cause its all down in the same area, but the doctor doesn't seem to think they are related. I hope they find out what is wrong soon. I hate to see Antonio is pain.

Besides all that stuff Antonio is doing well. He is still running around and playing. When he has a pain it slows him down for maybe 15 mins then he will be off again. He's my super boy:)

Our fundraising stuff is going great. I'm getting a little nervous, but i'm very excited. Less then two week till our first event. We have got tons of things donated. I think we will do great.

REMEMBER......

SILENT AUCTION/BINGO NIGHT
MAY 18TH 6:00PM-9:00PM
CASCADE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
16022 116TH AVE S
RENTON, 98055

ANTONIO'S 2ND ANNUAL ALEX'S LEMONADE STAND
JUNE 23RD 12:00-5:00PM
LIBERTY PARK
1101 BRONSON WAY N.
RENTON, 98057

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 1:48 AM CDT

Hello Everyone~

Antonio is doing so great! We had some little problems with fevers for a while, but they seem to have gone away. Not quite sure why they were there, but he is doing okay now and that is all that matters. I did take him to the doctors last week for a follow-up and his liver function has gone down and is now in the normal range. He does still have some blood in his urine, we need to see a urologist to follow-up on that, but the doctor doesn't seem to concerned about it. Antonio is loving school. He is really into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles right now. I just painted his room turtle green:) He loves it. He loves going to my sisters house while I work. He asks me all the time "mama do you have to go to work tomorrow?" cause he wants to know if he gets to go over there. He likes going over there to pay with Izaac and Bella his cousins. They just LOVE Antonio and follow him around and they all play together I think Antonio loves that:)

We have been very busy planning our Lemonade stand. We were going to have it at Sam's Club in Renton, but just a few weeks ago they said we couldn't do all that we wanted to do so we had to find a new location. they said that the money didn't go towards the Renton community so they couldn't help us out. I'm sorry, but Antonio is from the Renton community and they money we are raising goes toward funding research for childhood cancers. So I think that it does help kids in the community, they are just not seeing it that way and are being dumb ( sorry if I offended anyone, i'm just mad about it)

So we got a hold of the City of Renton and will be having our Lemonade Stand at LIBERTY PARK in downtown renton. We can have everything that we want there. So we will be having a blood drive in honor of Antonio, clowns, crafts, 100.7 the Wolf (local radio station) will be broadcasting live, and we will be having surprise guests. I am very excited about it. It should be a wonderful event and hopefully it will be a great success.

We will also be doing our Bingo/ Silent Auction night. So dates to remember

May 18th 6pm-9pm
Bingo/Silent Auction Night
Cascade Elementary
16022 116th ave s
Renton, Wa 98055

June 23th 12pm-5pm
Antonio's Second Annual Alex's Lemonade Stand
Liberty Park
1101 Bronson Way N.
Renton, Wa 98057


Please let me know if you can help out or if you want to help out. We do need volunteers. Also if you want to make a donation or want to spread the word and have others make a donation you can do so at www.firstgiving.com/antonio07

Thank you for all your support.

Olivia
206-355-5137
Tonio0802@yahoo.com

Friday, March 16, 2007 6:27 PM CDT

Hello Everyone!

Sorry it has been awhile. Antonio has been not feeling that well lately. It started last week. I went to take him to school and I gave him a hug before we left and his head was very warm so I took his tempature and he had a fever, so I kept him home from school. His behavior is fine he acts like normal and is playing and seems fine. He has had this fever for now over a week, it isn't super high, just around 100.0. Last Thursday I took him to the doctor to see if maybe he had an ear infection or something, but there was nothing. They check his urine and they found some blood in it. They told us to come back in two weeks to have it checked again. Well by Sunday I took him to the ER cause his lower stomach was kinda hard and he had gone to the bathroom a couple times that day so I figured he wasn't constipated. They did a ct scan on his stomach and did some blood tests. His colon was swollen with some fluid and his liver levels were elevated. They didn't give him any medication. They said we need to come back next week to re check his liver levels. They said that his colon should be ok he just has to have plenty of fluids. It has been 5 days since then and he seems ok, but he still has a fever. I don't know what to think, everything came back normal except his liver levels. So if everything isn't better by next week I will call Childrens and see what they think. Hopefully everything is okay.


Other then all that we have been planning our fundraising events. We are doing great with that too. SO far for our Lemonade Stand we will have clowns, craft table, the renton Police Chief said he will try and be there with some other police people, we will be having a local Radio Station there (100.7 the wolf) and other fun stuff. We are really excited. Our Bingo and silent auction night will be fun too. we have tons of gifts to auction off. Free nights at hotels, dinners, trips, all kinds of fun stuff. We could still use help so if anyone wants to help let me know

Thank you all I will keep you posted on Antonio.

Olivia

Thursday, February 15, 2007 10:10 PM CST

Ok so I'm so excited. We are plannift ing the Lemonade stand for this year. I got a phone call from The Alex's Lemonade stand Foundation and Our Lemonade stand has been chosen to be one of only 12 "Grand" Lemonade stands nationwide. We will get more one on one help from the foundation to try and raise as much as we can. We are very excited about this, but in order for us to be a grand stand we have to try and raise $25,000.

We have plenty of time to plan this and meet our goal. we will be having the grand lemonade stand and a bingo/silent aution night to try and raise the $25,000 If we do not meet our goal we will do some other fundraiser. If anybody would like to donate gift baskets or prizes please let me know. Also if any of you have idea's they are greatly appreciated. Please email me at tonio0802@yahoo.com if you want to help.

Thank you everyone!

Sunday, February 11, 2007 3:36 PM CST

We are having another Lemonade stand:) I am so excited about this year cause we have more time to plan and a better location. We will be having the stand at Sam's club in Renton on June 16th. I am hoping this year will be very successful cause of the location and we have more time to plan. Last year we made over $4300. this year I'm shooting high $10,000. I truly feel we can do it. We are planning to have a blood donating bus there so people can donate blood in Antonio's honor. He had so many blood transfusions and I feel this is a great way to help other people. We will try and get the fire department down there again, and will have the craft center and clowns doing face painting. Last year we all had so much fun. this year i hope it will be even better. We are also thinking of having a bingo night to raise more money and give away prizes.

I am extremely excited about this and I can use all the help we can get. So if you would like to help please email me at tonio0802@yahoo.com If you would like to donate blood please let me know cause we have to have a list of at least 30 people to get the puget sound blood center down there.

Antonio is doing great. he is feeling well and just enjoying school. he is excited for the lemonade stand again too. If you would like to donate money we have a new site for this years fund raiser. it's www.firstgiving.com/antonio07

thank you all for the wonderful support.

love

olivia

Tuesday, January 30, 2007 5:47 PM CST

Okay it has been well over a month since I have written, but hey no news is good news:) Antonio is doing great! He just got done with scans this past week. It was a little struggle cause it has been so long since we were there, but we made it through:) Antonio is so terrified of shots. I hate that he has to have all his shots re-done. A couple months ago he had his first set of shots. 6 shots for a 5 year old is torture. So when it came around time to do scans and I knew that they were going to put him to sleep for some of them, I had them give him the next set of 5 shots while he was sleeping. I'm so glad I did. Everyone we saw knows now that he is so scared of shots. He kept asking everyone " am going to get a shot?" poor little guy, i felt so bad for him, but we made it through, it was just a very long week. It was nice to see some of the nurses. We haven't been there in so long.

Antonio's scans all came back great. On his ct scans they found some swelling around his right arm, but no tumors or anything so she isn't very concerned. Although I am a little worried about it, she told me not to worry cause it could be just some scar tissue from where his hickman line was. I am happy though that everything else is fine. Even his kidney levels are stable:) She said that Antonio looked great. I worry from time to time about his aches and pains, but she said that all the chemo he has had can cause aches and pains for years and years after treatment. I just hate to see him feeling bad. He has been feeling pretty great lately though. So YEAH he is still in remission:)

After we went and got his scan results we went to the pacific science center. That place is SO much fun. I haven't been there since I was in elementary school. We had so much fun. He loved the dinosaurs, stars, all the fun exhibits they had. His favorite was the Grossology. That was really fun. It was an exhibit about gross things like burping, scabs, noses and all that gross stuff. I had a blast and so did he. Then we went out to dinner with my family to celebrate. It was a great day. So much to celebrate:)

Antonio had a huge Christmas. I think he got more then everyone combined:) He is so spoiled, but you know he deserves it after all he has been through. I was going through my album and I have one that goes from start to finish of treatment. It is so amazing to look back and see all the stuff he went through. You would have never known by looking at him today. Absolutely Amazing little guy:)

He is still loving school. I started a new job in December. I am working at a hospital in Redmond. I love my job. I am now a lab assistant. I went though a couple jobs last year, and it has brought me back to what I really like..Phlebotomy , I know it's a little weird, but I like it and am good at it:) I work with great people. I am so lucky cause they let me have Tuesdays off to take Antonio to his 2 appts on Tuesday and i work 5am-1:30pm so i am back in time to pick him up from school. So perfect:) I am so happy. I was nervous yesterday cause everything is going so great, that I thought something bad might happen. Everything is great though.

Friday, December 1, 2006 1:56 AM CST

Okay I’m so sorry it has been awhile wince I have written:( Antonio is doing okay. The past couple of months have been a little busy. Antonio is loving kindergarten) It is such a joy to take him and pick him up everyday. It's funny cause when I drop him of at school I always say "bye Tony” and he totally ignores me (like he’s too good to say bye to me:), but when he walks out the door when school is over he always runs and gives me a big hug, I love it. He had his first teacher conferences last week. They went very well. His teacher is very nice and she has even done some research on Neuroblastoma, so that she knows a little about what he has gone through. That warmed my heart, just knowing how much she cares about her students. He is doing great in school. A big helper and has tons of friends. I am not at all surprised:) When it comes to all the learning stuff he is pretty smart. She said he is right along with the other kids in class.

Antonio is still doing all the therapies. Not sure if that will ever end. He is going to be getting some new orthotics. His feet and starting to become deformed a little from all that tiptoeing. They are going to try and fix it without surgery. It will be a painful experience I guess cause they are going to stretch his legs to the max:( It will take about a month of extra stretching, but hopefully it can be fixed without surgery.

Antonio's attitude the past couple of weeks has been bad. Well only sometimes. He is very cranky and whiny. I try to do whatever to please him, but he still is just cranky. I am not sure what is going on. He has aches and pains. He hasn't really had a fever, but he just doesn't seem is happy little self like usual. I am hoping that it is just a virus or something. You know scans are coming up next month and I might be just paranoid. It happens every time scans come around. But I am going to call the doctor and talk about it. He also has been having some bladder problems. He has wet his pants more then a few times in the past couple weeks, its like he just can't make it to the bathroom. It's not like he's too busy doing something and just forgets, cause sometimes he's doing nothing. I did take him to the doctor for that, and they said he had some blood in his urine, but then they did more tests and I guess everything was fine. I need to call his doctor at the hospital and see what she thinks. I could just be thinking crazy:) Sometimes it’s so hard though.

Other then all that stuff Antonio is getting excited about Christmas. We are going to an x-mas party tomorrow that his therapy people are having. So he will see Santa and stuff, hopefully he will be in a good mood. It should be a good time; they are having the fire dept., police k-9, and even a magic show:) I will try and post up some new pictures soon. It has been a really long time sorry.

Well please keep Antonio in your prayer in January when he has his scans. I am hoping everything turns out well.


Olivia

Friday, October 20, 2006 12:20 AM CDT

Antonio is doing great! (let me knock on wood) cause it seems like everytime I say that us ends up getting sick:( But really he is doing very well. He loves going to school. He has a lot of little friends. He hangs with all the boys and when a girl comes around, they boys say "eeewww a girl" I think it is funny. Antonio never says eeewww, but I think it is cause he has girls around him all the time:) I am so glad he has fun at school and has made a lot of new friends. I always worry about people teasing him or something cause he can't talk so clear and he has hearing aids. I shouldn't worry cause everyday I take him to school everyone is so excited to see him. It warms my heart. When I pick him up from school, someone is always yelling, bye tony. even the girls do that:) So I'm very happy that he is adjusting well to kindergarten.

We have been very busy lately with appts. having 4 a week can get tiring after awhile. I quit my job. I just figured that I need to be able to be there for him first. I did get two other jobs, but they are so flexible. I am working for Primerica Financial doing finanical advising, and I am also a new consultant for Sensaria beauty products. So i do spa party's it's a lot of fun and I can make my own schedule. Very nice. Ok well Antonio has speech twice a week, occupational therapy, and food therapy. I finally decided to talk to someone about his orthotics. He needs braces for his feet cause he is still tip-toes. I just kinda dread another appt. Cause I have a feeling he needs to start taking physical therapy again. That would be 5 appts a week..ugh:( So they are going to talk it through and let me know what we should do. This is why I quit my job. I want to be able to be there for Antonio and take him to all these appts. It's important to me to be able to keep up with his therapy.

Besides all this stuff going on we are doing ok. We are dealing with some family issues right now, so please keep my brother Andrew in your thoughts and prayers. He is going through a difficult time right now. Thank you

Monday, October 9, 2006 0:56 AM CDT

Antonio is doing pretty well. He loves kindergaten and has made a lot of new little friends. He is still going to speech twice a week and has occupational therapy once a week. He started food therapy. I love the food therapy cause they have a two-way mirror so I can watch and he doesn't know it:) He listens so well it makes me very happy. He has fun doing that, there are about 3-4 other little boys in that class so it helps cause they all play together and Antonio watches thema dn if they eat it he does too.


About two weeks ago Antonio got Roseola. It is a baby virus and it was very rare for Antonio to get it, but since Antonio had a stem cell transplant his immune system is only about two years old. When I took him to the doctor for his rash, he said that he had roseola and that babies 6 months to 2 years old usually get it. He said in my 25 years of being a doctor I have never seen that, but it makes sense cause of his transplant. Antonio is fine, he just had a really high fever and then had a rash for about 3-4 days.

Antonio has been in remission for 2 years now. What a blessing. I couldn't be happier. Everyday I am amazed. I took him to Children's last week for an hearing aid appt. It was very weird to be there. I got a little emotional. We saw this Mickey Mouse statue that they have there. (they have been building new wing so I haven't seen it in a long time) Well everytime we went to the hospital Antonio had to give Mickey mouse I high five. I can still remember him running down the hall with his little bald head to go give mickey a five before we went home from the hospital.

I ran into Jill one of my favorite nurses. I am always looking for her there I just love her. She was the nurse who taught me how to give Antonio his gcfs shots. She was always coming in to visit us even if Antonio wasn't her patient. When Antonio was in transplant and I couldn't sleep she would come in and talk to me forever and we would play yatzee. She was the one person who always made me feel safe and that everything would be okay. I love her for that. She made the whole thing so much easier, even though it was extremely hard.

Well nothing big has really been going on. Just school and appts that's what we do:) Antonio has adjusted well to all his appts. I know it is alot for him, and he struggled a little for a while, but i think he is getting older and doesn't throw fits anymore. I'm very happy he is out of that phase. I will put up some new pictures ina few weeks when we get his new school pictures.

Thank you all who still reads. I know i don't write much, but I'm not sure how many people still actually read my journal entries. Leave a message in his guest book if you get a chance so i know people still read and I'll update more often. We love you all and I appreciate all of the love and prayers over the past couple of years.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006 11:36 PM CDT

Ok I am so sorry I haven't written in a while. Things have been a little crazy lately. Antonio is doing ok. He had an ear infection a couple weeks ago. We were down california for a wedding and he got sick and we ended up at the hospital cause his ear hurt so bad. They gave us some pain medication and an antibiotic for his ear. It is better now.

He started kindergarten last week. He likes it a lot. He kinda keeps to himself, but i think he will open up as the year goes on. A little boy that went to his preschool is in his class so at least he knows someone. It is so nice cause I am able to walk him to and from school. He is getting so big. It is amazing.

Health wise Antonio has been doing pretty well. He hasn't really had any colds or anything for a while, well besides the ear infection. So that is good. He has been going to speech twice a week, occupational therapy once a week and will start a food therapy group next week. Hopefully it will help with his eating problems. He is so picky and just doesn't eat much. So this class is suppose to help his habits. So i guess you can say Antonio is a pretty busy five year old. four appts a week plus school. So far he is doing ok. We are probably going to drop one of the speech appts cause he will be getting it at school also.

Other then all that we are doing ok. A very dear and close friend of mine passed away this past week. It has been really hard. She loved Antonio alot and was always so wonderful to both of us. She is th elady that gave us Daisy(antonio's dog) She will be missed alot by us.

Well Antonio doesn't have scans until december so until then we will just live life one day at a time. As time goes by it gets easier and somedays I forget all the stuff that he went through. Things are pretty much normal, well except all the appts, but that is NOTHING:) Well i hope everyone is doing well. Take care

Wednesday, August 16, 2006 11:33 PM CDT

Gibby has passed away. He passed on August 10th. I just got back from yakima. I went to his funeral. It was extremely hard for me, but harder i'm sure for the family. Veronica and her husband are very strong and the they did wonderful during the funeral. veronica even went up a few times to talk about Gibby. I was really glad I was able to drive over there and be there for the funeral. I felt very connected to that family. Veronica and I have gone through alot as mothers in the past few years. Her now more then me, but she has done a wonderful job taking care of Gibby. She always tells me that "you just have to do it, don't even really think about it, just do it" And that is exactly what she did she took care of him until he took his last breath. Now she did have her break downs now and then, but that is completely normal. She has to be one of the strongest people I know. I know that Gibby is at peace and is no longer in pain. I pray that Veronica and her family stay stong during this very difficult time.


Antonio is doing ok. We went to the doctors on Monday and the skin condition he has is from all the chemo he has had and it will probably never go away. It will be ok though, we just have to keep using the lotions and keep the baths short. He has been feeling ok. Aches and pains as usual, but nothing really big. He is getting excited about kindergaten. Only a couple more weeks. We got all the paper work and know which teacher he will have Ms. Baker. he is really excited to go meet her in a couple of weeks. Well i will let you all know how school is and stuff when it starts.

olivia

Wednesday, August 9, 2006 12:01 AM CDT

Alright I am so sorry it has been so long since I have written. Antonio's scans turned out ok. His blood counts have been really low. They are going to do more blood tests on monday. His kidney counts are very low again and they are also going to test it again in about a month. She talked about if they continue to stay low they are going to send us to a kidney specialist. He also has a skin problem. he has lost all the pigments in his skin around his arms, face and back, and legs. his skin is very blotchy. They aren't sure what what is causing it. she had me change alot of things. Soap, limit the time he is the sun, new moisturizing lotion. it has worked a little, but his skin is blotchy and his pigment is still gone. They don't really want us to go to a dermalogist cause they will just give him steroids and she doesn't want him on that. So i'm not sure what they are going to do.

The past month or so has been really stressful for me. having antonio turn 5 years old has been amazing. they told us that he had a 25% chance to make it to 5 and he has made it and is still healthy to a certain extent. I have been really sad and depressed cause I think everything has finally caught up with me. I have spent the past 2 years taking care of antonio, that I have put myself to the side. Now that things are getting better and as time goes on I have been becoming more worried and stressed.. I don't why. I think i just never know what is going to happen and that bothers me. I thought that after the scans were done I would get better, but then we go and they talk about his skin, blodd counts, kidney, and all the other normal things, hearing, legs, and then they think he might be dyslexic. So its like he has all these things wrong adn I wish that he didn't. I wish things would just me normal and he can start kindergarden and be a normal kid in class.

Someday we will get there and things will be ok. It will just take time.

Gibby is still doing ok. He is still hanging in there. he is not in any pain. I will let you know how he is doing when i get an update from his mom.

Thursday, July 6, 2006 6:25 PM CDT

Antonio is feeling so much better then he did a couple weeks ago. His cough is pretty much gone. I am so glad he is feeling better I hate when he doesn't feel well, his attitude is horrible and he is mean. I'm glad he is back to being sweet little Antonio. He is enjoying his summer vacation. He can't wait to start kindergarden. He is counting the days. He is also really excited about his birthday. He knows that after he turns five he can go to kindergarden. So he is just one happy little guy that has a lot to look forward too. He has his whole party planned already. It has to be scooby-doo party and he has to have a scooby-doo cake and he pretty much wants everything scooby-doo. So I am already trying to make all his birthday wishes come true:) I am taking him to the ocean the week of his birthday so we can fly kites and ride horses on the beach. He is excited and I am too. He wants to make a sand castle and play in the sand. It will be a very fun trip for us. He gets his scan results at the end of the month so I thought we could go celebrate if everything is okay, which I know everything will be fine and if not i don't even want to think about that. He has the start of his scans on july 10th. Not really excited to start that. It is all so stressful for those couple weeks, but I know things will be ok and hopefully if everything is ok we won't have to go back for six months. That is a big step, but I am looking forward to only having to go twice a year.

Gibby isn't doing so well. He is at the point where he doesn't do anything, but lay in bed. He can barely walk and moans a lot cause he is uncomfortable. They are trying really hard to make him feel ok. They had a huge prayer gathering a couple weeks ago. his mom is one of the strongest people I know. She is handling it so well. She said "you just kinda have too" which I agree cause when your child is sick you just do what you can to make them feel ok and worry about yourself later. She said she has breakdowns every once in a while, but has stayed very strong for him so he doesn't get scared. Please pray that things so well for him and his family. Also please keep antonio in your thoughts and prayer in the upcoming weeks while he is going through scans. I will keep you all posted on what is going on. thank you

Monday, June 19, 2006 10:13 PM CDT

Hello Everyone~

Antonio is sick. He has had a bad cough for a while now, but I have just been giving him cough syrup the doctor gave us before, but it just hasn't been working at all. He went to his dad's over the weekend and came back worse then when he left. (a little mad at dad for not calling me and letting me know) He came back cough so much and he was up all night coughing, the cough syrup didn't even work. So this morning i took him to the doctor and he has slight pnemonia and a sinus infection. They put him on two antibiotics and an inhaler for the weezing. I feel so bad cause I just thought it was his normal cough that comes and goes. We will go back to the doctor friday if it doesn't get any better, then they will do some x-rays. They didn't want to do one today cause he already has enough radiation and wants to wait and see if the antibiotics work. So hopefully he will start feeling better and will be able to sleep a little better tonight. He has to miss a couple days of school. He only has till wed. and schools out so I'm hoping he will feel better by wed. so he can at least go for the last day.

It's so wierd cause all weekend I was depressed and missing antonio while he was with his dad. I felt like something was wrong and just was sad most the weekend. It must be a mother-child thing cause i knew something wasn't wrong with him and I guess I was right. Hopefully this is it though. I am still scared for scans, but I do feel better now that I know what is wrong with antonio and that I can be around to take care of him while he is sick. Sometimes its hard for me when he goes with is dad cause I don't know what is going on and I'm use to having antonio around all the time.

Well I will keep you guys posted on antonio's condition.

olivia

Monday, June 12, 2006 6:46 PM CDT

Hello everyone~

Our stand was wonderful. We had tons of friends and family there to help support us. We had a clown and face painting for the kids and a fire truck stopped by and Antonio had a blast playing in the fire truck. I think overall everyone had a great time. We raised $2126.30 at our stand. Really well considering the location we had it at. It wasn't by a busy road or anything big. So I am going to make sure we book something next year in a better place. I know what is going on now and how it works so I think next year will be great. We have overall raised $3711.30 this month.

Antonio was on the front page of the paper on Friday, before the stand. They did a great article. If you want to see it you can visit www.kingcountyjournal.com, it was friday June 9th. Antonio looked great on the front page, very cute and happy.

We might do something else this month to raise money, but i'm not sure yet. I have been very exhausted doing the lemonade stand. It has been almost depressing. I am happy we raised money to help sick children, but it is draining talking about it. It brings back memories that I somehow blocked out.

Antonio has scans really soon, a couple weeks I think. I called today to see, but they said they will call back. I am pretty sure eveything with come back terrific. Antonio seems to be doing pretty well. He does have a cough right now and it is pretty bad, but I think its just a cold. As a parent of a child who has been sick with cancer, you just get use to being worried. I worry if antonio falls, has a bruise that i don't know how he got, or if he doesn't eat. So many worries that I sometimes feel like I'm going crazy. I always have to stop and think and remember that he is only 4 years old and kids fall all the time and get bruises and they go through times when they don't want to eat. I am just a paranoid parent. I have learned to keep my paranoia to myself. Cause i'm sure people are tired of me saying "do think he's ok" I do feel that things will be ok, but I think I am allowed my moments:)

Gibby is starting to slow down. His mom emailed me a couple days ago and said that he is starting to have some pain in his legs. They went camping a couple weeks ago and Gibby loved it. She said he chased squirrels around and just enjoyed being in the outdoors. They are working with hospice to make sure there is little or no pain. I will keep you all posted with how he is doing. Please pray that things go ok with him and that there is little pain.

Well if anyone want to donate Antonio's site will be there for a while so you can still donate @www.firstgiving.com/antonio.

Thanks again to everyone who helped at the stand and for everyone's support. Please keep antonio in your thought and prayers while he goes through his scans.

Love

Olivia

Monday, June 5, 2006 7:30 PM CDT

Antonio's Alex's lemonade stand will be held at Cascade Elementary School on June 10th From 12-5pm 16022 116th ave se Renton, wa 98055 If you can't come you can still donate on line @http://www.firstgiving.com/antonio

Thank you all for your support.






Hello Everyone~

Today has been a really good day, well except this morning. This morning Antonio had to have his first round of shots. He has to have all his shots over again cause of the stem cell transplant. So we started today and I was so sad. He walked into the doctors office all happy, but left so upset. He had to have 6 shots, I think that is so riduculous. He had 3 in each arm, the first arm he cried, but when they switched arms, he just got so mad and was fighting with me and the nurse. He is so strong that the nurse asked someone else to come in to help, it was sad cause he kept saying "do it here" pointing to his mid arm where they draw blood, cause that is what he is use to:( When the other nurse came in she told me that I couldn't hold antonio and that she would so they can finish the shots. As soon as he left my arms I started tearing up cause he was freaking out and it reminded me of the first time he had to have blood drawn and it took 4 nurses to hold him down, plus me and the doctor. It was horrible. So I kinda grabbed antonio and told both nurses that I needed to hold him and I just used all my might to hold him still. I started crying a little after the shots were done. It just brought back some very painful memories. Antonio's strength just amazes me he is so strong.

Our lemonade stand is coming along great. I am very excited about it. I went down and talked to the fire station and they are going to come down with a fire truck, we are going to have a clown, and some face painting, we also are having a raffle. We have some great prizes: one night at the Red Lion Hotel, Ichiro Suzuki signed ball worth $400.00, lots of free dinners, some free tanning, lots of mariners stuff, and more. I am pretty excited on how well this whole thing is going. Hopefully it will be pretty big and we will raise alot of money for Childhood Cancer.

Antonio is doing pretty well, his fevers have stopped, but he now has a cold. It's always something. I have been a little stressed out lately, trying to do stuff for the stand and I am worried, like usual about Antonio's upcoming scans. I will always have that feeling every time he has scans. It is such a horrible feeling cause I never know what is going to happen. I start thinking , sometimes way too much. That is what causes my anxiety. I think of the what if's and if I will be able to handle it if he relapses and just all kinds of stuff. Unfortunatly I think I will feel this way for a long time cause of the chances of relapse. I get so scared sometimes. I think I handle it pretty well though. I think of Gibby alot everyday. I feel so lucky that Antonio is doing so well, but my heart aches thinking of gibby and how his family is having to go through this horrible thing right now. They are the brave ones that are living day by day with there son, waiting and wondering what is going to happen next. My thoughts and Prayers go out to them while they are dealing with this hard time.

Well I will try and keep you all updated on our stand stuff. Thanks for your support I appreciate all everyone has done.

Love

Olivia

Thursday, May 18, 2006 4:32 PM CDT

Hello everyone~

Antonio is doing okay. For the past week he has been running a low-grade fever. I'm not sure why cause he has no symptoms, but this rash on his arms. I finally took him to the doctor yesterday. The doctor doesn't think the fever and rash are related. He gave me some cream to put on the rash and it is gone as of this morning. The doctor told me that Antonio looked great and wasn't sure why he was having a fever. He told me that I needed to watch him close for the next couple of days and he gave me some temp dot thermometers so that I can have an accurate reading. He told me to record his temperature and call him Monday. If he is still have the fever then he is going to do some tests. Me, being so paranoid all the time have been stressing all week. I hate fevers cause you never know what they mean especially if there is no symptoms. Antonio has scans again next month. I always get nervous cause the doctor yesterday was feeling Antonio's stomach and then he looked at me and said when are his next scans? That just makes me feel like maybe he felt something. I know I’m just paranoid and am always scared something is going to happen. Antonio has been doing so well that I sometimes just can't believe how lucky we are.

This week it has been beautiful outside. Antonio has wanted to do nothing but swim. He has his little pool and can play for hours. His fever is around 99-100 and he is still very active and wants to play so I have been letting him. I don't want to be mean and not let him play and enjoy the sun.

I talked to Gibby's mom yesterday. What I'm going to write is very sad just to warn you.

Gibby relapsed in December; they started oral chemo around January. They finished the chemo mid March. I saw them while Antonio was there for his scans and gibby looked great. He was full of energy and had all his hair still. Veronica (his mom) said that she thought that things looked good cause he was looking and feeling so well. The same day I got our results they got there's too. The chemo didn't work and the cancer had spread to his liver. I haven't talked to them since then. Last night she called me and told me that they did some more chemo oral only and that it never stabilized him. They went to children’s last week and his cancer is now in his head, chest, heart, stomach, liver and bones. The doctor suggested they start IV chemo, which would make him very sick and he would lose his hair (this little boy loves his hair and was so upset when he lost it when he had IV chemo before) Veronica told me that they went home and her and her husband talked about everything and he said "are we doing this for us or for him” the same night Gibby told his mom that he didn't want anymore chemo. They talked about what would happen if they stopped. They talked about heaven and God. He told his mom that "when he goes to heaven that he will still love everyone and everyone who loved him" He did also say that he didn't want to die and that he was going to miss them when he did. He is such a sweet little boy. He just turned 6 last month. Veronica told me that she is doing well and that she thought she was going to be much worse. She said she is just enjoying her son. Gibby is in Kindergarten and doesn't want to stop going so he is still going to go, she hopes he will do well till at least the end of the school year which end June 8th. He is coming to Seattle tomorrow to have his line taken out and a port put in so he can have meds. This little boy is so brave and I admire his strength so much. My heart goes out to his parent’s cause I can't imagine what they are going through and his sister too. Please pray that all goes ok with him. Right now they are just living life the way he wants. They are going to go camping cause he loves to camp and just do what he wants. I will keep you all posted on everything.

Thank you for your support with everything. Antonio's lemonade site has now raised $250.00. That is really good considering that not a lot of people know about it yet. If you want to donate you can go to www.firstgiving.com/antonio

Thanks again.

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 1:29 PM CDT

Hello everyone~

Antonio is doing so well. I couldn't be happier. He hasn't been really sick lately; he just has his usual cold. I'm not sure if that will ever go away. I hope that someday his nose will stop running, but his nose has been running since he started chemo about two years ago.

He is still going to speech therapy every week. He is going to start going to physical therapy again. He still walks on his tiptoes. It is going to take some time to make it so that everything is completely back to normal. I can't tell you when or even if it will ever happen, but I try to keep a positive attitude. I am really happy that he is doing so well. If you saw him you would never had guessed he had cancer or went through everything he did.

Things have changed a lot this year. Antonio's dad as come back into the picture. I'm not sure what happened cause he has never really been there for Antonio, even when Antonio was sick in the hospital, he barely came. In January or February he called me and said that he wanted to start seeing Antonio. I agreed and he has been seeing Antonio every other weekend and every Wednesday for dinner. At first I wouldn't let Antonio stay the night cause he doesn't/ didn't know him very well, but his dad has been so good and hasn't missed any weekends and comes every Wednesday. Always on time and never late. So the past couple weekends I have let Antonio stay the whole weekend with him. It is very weird not having him around. I was pretty emotional the first couple times, just cause I missed him so much, but I am getting better. I have spent the past two years at home with him. The only time we are apart is when he goes to preschool for a couple hours. So it was a huge thing for him to be gone for two whole days. I didn't have him this past weekend and it was a little better. I know he has fun with his dad and regardless of what I think of his dad, he still is Antonio's dad. I just am hoping he doesn't flake out like he has done in the past cause Antonio is a little older and I don't want him to be hurt.

I just now am going to start working. My friend Andrea is going to be my nanny. I need one cause Antonio needs someone to take him to speech and physical therapy, also to school. I can't put him in daycare cause it would be too hard and I couldn't guarantee that he gets to speech and physical therapy. I also feel so much more comfortable with him at home. I don't want things to change too much.

I graduated last week for college. I'm going to be working as a MA in Renton. I'm very excited. It has been my life long dream to work as a nurse and now I will be. Antonio is truly my inspiration. If I didn't have to give him shots all the time when he was sick I don't know if I would have ever gone to school to become a MA. I was terrified to give shots and that held me back from going to school, when Antonio had to have shots to boost him immune system and I had to learn to give them. I did it with know problem cause I knew he needed them and I did so well that he didn't want anyone to give him shots, but me:) Now I feel like a pro and I’m ready to get to work and start our lives over.

Now that things are starting to look up for us. I have been wanting to concentrate on helping raise money for childhood cancer. My mom and I have put up a site to raise some money. We are going to have lemonade stand hopefully around June in honor of Alex Scott a little girl who also had neuroblastoma and she started this foundation to raise money for neuroblastoma. http://www.alexslemonade.org. For more info. Antonio's site for his fundraiser is Http://firstgiving.com/antonio.
I am going to try and have some other fundraisers too. If you want to help please email me at tonio0802@yahoo.com


Thank you all for your love and support.

PS.
I have no news on gibby, I haven't talked to his mom for a while now. She isn't returning my calls, I'm not sure how he is doing, but it didn't look good last time I did talk to them so as soon as I find out anything I will let you all know.

Monday, April 3, 2006 9:31 PM CDT

hello everyone...Antonio had his scans last week and we went today and they were all fine. He is still in remission:) I was so happy to hear those words from his doctor. She said he looked great. He is just underweight. So I have to fatten him up. Which is kind of hard cause he doesn't always have the greatest appetite, but I am going to work on it. HE has to have all his shots again cause of his stem cell transplant, so we have to act like he never had any immunizations, so that should be fun having him have all those shots again:( Well, while I have really happy that Antonio was still in remission, I ran into gibby's dad in the waiting room when we left. They had just done scans after all the chemo he had last month and his cancer had spread now to his liver. I felt so bad for them. He is now going to start IV chemo (he was on oral last month). I feel very fortunate that Antonio is doing so well, but horrible at the same time cause I can't even imagine what they are going through.

It has been 9 months since Antonio has any treatment. Almost a year and the doctor are very happy with his progress. She did tell me that Antonio is not out of the clear. She said after three years we have better chances. So far so good.

After we left the hospital I decided to let Antonio stay home from school so we could spend time together. We went to the Rain Forest Cafe for lunch and spent the afternoon and the Family Fun Center. He had lots of fun, and so did I.

Over the weekend we went a family anniversary party, well 3 in 1. It was a lot of fun. Antonio had way too much fun though. They had a band and he was dancing the whole time it was so cute. After every song he would go up and high-five a band member. I think he's a fan of the Rondo's. (The band that played there) He asked if we could come back tomorrow. He loved it. It was good to see everyone.

Well Antonio gets his hearing aids Thursday. So that will be good. Then we don't have to go back to the hospital for 3 months. It will be nice. Well please keep Gibby and his family in your prayers, they need all they can get. Thank you all so much for your support.

Love

Olivia

Sunday, March 19, 2006 11:15 PM CST

Hello everyone. Today has been a really hard day for me. It has been two years since Antonio was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. I honestly never thought we would get this far. Antonio is doing so well and is just so happy with life. I look at him everyday and am just so amazed of all the things he has gone through. It's like you sometimes forget that he had gone through all this intense chemo, radiation, surgeries and stem cell transplant and just all sorts of infections. There were some days I just thought would never end. Some days I just wondered if he would make it to the next day. Know one will ever know how much cancer can touch a family. How emotionally draining it is. I meet people and they don't even know what remission mean or even relapse. People are just not educated with that stuff. I had know idea what cancer really was until he got sick. There are friends and some family that doesn't even know what kind a cancer Antonio had. I see some people and they just think he had leukemia. Which is like 90urable. Antonio had Neuroblastoma stage IV which is high risk and is only like 30urable. Huge difference. There are so many people who are diagnosed with leukemia; there is only about 300 kids in the united states and 600 in the world that are diagnosed with neuroblastoma stage IV a year. That is such a small amount. There is hardly any research in it cause there is such a small amount of kids. Which totally scares me cause there is such a high chance for Antonio to relapse and there isn't a whole lot they can do if he does. So I do thank god that he is doing so well and is not sick anymore. I do not want to ever have to go back to all of that.

So what I remember from two years ago this day is...Waking up early in the hospital and looking at Antonio and I was just so scared cause they were going to do surgery that morning to try and remove the tumor and if not just get a biopsy. I remember my family and friends coming in one by one with gifts and cards. I remember Jacci and Richard brought a play doh set table thing and Antonio opened it we sat on the hospital bed and just played with it while everyone watched. It helped to make it not so stressful cause he was playing and just happy. Then I remember my whole family and friends going with us to the surgery center. The nurse said that she had never seen so many people come to see a little guy have surgery. Then I remember being with him while he has being put to sleep, tears rolling down my cheeks and I just didn't know what was going to happen. Everyone stayed it was about a four in a half hour surgery. The surgeon came and told me that everything was okay. Huge sigh of relief I thought. Some people left and the oncologist came in and talked to me. He was such a nice man Dr. Andrew Halahan (I will never forget that name). He sat down and told me that I might want to sit. Then he started to speak and he said that Antonio had Neuroblastoma stage IV high risk. He told me that Antonio had a 25hance to make it. I remember just crying so hard that he left and came back later so I could actually hear and understand what he was saying. This day was the worst day of my life and don't ever want to experience it again. No parent should have to go through that pain. I couldn't even explain how bad it hurt and sometimes still does just thinking of it.

Now fast-forward to today, my baby did it. He has gone through the year in a half of treatment and is now in preschool. Never would have thought we would be here two years ago. He just amazes me so much and is so strong.

Okay enough of all that stuff:) Sorry I rambled on. Antonio still has an ear infection so we are going back to the ENT cause he shouldn't have ear infections cause he got tubes in his ears. I am so sick and tired of it. So hopefully they can figure out what is wrong. I am still not working I have decided to wait until March is over cause Antonio has scans and stuff at the end of this month. Then maybe I will go back to work. I hope everyone is well and please keep Antonio in your prayers.

PS. Gibby is doing okay. He started chemo and will be here in Seattle for a month. He doesn't like it at all, but is doing well. Please keep him in your prayers too.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006 11:44 AM CST

Hello Everyone. Antonio and I are doing great. Antonio is on Mid-winter break from school this week so he is home all week. We haven't done anything special. We are going to the movies tomorrow, but really nothing big. He has been pretty well health wise. He has this cough that just won't stop, but the doctors never do anything. That is why I hate going to the doctor for his colds, I always think he sounds horrible, but once we get to the doctor he is always fine. I guess that is good.

Antonio and I went to the Museum of Flight last week with my cousin peter (his god father). Antonio loved all the planes, we had a great time. Our next adventure will be the Pacific Science Center. I can't wait for that cause they have a butterfly exhibit and dinosaur exhibit and I know Antonio will love it.

I am still looking for a job, I guess not that hard considering I don't have one yet. My resume is everywhere on the Internet. I honestly just love staying home with the kids, and will miss them like crazy once I go back to work.

A shock to people who know us closely, Antonio's dad has been coming around. We have set a schedule and He has been seeing Antonio every other weekend and every Wednesday. He actually has been sticking to the schedule and seeing Antonio. I am really shocked. Cause his dad will go months without seeing him or calling even when he was sick. So I don't know what made him come around, but I am happy for Antonio cause he likes to see him and it will be good to have him spend time with him. Also it gives me a little break, although I miss him the whole time and just don't know what to do with myself. Oh well I will get use to it. I just hope he keeps up with his promise to pick him up.

A little update on Gibby. Things have changed drastically in the past three weeks. His cancer has spread all through his body, even to the bones. It is extremely hard cause that is how fast this cancer can spread. It makes me worry about Antonio, but I try to stay positive. I figure I shouldn't worry cause I will drive myself crazy. I talked to Gibby's mom last week. They are going to be here in Seattle to start treatment in a week. They are going to do some chemo and see if it works or not. I feel so bad for them, they are such a nice family, and don't deserve all this. Please pray for Gibby. Him and his family need all the prayers they can get.

Well I have know idea how many of you actually check Antonio's site anymore. I don't even update as much cause I just get busy and forget. Antonio is doing so well it amazes me. Please keep us in your prayers. Antonio will have his scans again in three weeks. Thank you all.

Olivia

Wednesday, February 1, 2006 12:00 AM CST

Okay it has been about a month since I have written sorry. So I should have some stuff to talk about. Antonio is doing really great. Since he has had his tubes in his speech is slowly improving. We went to the ear doctor last week and had his hearing checked. His hearing is now all normal except high pitch sounds. So I was really happy to hear that. He is doing really good is school. He loves going...well the mornings he is kinda cranky, but once he is off to school he is fine. Yesterday he went on a field trip. His class walked around the area to the post office, fire station, and the store. They are learning about communities.

Last weekend we went to Snoqualmie Falls to see the waterfall. Antonio really liked that. It was kinda rainy so we got a little wet, but it was okay. Antonio's health has been pretty well. He has had a cold here and there, but nothing too alarming.

We have been just hanging out at home. I am looking for a job right now. We just came back from vegas last week. We had a lot of fun. I missed Antonio alot, but we were only gone for a couple days. A little update on our friend Gibby. He is doing okay, they had some tests done at the beginning of the month. they thought that his tumor would have grown, but it didn't so that is good news. They are going back probably around next week to re-scan. So I will keep you posted. Antonio goes back for scans in March. the blood tests they did last week turned out okay so that was good.

I hope everyone has a great week and please keep Antonio and Gibby in your prayers. Thank you

Wednesday, January 4, 2006 9:36 PM CST

Hello everyone! Antonio is doing pretty well. He had his kidney test and amazingly his kidney has improved from last time. Your kidney has to be above 80 and last time it was in the lower 60's, so I thought it was just going to be worse, but it was 91 so it is really good. I am really happy about that. We go back at the end of this month for the other doctor appts. I am real positive that everything is going to be just fine.

Antonio is back in school after winter break. He is so excited to be back in school to see all his friends and Teacher. We had a wonderful Christmas. Antonio got his spider-man bike and tons of other stuff. He is so spoiled. I have applied to a couple places, but I'm not trying hard till after January. My sister turns 21 this month and my mom is taking her and I to Vegas. I am excited cause I haven't been there since I turned 21. It will be a nice little vacation. I will miss Antonio, but it will be nice to get away.

I have a little update on our little friend Gibby. He has relapsed. It is so sad; his family hasn't decided what they are going to do yet. The doctors have let them stay home for the holidays, but they will be here next week to talk to the doctors and figure out what to do for here on out. My thought and prayers go out to him and there family. Gibby's mom said Gibby is fine and runs around like nothing is going on, he does complain a little about stomach aches, but other then that she said he is acting normal. That is what is so scary about this disease. You just never know. Well I am happy Antonio is doing so well. I can take the aches and pains. I just don't know if I could handle it if he relapsed. Gibby's parents are so strong, along with all the other families who have to go through this.

Please keep them in your prayers.
Thank you

Olivia

Monday, December 19, 2005 9:33 PM CST

Hello everyone! I got Antonio's results today and all his scans are negative. There are a few problems though. Although everything is negative his bone marrow test was a little off so we are going back in a month for some more tests. He also has so sort of fluid in his pelvic area. No sign of disease though. So we will be back in Seattle in a month instead of 3 months. The doctor said she isn't very concerned about the bone marrow and fluid. She just wants us to come back to do a few little tests. So I guess I am happy, but still a little concerned. I would like everything to be clear and normal, but at least all the tests were negative for cancer.

He has a kidney test tomorrow and has his tubes put in on Wednesday. Hopefully he will feel fine for Christmas. I am sure he will.

Saturday we went to my Auntie Anna's for the annual Christmas party. (Cathy we missed you) Antonio was all excited. We have talked about Santa for a couple of weeks now and I told him Santa would be at the party. Well Antonio wants a Spiderman bike for x-mas. When Santa came into Auntie Anna’s house Antonio was so excited, but when Santa gave him his little gift, he looked so sad and not happy. Then after Santa said goodbye Antonio asked my mom if x-mas was over. I felt so sad cause he thought Santa forgot his bike. It was so cute, but sad too. I explained that Santa would be here in 7 days. I made a little count down thing so he will know when Santa comes. I think he is okay with it now.

Antonio has virtual Christmas tree!

The Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation is asking everyone to give up lunch for one day and donate the money to Neuroblastoma research.
When you make your donation of only $5 Antonio's virtual tree will get some decorations and he will be entered into a prize draw for a trip to Disneyland. Please make your donations at the following site.
https://www.lunchforlife.org/donate.aspx

Antonio's giving tree # is 17342. If you add this number when you donate it will give Antonio a bonus ornament.

This money goes specifically toward Neuroblastoma research, which is severely under funded.

Thank you so much.

Love

Olivia

Friday, December 16, 2005 1:59 AM CST

Hello everyone! Antonio is doing pretty well. He has the normal cough and runny nose, other then that he is fine. He is on winter break from school now. So we are just going to enjoy the holidays. Tomorrow we are going to make x-mas cookies. He is all excited about that. We did scans last week and we get results on Monday. So keep us in your prayers please.

With Antonio having had such a rare cancer there are not many families I know with the same type of cancer as him. There are only about 10 families that I know of here in Seattle, (there might be more I just haven't heard of them) I only know a few of those families personally. Two of the families lost there son's last year. One is still battling to get to remission, and one is doing good and in remission for a year now. The other family that I know I am pretty close to. Gibby is a 5-year-old little boy that was diagnosed about a month after Antonio. I talked to his mom a lot during treatment and still do on the phone. Her son also had scans last week and unfortunaly his scans came back positive. It is just heartbreaking. I feel like me and her were a team last year. We went through everything together. Gibby and Antonio went through the same chemos at the same time, transplants at the same time and radiation at the same time. Although it has been about six months since treatment has been over we still keep in contact. We call each other of support and just the aftermath of all the treatment. I was so sad to hear of his relapse. They say there isn't a lot you can do after you relapse, but I know that family will fight hard the whole way. Please pray for this family. They are going through such a difficult time, I can't even imagine.

Thank you all for the support. We love you all.

Love

Olivia

Tuesday, December 6, 2005 7:37 PM CST

Hello everyone. Today was the start of Antonio's scans. Today he had a ct scan and his injection for his MIBG scan. He did so well. He goes back Thursday, then on the 19th, 20th and 21st. Thursday he will be put to sleep for his MIBG scan and bone marrow aspiration. The 19th is the results of scans, then the 20th is his kidney test, the 21st he has to get tubes in his ears.
He is going to miss alot of school, but he needs to get all this done.

I hate scan week, he has it stretched over three weeks. Just more weeks for me to worry about. Today he was complaining about his lower back hurting and his neck hurting. Also when we were at the doctors he wouldn't walk cause his legs hurt. It is so weird that he complains about this stuff hurting when scans come around. The most common place to relapse is in his neck, spine, legs, and stoacke area. All places Antonio has been complaining about. I think I look to much into it. I have a feeling everything is fine and maybe he just complains cause we are at the doctors again and he feels like he has to say something is wrong. I don't know.

Well please keep him in you prayers and thank you for your support.

olivia

Thursday, November 24, 2005 11:41 AM CST

Hello everyone. Sorry it has been so long. Antonio is doing okay. He is still constantly sick. Running nose, bad cough the same as usual. I am hoping that next month when he gets his tubes in his ears he will be feeling better.

It is almost that time for scans. I am already scared. I hate when this time comes cause I am always so stressed. I worry so much. That is why I always count the days till they are done and over with. I feel like everything is going to be fine, but there is always that chance that things could go wrong. That is what sucks about the whole thing. I only worry cause little things happen that make me worried. Like he gets fevers for no reason. He complains about his legs hurting, and he doesn't always want to eat. He is only 36 lbs. When he has diagnosed last year in March he weighed 35 lbs. So he is just at the weight he was when he first got sick and he has been the same 36 lbs for 3 months. Some days he just doesn't want to eat. Sometimes days at a time he won't eat much, then other days he eats a lot.

In about two weeks he will have a CT scan, MIBG scan, Kidney test, EKG, Bone Marrow aspiration, and the usual blood draws and lab tests. It has been almost three months since we have seen the Oncologist. Longest ever. Antonio is so good when it comes to his scans. He loves the CT scan cause when we first went to the hospital last year. I told him there is a cat that goes round and round. So he lays so still and just watches the "cat" go round and round. He is so cute. When he has to have his blood drawn he just puts his arm out, not scared at all he just always says "mama hold my hand” and of course I do. The only trouble he has is being put to sleep for the MIBG and Bone Marrow. He struggles to stay a wake and it always makes me so sad. The kidney test is a 5 hour-long test. Not the greatest test, but we get to hang out at the hospital and play in the playroom and visit nurses. I always love visiting the nurses. They are like our second family. They made things a little bit easier when we stayed there. The EKG test is fast and we just watch a movie.

So that is what our schedule will be in a couple weeks. It is bittersweet cause I like to see the doctors, nurses, and everyone that helps, but you know deep down I wish he was all-better and we would never have to go again. We will have to go back every three months for another year, and then it will switch to every six months. Then so on.

So enough about the medical stuff. Antonio is doing great in school. I had a conference with "Teacher Tamra” That is what he calls her. She told me he is doing very well in school. He is advanced in counting and colors. (I would like to think it is from hours and hours of watching Blues Clues over and over at the hospital) She told me he is very popular and all the girls love him. How cute is that:)
She said he listens very well and can follow multiple tasks.

As for me, I am almost done with my extern. Then I will stay at home for a while and watch my niece and nephew. I am going to try and find a part time job. I am going to send my resume to some places, but not try too hard until after the holidays. I miss the kids very much. I want to spend the holidays playing and enjoying Antonio and all the excitement of Christmas. He is so excited. We saw Santa already at the mall (he came really early this year) we are going back for pictures on Saturday.

I almost forgot Antonio is about 90otty trained. I am so happy about that. I thought he was going to be in diapers forever. So YEAH ANTONIO!

So now that all you are updated I will try and write as soon as I can. I will let you all know the exact dates for scans and stuff. Please keep him in your prayers. We love you all.

Love

Olivia

PS

Happy Thanksgiving

Saturday, November 5, 2005 10:52 PM CST

Saturday, November 05, 07:51 PM olivia
Hello everyone. Sorry it has been so long since I have updated, but that usually is good cause nothing really big has been going on. Antonio is doing so well. He is still sick alot, but just with colds and coughs. He is loving school so much. He went on his first field trip last Thursday. He went to see a play "the ugly duckling" My mom went with him cause I am doing my extern so I couldn't get the time off. He really liked the play. I was really glad my mom went cause I wanted to make sure he was okay. I have had a really hard time adjusting. With me working full time and hardly seeing Antonio it has been so hard. I feel like I miss everything. I miss him so much during the day. I have been so use to staying home with him and spending all day with him. Now we wake up really early so I can take him to the babysitter and go to work. He has done a really good job adjusting.

He has to have tubes put in his ears. His ears are all messed up from the chemo and ng tube. He has had the same ear infection for over 4 months. It just comes and goes. So it will be nice to have that done. His health I think is doing okay. He is sick alot. I do worry alot, but I know it is cold season. He goes back for scans in December. I keep praying that everything will stay geed for us. I worry cause he has dark circles under his eyes, bruises very easily, and has fevers but I have to remember that it has only been a year since his transplant and it takes years for his body to be back to normal. So I just watch him closely.

Well I am very happy right now. I have finally finished school. I won't be able to walk until next April cause they only have graduation twice a year. I probably won't walk cause it is so far away. I will just pick up my diploma when I am done with my extern. So everything in going great just a few problems, but nothing we can't handle. Thanks to everyone who still checks up on Antonio. We love you all.

love

olivia

Monday, October 17, 2005 11:53 AM CDT

Antonio is doing wonderful. We had his party on Saturday. It was a wonderful celebration of life. Thank you to everyone who came.

Antonio's health is doing pretty well. He has a constant ear infection, but it doesn't bother him. He has to go to the ENT on the 27th. I'm not sure what they can do, but maybe they will put tubes in his ears. Other then that his health is really good. He doesn't have a cold or anything right now.

Today he gets to start taking the bus. I am so sad about that, but it is going to be a lot easier since I don't have a car and am always trying to find him a way to school. So now they will pick him up right outside our house. Of course grandma and I are going to follow the bus for the first day. He is getting so big. Tomorrow he has school pictures. I can't wait to see them when he gets them back. Hopefully he will smile big.

I am all done with school now. I never thought I would be able to finish, but I am done. I have an interview today to hopefully start my externship. I am excited and nervous at the same time.

Well I know I don't write that much, but that usually means everything is doing good. Thank you again to everyone who came to the party and thank you for all our thoughts and prayers throughout that past year in a half. we love you all.

Love

Olivia

Tuesday, October 11, 2005 1:17 AM CDT

Antonio is doing great. He is pretty much all better from his cold. He is still loving school. We went to a play group on Friday. It was fun I was able to see what he does in school. He showed me everything that he does in school it was very cute to watch him show me everything. He was very proud and so was I. We haven't done a whole lot lately. Today we went to the Pike Place Market to meet with Pat a friend from Illinois. We had lunch with he sister and mother. Antonio had a lot of fun down there. There was so much to see. It was very fun. We are now just getting ready for his celebration this weekend. I am so excited to celebrate this. It is so wonderful. Well I hope to see everyone this weekend.

Monday, October 3, 2005 5:14 PM CDT

Antonio is doing pretty well. He is sick right now, but that never slows him down. I fianlly took him to the doctor this morning. He has an ear infection and a virus. He is now on antibiotics. He didn't go to school today, but will be back tomorrow. He was sick all weekend. His friend is visiting from Wisconsin and he went to Chuck E. Cheese with him on Saturday, when he came home he had a fever of 102.5. I called his friends dad and asked how he acted while there and he said he was running around and never complained of anything. He hasn't been eating a whole lot lately. So we are just taking things one day at a time. He is going to an Ear, Nose and Throat Dr. at the end of the month to figure out what is going on with his ears.

Antonio is all excited about halloween. Everytime we go to the store he sees the Halloween stuff he freaks out and just loves it all. He is going to be Eeyore for Halloween. My niece is going to be Piglet and My nephew is going to be Winnie the Pooh. It is going to be so cute.

I will be done with school next Monday. I can't believe that I am almost done. I remember when I started I didn't think I would be able to do it. Well I am scared and excited at the same time. I just am looking for an extern. Then I will be done.

Well I will keep you all posted on everything. I hope you all can make it on the 15th at 3pm for the celebration of Antonio being in remission.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005 1:36 AM CDT

Hello everyone. Antonio is doing great. He has adjusted to school. Last Thursday when we got there he didn't cry. He has a little friend and when he saw him he was so good and just lined up against the wall with him and they walked into class together. I teared up cause I was waiting for him to cry and he didn't. As he walked towards his classroom he kept looking back and I kept thinking are you going to cry and run back to me, but nope he didn't so I cried a little. He loves school now. All weekend he kept saying can I go to school. It was cute.

We went bowling over the weekend. It was fun. He has been asking me to go cause he found a picture of us bowling last year. So we went Saturday and it was the slowest game ever. My sister and nephew went and so did Antonio's other grandma. Izaac and Antonio could barely get the ball down the lane it was funny. Antonio started to kick the ball, which didn't go far cause the ball is heavy and he doesn't kick that hard. I don't know how many times I asked for soembody to get the ball cause it was stuck in the middle of the lane. We got to the 7th frame and gave up cause the kids were getting tired. It was very fun. I got pictures I just need to get them developed.

Antonio has been sick lately. Some kind of virus or flu. He hasn't hardly anything for the past couple days, he still has a really bad cough, and his nose is running and nasty. I think I might take him in if it doesn't get better soon. They always say they can't do anything for a virus so I am just watching him closely.

I am going to have a party for Antonio on the 15th of October to celebrate him being in remission for a full year now. YEAH and for the one year anniversary of his stem cell transplant. They say it is like your second birthday so I want to celebrate it and to thank everyone for there support. You all have been by our side since day one and know one will ever know how much that means to me. If you have any questions you can e-mail me. It will be at my parents house at 3pm. So please come and join us for the celebration and food and please don't bring any gifts or anything, antonio has tons of stuff. Just come to have fun.
I will be sending out invatations this week.

I love you all so much.

love
olivia

Thursday, September 22, 2005 0:30 AM CDT

Antonio is doing pretty good. He started preschool Monday. The first day was fine he had fun and didn't even cry when I dropped him off. Yesreday and today was a little harder. He cried and didn't want to go. I had to be strong and push him to go, I felt bad cause he was crying, but as soon as he got in class he was fine.

Yesterday a friend asked me "how is your kid?" and as I started explaining to him how he is it hit me, we are both doing so well. I said Antonio has started preschool, we just found out his scans are still clear and that he has now been in remission for a year. Saying it all in order just felt weird, but great at the same time. It is all true though he is doing so great and I only have 2 weeks left of school and then I will be working (hopefully). Our lives are finally starting to get back to normal and I am starting to feel good about everything. We don't have to go back to the doctors for 3 months. He still has speech and PT, but we don't have to drive way out to Seattle to go to Children's. It is going to be nice. Sometimes I think it is a long time to go without going to the doctor, but she told me I can always call and make an appointment whenever I feel like it, so if I think Antonio has to go we will go.

So right now I will finish school and Antonio will continue to go to preschool. I think it will take a while for him to get use to it. I know he loves it when he gets in class. His teacher said he listens very well and enjoys the other kids in class. Today he was so excited to show me this little picture book of all the kids in his class. He has his picture on the front and a picture of each kid in his class in the middle. It is so cute. well I will try and update as often as I can.

love

olivia

Friday, September 16, 2005 1:24 PM CDT

Antonio's scans are all clean. There is no evidence of any disease. I feel so much better. Antonio on the other hand is sick. He has a virus. The other night he had a fever of 101.5 and was not feeling well at all. He has a bad cough and a sore throat. Hopefully he will be better by Monday cause that is when he starts school. He is so excited about that. Thank you all so much for all the thoughts and prayers. We love you all very much.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005 11:39 PM CDT

Antonio is doing pretty good. We are half way done with scan week. I can never do anything scan week. I have anxiety attacks all week and can't focus on anything. I am always relieved when it is over and everything is okay. It always sucks cause they make his appointments in the afternoon and that means he can't eat anything all morning. It is torture to him and me as well cause I have to be with a cranky 4 year old all morning and I have to find excuses on why he can't eat cause he doesn't really understand. Today was the last of his scans, now he has his echo and rest of his appointments on Friday. Tomorrow is a break YEAH! They put him to sleep today for his MIBG scan and Bonemarrow aspiration. He was so cranky when he woke up. He cried all the way home and whined forever. He was driving me so crazy. While we were walking to the car he was hitting me,then he was throwing things in the car and he has a new car seat that is like a booster seat, well he kept undoing the seat belt. I was so mad I had to get off the freeway to buckle him back up. I was a nervous wreck. He always acts up when he is put to sleep. I hate it so much. I don't blame him cause he goes so long without food and then he is poked and forced to go to sleep. I would be mad too, although he doesn't have to be so mean. Well that is all done and over with for another 3 months. Well I will let you all know how rest the week goes. Please keep him in your prayers. Thank you all very much.

Love

olivia

Friday, September 9, 2005 0:38 AM CDT

Hello everyone! Antonio is back from camping. He had so much fun. We went to his preschool this week. He loves it so much. He will start on the 19th. I am having a hard time with it, but I know he will love it and I will get over it. He started speech and pt this week too. Last time we went he didn't finish his speech test cause he gave up and threw a fit and didn't even try to listen during his pt. Well i figured it was because I was there and well I was right. They took him all by himself and he did wonderful. He listened and did everything they wanted him to do. I guess its a mom thing, cause my mom told me I did the same thing. I think I spoil him to much and let him get away with stuff. But i guess it is good he listens well for others. Next week he starts his scans. I think everything is going to be okay. He hasn't been really sick for a while. Every once in a while I get so scared. Some days he falls more then others, other days he will complain of his legs hurting, or his tummy sometimes even his chest. There is always something that bothers him, but I think its all just kid things. I do pay attention a lot more then any one else would, but who blames me for that. Everyday I wake up and am amazed of how much life he has in him. I look at him and find it so hard to believe he was ever sick. He has so much energy. I am just so happy we are at this point. He has been in remission for almost a year now. I am so happy for that. Well can everyone please say a special prayer for antonio and pray that everytihing goes okay next week. thank you so much.

love

olivia

Saturday, September 3, 2005 2:01 PM CDT

I miss Antonio, he is off camping with my parents. I feel like I am going crazy without him. It is extemely quiet, and just weird without anybody here. I decided to stay home this weekend and have the quiet time and rest before his scans that are coming up in about a week. We haven't really done a whole lot these past couple weeks. Yesterday we went to the preschool for his evaluation. It went so well. He went with the teacher and did all his testing, while I sat and talked to the nurse about his health problems. I told the whole story of what happened and all the stuff he has been through and when I explain it all it just seems like too much. Antonio loved his school, he really loved the play ground. I go back on Tuesday for the results of his testing, then they will tell me when he will start. I'm nervous, they asked me "do you want him to ride the bus" I said I know he would love that so much, but I will give him a ride. I have a hard time handling that he is getting so big. I will cry like a baby when he starts school. I might let him take the bus after awhile. I think I feel like if I let him take the bus by himself, it will mean I have to let go of him and he will have to be a big boy and do things on his own. He does things on his own here, but it's like he's going out in the world and I will be left behind, plus I have been with him non-stop since he has been sick the only time I leave him is when I go to school at night. So I think I am going to have to be a big girl and try very hard to be strong cause I know he will love school and experiencing new things, and people. I am happy for him.

He starts his speech therapy and PT Tuesday. Then the week of the 12th he starts his scans. Not a week I am looking forward to. The weeks before scans and scan wek and just stressful for me. I don't think I can even explain the anxiety that I get, it's horrible. I worry so much and freak out. All for good reasons though, I hate that it could be either way everytime. I always get terrified that they are going to tell me that it is back, I can't even explain how that feels. The whole week of scans I feel like someone is squeezing my heart so hard and when they tell me everything is fine, it is such a huge sigh if relief. well now that I have rambled on (can't you tell I'm bored) I have this poem I got from a friend and it was also on the NB list:



To My Child
Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh
when I feel like crying.
Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and
smile and say how perfect it is.
Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up
and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you
teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer
off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles..
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when
you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he
comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when
you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are
concerned.
Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't
stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a
Happy Meal so you can have both toys..
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about
how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch
and count all the stars.
Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my
favorite TV shows.
Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I
will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.
I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their
missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's
graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in
hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming
inside that they can't handle it anymore.
And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little
longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing,
except one more day..............

Tuesday, August 23, 2005 10:09 AM CDT

Antonio is doing pretty well. His cold that he had is still kinda there and he has a small cough. Nothing to slow him down though. He has been playing very hard outside. He has discovered the dirt, it has always been there, but he is now playing in it and getting filthy everyday. Which is fine with me cause as long as he's happy I don't care. Last week was a hard week for me. The doctors appointment was very stressful for me, but I am trying hard to deal with all that. I think they are just being really careful with him. I called to sign him up for preschool last week, but with all the stuff that he has been through they want him to go to a special preschool where he will get more attention. At first I was upset that he couldn't go to regular preschool, but at this preschool he will have extra attention and there will only be a couple kids in a class instead of 20kids. They want to work on his speech and let him catch up then he can go to a regular school hopefully when he starts kindergarden. He starts speech and pt on September 7th. Well until then there isn't a whole lot we will be doing, he starts scans on September 12th. This weekend we are going to the birthday farm again. I haven't told Antonio yet, but I know he will be happy. It is an actual birthday party so there will be lots of little Girls I guess Antonio will be the only boy cause the birthday girl only wants girls, except Antonio. How cute is that. Well everyone have a wonderful week.

love

olivia

ps. Please say a little prayer for my mom's cousins Greg and Skip and there families there mother passed away last week. Then Jamie who is a little boy who is not doing well at all and only has a week or two to live. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 10:36 AM CDT

Hello everyone. Antonio is doing okay. He hasn't been feeling very great lately, but is somewhat okay. We went to the doctor yesterday. I was really hoping everything was going to be alright, just cause I feel like he is doing really well. Well, Antonio complains of his tummy hurting daily. So he is going to see a gastroneurologist, for his stomach pain. He still has his ear infection in his left ear, he has had it now for about two in a half months, so he has to go see a Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. Then he has said to me a couple times in the fast month that his Heart hurts, now I have know idea why he would say that. He has never said anyting about his heart before and I thought it was really weird, so the doctor listened to him and wants him to have an echocardiograph. Then just recently he has grown a mole on his arm, it is very dark and doesn't really look right so he has to see a dermatologist. I went in yesterday thinking everything was just fine and now we have a list of New doctors to see. It will never be over I guess. The aftermath of Chemo is just horrible. There are years and years of side effects. You get all happy when treatment is over, then all this stuff starts to happen. It feels like he is falling apart on the inside, but on the outside he is perfectly fine. With everything that the doctor said yesterday, my heart is hurting now. I really want things to be normal for Antonio, he should be starting preschool this fall, but I don't even know if I can put him in preschool. I feel like he has so many health problems that I probably will have a hard time functioning myself when he is away from me. I'm sure he will be fine while he is in preschool, but I will be wondering the whole time if his tummy is hurting, or if he is feeling alright. Well I guess I will have to worry about that when it comes. He should start next month, but I will have to wait proabaly until October cause he has scans next month and alot of appointments so I am going to wait. We still need to do the potty training thing too. He is getting closer and closer though. I can't wait for him to be potty trained, I am so tired of changing diapers. He has such long legs it is just crazy. Well I will let everyone know how things go as they come. I hope eveyone has a wonderful week.

love

olivia

PS I added some new pictures in the photo album

Tuesday, August 9, 2005 11:18 AM CDT

Hello everyone! Antonio is doing pretty well. He has a start of a cold I think, his nose is running and has a little cough. He still is running around though. We celebrated his birthday over the weekend. There were so many people at his birthday party. I rented a huge bounce house. It was fun I even jumped in it. Antonio and his little friend Michael were wrestling around and fell in the bounce house and Antonio got a big fat lip and Michael has Antonio's teeth marks on his forehead. After that happened Antonio wanted to go to his room and go to bed. Every time he is hurt or something doesn't go his way he wants to go to bed. It took a long time for us to convince him to come out. I finally said you want to look at your presents? He said No, but I said just look and if you want you can go back after, well as soon as he saw the presents he wanted to open them. He is so cute cause he remembers his party last year so well that he wanted this one the same way, but he said he wouldn't cry. So we opened his presents outside and then had his Blues Clues Cake outside too and there was no crying. Last year he was cranky and almost dropped the cake and it was horrible. This year was so great, he already wants another one. I will probably have a little get together next month to celebrate a year from transplant cause they say it's like a second birthday and to celebrate him being in remission for a year. WOW isn't that crazy. This year has gone by so fast. Antonio has been pretty healthy all year, well besides all those nasty colds and flu's. He has been pretty good lately though.

Yesterday Antonio went to the Mariner's game. He went with my mom, dad, my aunt, uncle, and cousins. He had so much fun. I couldn't go cause I had a test that I couldn't miss. Next Monday Antonio goes back to the doctor it has been about a month since we have been to Children's. It is just a check up. I will let you all know how it goes. Well I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Love

Olivia

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 3:43 PM CDT

Antonio is 4 years old now. It is absolutely amazing to me. Last year at this time I had know idea what was going to happen. I was scared and worried that he might not make it to be 4 so I am extremely happy and amazed on how well Antonio is. He went through months and months of chemo, plus surgeries, and radiation and just about a year of pain. He still has his aches and pains, but we can deal with that.

He was very excited yesterday. He woke up to a living room full of gifts. He got a baseball set, kids patio set, clothes, fishing pole, Mario kart for his game boy, cash register set, and lots of little stuff. Then we took him outside and he got a quad and gas station play toy. Thanks to the Dr. Johnson's office in Colorado. They sent lots of money for him to get the quad and gas station set. He loved everything. Then we went to the zoo. He loved all the animals. At one point we were waiting for grandpa and grandma. My sister and I were talking and there was this ugly big bird that flew down from the trees. It had its feet bound and was walking around. Well Antonio found it interesting and tries to get up and chase it. We told him not to touch the bird cause it might bite. I have know idea if it was suppose to be loose or not. Well Antonio tried a couple times and we stopped him. Then we turned around for a second and then when I turned back around Antonio was hitting the bird. I freaked out. The bird spread its wings and opened its mouth wide and came towards Antonio. We screamed and everything was fine. The bird just kind of walked away. My heart was racing and my sister's too. We walked the other way and as we were walking people were telling there kids to stay away cause the bird almost attacked a little boy. It was crazy. Antonio thought it was funny. Well after the zoo we went to the Family Fun Center. That was very fun. Antonio played games and rode on the go-carts and bumper boats. It was very fun. It was a very long day, but very fun. Antonio had a very good birthday I think.

Today he started speech therapy. He just looked at some books and said what was on each page. Nothing very hard, but he still got tired after about 15 minutes and stopped trying. He is very stubborn. I think he will get better in time. I hope at least.

For me now I am at the point where I feel everything is going good for us. I am almost done with school. I am staying home with Antonio during the day and baby-sit my niece and nephew. I enjoy just spending time with them. I do want to go back to work and stuff, but I am going to wait a few months. Antonio will starting going to speech and physical therapy once a week, hopefully they can both be on the same day. So we are just going to take one day at a time and enjoy every moment.

Love

Olivia

Monday, July 24, 2005 10:15pm

Today was a wonderful day. A lady at school has some horses and we went to the farm and rode them. Antonio had a wonderful time. He was so excited. We saw goats, a pony, a donkey, chickens, bunnies, cats, dogs, and lots of big horses. He had so much fun (so did I) I got some pictures and will put them on the site when I get them. Antonio was a little cowboy. It is actually a birthday farm and people have parties there. They had cowboy hats, cowboy boots and chaps. Antonio wore them all if you could of all been there it was so cute. He loved the billy goats he followed one around for a long time. It was so special he loves animals so much. We also went to Renton River days this weekend. We saw the parade and went to the fair. Antonio liked the parade, but was cranky by the time we got to the fair. He did however cheer up when we went to see the little animal farm there. They had some goats, and little pigs and chickens and ducks. he loved it. I guess we kinda had a weekend full of animals. I was very fun. Antonio's birthday is in about a week in a half and I am so excited. I have his party all planned. Everyone in my family says he is spoiled, I really don't care though cause he's my only child and he has gone threw hell and back and deserves to be spoiled for a day. I am renting a huge bouncer for all the kids to jump in and am going to have games and stuff. I was going to have a clown too, but I am not sure yet. Whoever wants to come is more then welcome. It is August 6th at 2pm email me if you have any questions. Well I have had a long day and Antonio is already passed out so I will update on Wednesday to let you know how his physical therapy went.

Love

Olivia

Tuesday, July 19, 2005 0:03 AM CDT

Antonio is doing alright. We went to the doctors today and he has an inner ear infection. Something new to add to the list. He hasn't really complained of any pain. He hasn't really wanted to eat anything for the past couple days. I got all his test results back. They all are good. No cancer. His Kidney test came back abnormal. It isn't failing, but the levels are low. They should be in the 80's, but are in the low 60's. He doesn't need dialysis or anything. They are going to keep an eye on his blood work, and watch everything. He only has one kidney so they will monitor it closely. It makes me nervous a little, but I would much rather worry about that then his cancer coming back. He is going to start physical therapy and speech therapy in a few weeks. I am also going to try and put him in swim lessons. He loves the pool and I figure he needs to learn. Well we don't have to go to Children's for a month. It will be nice. Antonio's PT and speech are close to my house so it will be reall nice not to have to sit in traffic. Right now we are planning Antonio's birthday. He is excited. Well thank you all for the support and prayers. We love you all.

Love

Olivia

Thursday, July 14, 2005 7:00 PM CDT

Today Antonio had a kidney test. It was so long we were there from 7:45am till 3:15pm. That test is so long, but we made it fun, we went to the playroom and played with about every toy. Izaac's surgery went well, he still is having trouble breathing so they are keeping him for a couple more days. He is in so much pain, but they have him on good meds so he sleeps alot. I get all of Antonio's test results on Monday. I will let you all know as soon as I find out. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

love

olivia

Tuesday, July 12, 2005 11:17 PM CDT

Hello everyone. Just a quick update. Antonio is doing alright, he still has a bad cough, but other then that he is fine. I want to ask everyone to keep my nephew Izaac in their thoughts and prayers. He has emergency surgery tomorrow to have his tonsils and adnodes taken out. It is a very sudden thing and just pray the surgery is going to be fine. He is only one years old and very young to have surgery like that. He has sleep apnea (stops breathing when he sleeps) They are in the hospital for a couple days. They have started monitoring him and while he was taking a nap this afternoon his oxygen level dropped to 68 when it should be 100. The nurses had to wake him to get his oxygen up again. It was kinda scary. Please keep them in your prayer and I will update you all tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 6, 2005 12:46 AM CDT

Antonio is doing okay. He is sick again, he has a horrible cough. I didn't really get the scans yet. I looked at our schedule and we don't have an appointment until July 18th, I couldn't wait that long so I called yesterday and I talked to his nurse practitioner, she couldn't really let me know everything cause she is not a doctor, but from what she can see everything is fine. So I feel a little better. Scans drive me crazy, I feel depressed for weeks, and have anxiety attacks, it is horrible. As soon as they are done with his scans and I know all is well I feel better. He has a kidney test on the 14th, that test is so long, but hopefully he isn't sick and we can visit nurses and play in the playroom. Antonio's birthday is right around the corner, I am so excited. Last year I had a huge party for him cause we thought it might be his last one, but he has fought the odds so far and is still here and I am so happy. I am going to have another huge party. Everyone who wants to come is welcome. It will be August 6th around 2pm. I will send invitations out. He is very excited about his birthday. He wants a Blues Clues party. He talks about it all the time. Last year for his birthday we had a blues clues cake and he wasn't feeling very well and tired and when it came to doing the cake he was crying and not happy, so he keeps telling me he isn't going to cry. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We are both so lucky to have such great people around us. We love you all.

Love Always,

Olivia

Thursday, June 30, 2005 12:21 AM CDT

Antonio is doing pretty good. Yesterday he had the last of his scans. He was put under for a long time, they told me it would be about an hour in a half, but for some reason they needed to to extra films and he was under alot longer then that. I don't know why they needed extra pictures, it always make me nervous. I am going to try and stay positive. He was up until 4:30am, he got all messed up cause he was asleep all day. I hope everyone has a wondeful weekend and a fun 4th. Antonio and I were in the hospital last year so this year, we plan on haivng a really fun one. On Sunday we are going to emerald downs (a horse racing track) for a big firework show, then we still haven't figured out what we are going to do on the 4th, but I know he will have fun. We get the results on Tuesday so I will post them.

Thursday, June 23, 2005 0:59 AM CDT

Antonio is doing so much better. I actually hate to write that or say it cause it seems like everytime I say things are well, he usually ends up sick again. He is actually doing really well right now, he is over his cold, but has a cough, but nothing ever seems to slow him down. He will start his MIBG scans on Monday and have rest the scans on the 29th. These scans have lasted all month; it has been very stressful. When I went to the doctors last week the doctor told me about Antonio's CT scans and all was well, she also talked to me about what is next. Well as you all know he is done with treatment, but we still have to have lots of follow-ups. She made sure to let me know that Antonio is not out of the clear. He still has a very high chance to relapse. She explained that he can relapse at anytime and to be aware of that cause he may look great and be feeling good, but he can still relapse. The type of cancer he had is very aggressive and can come on very fast. Just like it was a shock when we first found out, it came so suddenly. Now is she trying to scare me, I don't think so, I think she just wants me to know so that I am not completely shocked and probably so I won't yell at her, if something bad does happen. I trust her completely, and have so much confidence in Children’s Hospital. We have to go once a month of six months, and then we will go every 3 months for two years, then who knows after that. So we still have years and years of visits. I think I will have the anxiety for years and years, but as long as he's here and doing well in my eyes, I will deal with it. I will let you all know how the scans turn out. Please keep him in your prayers. Thank you all for your support

Monday, June 13, 2005 5:44 PM CDT

Well Antonio has a sinus infection and an ear infection in both ears. So some of his scans have been canceled. They will do them starting June 27th. His other scans show nothing though so that is good news.

Tuesday, June 7, 2005 2:05 PM CDT

This past week has been a little stressful. Antonio is sick again. It makes me worried though. He has been complaining of eye pain and his eyes are draining nasty stuff. He is very restless and freaks out when he wakes up cause his eyes are kinda glued shut with the nasty stuff and he can't see. I'm not sure what it is. We went yesterday to start his scans. They cancelled some of them cause he doesn't look very well so they don't want to put him to sleep. We went and say the doctor and she said he looked fine. At that time he did, they didn't do anything, but give him some eye drops. When we were there his eyes weren't draining and he was all hyper and she thought he was fine. She told me to just watch it. He has dark circles around his eyes, and his nose is stuffy, I think maybe he has a sinus infection. I am going to take him to the doctor again tomorrow if he still isn't looking good. I am kinda mad at the doctor cause all she did was look at his eyes. They didn't do any tests. So we have to wait a week or so to finish his tests. I did get his Ct scans back and all is well. So that is good. I have been stressing out lately I hate scans cause you never know what can happen. On top of all that stress I was in a kinda freak accident and my car got totalled. All water damage. It's a long story and I'm just glad that I am ok and that Antonio was not with me. Well the best thing that happened in the past week is we got to meet Pat and her family. We met her through Make A Child Smile Org. She has been sending Antonio cards and gifts for months now. Well her sister lives here in Washington and we were able to meet. It was very special. We went to the park and had lunch. She made Antonio a beautiful blanket, he loves it. She is from Illinois so she traveled a long way and we were so glad to meet her. Well I will let everyone know how the rest of his scans go. Please keep him in your prayers.

Wednesday, June 1, 2005 7:26 PM CDT

Antonio is doing great. We went camping over the weekend and he had so much fun. He rode the quads around and his jeep. He did get home sick though, he kept saying "I want to go to grandmas house." He played with his cousins and threw rocks in the river. He had a lot of fun. Today we went back to the doctors and I am happy to say that Antonio is all through with treatment. YEAH! He has his scans again next week. We were finally able to visit the nurses. I was so happy. I even got to see Megan she was our very first nurse. When I saw her I had tears in my eyes, I was trying so hard not to cry. We have gone through so much, and the nurses had become part of our family each and every one of them are special to me. I love them all for taking care of my little guy. Well nothing really going on, Antonio starts his scans on June 6th and we will get results on June 13th. Everybody please pray that all goes well. Thank you.

love

olivia

Friday, May 20, 2005 3:24 PM CDT

Antonio is doing great. He has been feeling pretty good lately. He hasn't been coughing of anything for about a week now. He no longer has the flu. He is on his last dose of accutane YEAH! It is going to be a little weird not giving him any medacine. We haven't been doing a whole lot lately. Nikki started working again, so I am babysitting the kids. So we just hang out at home all day. It's a little tough taking care of three kids all under the age of three. I love it though. My sister helped me out so much last year, She and Izaac came to the hospital everyday. She came all the time and stayed with Antonio so I could take a shower and stuff. She is so wonderful. Izaac spent his first year mostly at the hospital. Well Antonio does have scans in two weeks. So please say a special prayer for him.

Monday, May 9, 2005 0:33 AM CDT

Antonio is doing okay. He has been having some tummy pain lately. He is doing a little better, but hasn't been eating very well. We go back to the doctor a week from Monday. If his tummy is still hurting during the week I think I'll bring him in. The doctors checked him out last week, but all his tests came back negative. So that is good. He has been having diarrhea so maybe it is just a stomach flu. He has been very touchy lately. He has been cranky and mean for the past week and he isn't even on accutane. Hopefully he will be feeling better soon and hopefully it's nothing big just a little flu. Well I'm sorry I don't update very often. I will try more. I hope all you Mother's had a Wonderful Mother's day. Mine was wonderful.

Saturday, April 30, 2005 4:12 PM CDT

Antonio is doing well. He still has a little cough, but it doesn't slow him down. He has been just playing with his puppy and enjoying his time at home. Everyday he tells me he wants to go to school. I told him as soon as you go to the bathroom in the toilet, then he changes his mind and doesn't want to go to school. I am trying to train him, it's not working very well. That okay though I'm not really pushing him, I figure he has been through enough I'm going to let him do it on his own time. He has to be ready himself to do it I think. We are almost done with treatment. One more month to go. It is so weird to not have to go to the doctors all the time. I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that we are almost done. I have this anxiety cause I keep thinking is it okay for him to be away from the hospital for weeks at a time. It's hard to have to deal with the reality that we are almost done and we can just try and get on with our lives. I just keep thinking about how sick he was last year and now he is doing so great. I kinda don't know what to do with myself. It's crazy how we spent month and month in the hospital and now we don't have to go hardly at all. I am so glad treatment is almost over, just a little scared though. Antonio has gone through so much. He has been so strong and brave this whole time. It amazes me. I pray everyday that this horrible thing won't come back. It's such a scary thing to think about. Well we go back to the doctors on Monday. I will let you know how everything is.

Thursday, April 21, 2005 12:10 AM CDT

Well Antonio and his puppy are doing good. Antonio has a cold again and has a bad cough. He is constantly sick. At least he is not really cranky when he's sick. He still plays and has fun. Yesterday was my birthday and Antonio was so cute. He is right at that age where he can't keep a secret. Yesterday morning there was a present on the table from Antonio. I opened it and it was a very pretty angel necklace, Antonio was like where's your shirt, well my mom and dad got me more stuff and they were waiting till last night to give them to me and Antonio just told me everything. It was so cute. The day before he was at my sisters house while I was at school and I went to visit him during my break and I came in the door and it smelled really good and Antonio was like "mama we are cooking" my sister was like Antonio sshh. (I knew they were probably making a cake for me) So Antonio didn't say anything, then he just came up to me and said, "mama we are makin a cake" It was so cute Nikki was like Antonio that was suppose to be a surprise. He is so cute. Antonio and his puppy are doing great she is so small, but her and Antonio are attached at the hip. She has such small legs and she tries to keep up with him. She chases him around and plays with him. He loves her so much. I am so glad I got her they were meant for each other. She is so good with him and he is so loving and caring with her. She sleeps with him its so cute. Well we go back to the doctor on Monday for a weight check. That really is all that is going on. I never thought that we would get this point. I am so happy he is doing so well.

Sunday, April 17, 2005 11:45 PM CDT

Well we had a busy weekend. Antonio got his hearing aids. They are loaners cause that state won't pay for them because they are not a necessity. Which makes me pretty mad cause he really needs them. So the doctors are trying to figure it out for us and we will just use the loaners for now. Antonio has been so excited all weekend cause I got him a puppy. She is so cute. Antonio loves her so much. She is so good with him too. Her name is Daisy Maisy. He likes the Dr. Suess movie/book Daisy head Maisy. So we named her Daisy Maisy. We go back to the doctors tomorrow. Antonio will start another round of accutane again. I'll let you know how everything goes tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 0:38 AM CDT

YEAH! Antonio no longer has his ng tube. I took it out on Saturday. The doctor wanted me to pull it when he was done with his antibiotic. He looks so different. I am so happy to see his beautiful face with no tube. I can't stop kissing his face. He is all excited too. I took him for his first hair cut since his hair has grown back. So he looks like a little man. Very handsome. He is suppose to get his hearing aids on Thursday, but we might have to wait cause we got a letter saying that our insurance won't cover them. I think the doctors have to appeal or something. So I'm not sure if we have to wait or not. Hopefully we don't have to wait I think we have waited long enough. I will let you all know what is going on when I find out.

Wednesday, April 6, 2005 10:43 PM CDT

Antonio is doing okay. We went to the doctors on Monday and he has an ear infection, plus that nasty flu. I was thinking about it and I'm actually glad he is sick now and not sick last year. He was very lucky last year and didn't get any colds or was hardly sick (besides the chemo) It would be so much worse if he was sick with the flu and having chemo at the same time. So I am thankful for that at least. It still sucks that he is feeling icky. Antonio wants to go to school and I asked the doctor when he could go and she wants him to wait until the fall cause he has been sick alot so far this year, and to be exposed to all the other kids wouldn't be that great. He got his braces for his feet. I only put them on for a little while each day until he gets use to them. I can pull his ng tube on Saturday if I think he's ready. His weight has maintained for the past couple of months so the doctors are going to see how he does without it. Right now he is on antibiotics for his ear infection so I'm waiting for that to be done then I'm probably going to take it out. He has had it for a year now. It's going to be weird, but so wonderful to have it be gone. I will be able to kiss his face all over. I can't wait. He's been doing okay besides all the icky stuff, he still has all the energy and is running around so that is great. He gets his hearing aids next week. So that is exciting I guess. He needs them cause his hearing is getting a little worse I think. Well I will keep in touch with you all sorry I don't write much anymore

Sunday, April 3, 2005 2:39 PM CDT

Hello everyone! I'm so sorry, but I have to cancel Antonio's party. There is so much going on this month. There are so many birthdays this month that I decided to cancel the party cause I want to make sure everyone can come to our party. Sorry. I will have it some time next month. Antonio is doing okay. He still have the flu and now he actually has symptoms. His nasty cough is back and his nose is really gross. It's starting to get better though. We go back to the doctor tomorrow and I'm going to ask for another x-ray to see if whatever is on his lung is gone. I will keep you all updated. Sorry again about the party.

Sunday, March 27, 2005 1:37 PM CST

Hello everyone! Happy Easter. Antonio is doing okay. When we went to the doctor on Monday we had to be on isolation. I asked why and they said cause he was sick before, (like a month ago) So They asked if I wanted them to do another test to see if his flu was gone. I said yeah and on Friday one of his nurses called and said Antonio still has the flu. I was shocked cause he doesn't have any symptoms. His nose has been running a little, but that icky cough has been gone for a while now. Oh well they said that their is nothing we can do. Just wait, and do another test on April 4th when we go back. Antonio has been a little cranky lately; he is on the accutane so I know why. He was excited to get his Easter basket from the Easter Bunny. We have been just relaxing at home lately. That vacation kinda drained me. All that fun was exhausting. I will never forget any of it though. I want to thank Deann and Christa for all the scrapbook stuff it is so cute and I can't wait to start. Pat thank you the book you sent Antonio he loves it. Mary and the girls in Colorado thank you so much too; you all are so sweet and kind and to everyone else thank you too. I am going to have a party on April 9th at 2pm. Everyone is invited. It is a party for everyone who has helped support us in the last year and to celebrate Antonio still being here and being strong and brave. It has been one year and it has been an amazing year. All the support we got from everyone has been so amazing; there are so many people who have taken time out of their lives to sit and pray for my little guy. Antonio has changed so many lives I think. Everyone who came and visited us while we spent countless days in the hospital. All of YOU helped me so much you will never know. There were so many days I felt lost and felt as if I just couldn’t do it all you support helped so much. Just knowing there are so many people praying and thinking of us helped. You all are so great. I will be sending invitations this coming week. I hope everyone can come. We will have dinner and snacks for all. If anyone has questions you can email me. Love you all.

Monday, March 21, 2005 4:14 PM CST

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO SEE A BUNCH OF DISNEYLAND PICTURES



Hello everyone! First off Antonio's scans are all clear YEAH! I am so happy. I look at my little angel and thank god that he let us reach this point. On Saturday it was one year since he was diagnosed. I remember feeling like my life was over last year and I was so scared for Antonio, but he has been so strong and brave and continues to fight all the way. He has been so amazing. He is so full of life. Thank you to everyone who has been praying all this time and to everyone who has been they’re to support us through the toughest year ever. You all mean so much to us. Now all about his wish trip...

It was the so fabulous. Antonio was so excited the whole time. (I was too) First when we got there we checked in and went to our room and there was a huge view of California adventure. It was so awesome. Then we went to dinner at goofy's kitchen. It was so fun. We saw Goofy, Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, Mary Poppins, and the mad hatter. Goofy came and sat with us for a long time and played with Antonio. He was so excited. He didn't even eat, there was just too much going on. The next day we woke up early and went to Disneyland. They gave us a special pass that let us gets on all the rides right away; we didn't even have to stand in the lines. Antonio went on so many rides. He loved dumbo. We went to toon town and saw Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale again. Then we went to Mickey's house and well he met Mickey. It was so wonderful. We went in a room all by ourselves and he hugged Mickey and took tons of pictures. He was so happy. It was a moment I will never forget. Then we talked to a cast member and she set up a special meeting with Donald Duck. That was so special too. Antonio waited and waited then Donald peeked his head out and was playing peek a boo with him Antonio was laughing and smiling. Then Donald came out and gave him a huge hug and kiss. It was so sweet. I even got a kiss from Donald. Antonio was just so happy the whole time. He wanted to meet Daisy Duck too, but she wasn't around. We walked around and saw so much the first day at Disneyland we decided to leave early, cause it was alot for one day.

The next day Antonio, Andrea and I decided to wake up early and go to Breakfast with Minnie, (a cast member told us that Daisy sometimes hangs out there). This was a very special breakfast for us. We saw Lilo, Stitch, Pluto, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse. (Daisy wasn't there), but it was so nice. Goofy came and played with Antonio for a long time. They played with Antonio's cars, and goofy juggled and chased him around. Minnie Mouse was wonderful. She was so sweet and gentle with Antonio she came and sat with us forever. She just held Antonio for the longest time. She cradled him for so long he looked like he was going to go to sleep. Little kids were coming up and getting autographs while she just held Antonio. We got so many pictures. It was so fun and Antonio loved the whole thing. Then we went to California Adventure and saw Playhouse Disney. We saw Jojo's circus, Stanley, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Winnie the Pooh. It was so cute. Then we went to It's a bugs life. Antonio went on all the rides there he loved it there. Then we made our way to Tower of Terror cause everyone convinced me to go on it. (Antonio did not go on this) Well on our way there we saw Belle. She gave Antonio a big kiss, then we went and met Woody it was cute Woody played with him for a little while, then we saw Mickey Mouse again and Antonio gave him a big hug again, then we met Cinderella. She also gave Antonio a big kiss. Antonio had lipstick all over his face it was so cute. It was very special we got lots of Pictures. Then I went on the tower of terror. It was fun, but scary. Then we went to ride some more kiddy rides. Antonio wanted to meet the Little Mermaid, but fell asleep. We went back to Disneyland after California Adventure Closed. We went on some more rides there and then called it a night. It was very busy for us.

The next day we went to Knotts Berry Farm. Antonio got to meet Snoopy. He liked that alot. This day was long. We went on all the kiddy rides and walked around. Antonio was kinda cranky (I think he saw so much it overwhelmed him). Towards the end of the day I started feeling sick (I have a head cold) and Antonio fell asleep at 6:30pm and I went to bed not long after he did. The last day we were there we went to Downtown Disney and did some souvenir shopping. Then went to Laguna Beach. Antonio slept most the time we were at the Beach, but it was fun. Then we came home. We had a wonderful time. It was so much fun. I have tons and tons of pictures. I put some on the site. Thank you to Make a Wish you have made my son so happy.

Love,

Olivia

Friday, March 11, 2005 0:25 AM CST

Antonio is so excited to go on Monday. Just a couple more days. Nothing much has been going on really, he had rest of his scans yesterday. We will find out the results when we come back. We have been just getting ready to go to Disneyland. We are all ready I think. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and if you have time say a couple extra prayers for Antonio, Clear Scans. We love you all and I will have tons of pictures when we come back.

Love

Olivia

Monday, March 7, 2005 3:51 PM CST

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours was a little busy, but fun. We went to my cousins Trevor's Birthday party on Saturday, on Sunday we went to Elysia's skating party, Antonio didn't really skate, but had fun. Then last night we went to dinner with our Make A Wish people and it was awesome. Antonio had fun we went to the Rain Forest Cafe. He saw all the animals ad had a wonderful time. They made it so special. They gave him all the stuff he needed for disneyland. They even gave us luggage. He got clothes, books, and other fun stuff to do while we are on the plane. At the end they had everyone come out and sing Happy Disneyland Antonio. He was so excited, he just clapped and smiled the whole time. They gave him a huge cake with mickey and minnie on it. He loved it. It was so great what they did for my little guy. Today we went to the hospital and had a bone scan, and on Wedseday he will have is MIBG scan. We will not get the results until the 21st when we get back. He is doing a lot better. He's been a little cranky, but his cough has been so much better. We are counting the days till we go to Disneyland. I will take tons of pictures so everyone can see.

love

olivia

Friday, March 3, 2005

Sorry it's been a couple days, but nothing really has happened. Antonio is starting to feel a little better. He's up and running around. He still has that nasty cough, but I think it's getting better. We went today to get his hearing aids fitted. He was very good, they had to put this mold stuff in his ear and he didn't complain at all. He will get this hearing aids on April 14th. Antonio starts rest of his scans on Monday. I have decided I don't want the results until we return from California. Although I hope everything is okay, if there is something wrong I don't want it to ruin our trip, I want the whole trip to be stress free and happy. I will get the results on the 21st.

love
olivia

Monday, February 28, 2005 11:49 PM CST

Well Antonio had his Ct scan today and it showed 1cm of something. Now the doctors are pretty sure its just cause he has the flu. I of course am worried. Its so small that even when they do the MIBG next week it could possibly not show anything. Usually if it is a tumor or some kind of growth it has to be at least 2cm or bigger to show up on a MIBG scan. Which makes no sense to me, but I guess we have to just wait. Hope for the best. It's all so stressful cause if there is something, I want to do something right away. I know they know what they are doing I just hate the wait. So hopefully next week, when he does rest of his scans everything will just be okay. For now we go on Thursday to get his ears fitted for hearing aids. Just keep Antonio in your thought and prayers for the next couple of weeks. Thank you all.

love
olivia

Friday, February 25, 2005 12:36 AM CST

Antonio has the flu. I am so happy about that cause I have been so scared the past couple of days. We went to the doctors yesterday and they did a nasal test to see if he does have a virus and he does. So whatever showed up on the x-ray was probably from the virus. We do have scans on Monday just to make sure, but I'm not as stressed. Antonio is doing alot better, he doesn't look 100% but hopefully he will start feeling better in a couple of days. I was suppose to go to Pullman for the weekend to visit my friend, but I had to cancel that cause all this happened, sorry Shannon. It would have been my first weekend with out Antonio since he got sick, but I guess he's not ready for me to go yet and that is not a problem. I love my little guy so much that if he needed me everyday for the rest of my life I would be there. There is nothing more important then him. I thank god everyday that he is still here and that I can wake up every morning and listen to the sweet little voice and just hug and kiss him everyday. I give him so much love that he sometimes says " no kisses mama" which I try and respect, but it's so hard not to want to kiss and hug him all the time, he's just so lovable. Anyone who has ever met him would understand. Antonio is so full of life that he helps me to keep going. I have had a lot of struggle dealing with all this. It brings so much pain thinking about what he has gone through the past year. So many times that I just cried or had so much anxiety that I felt could not breath cause I'm scared to lose him. He is my whole world and when things start to go wrong I worry so much. Right now I am better. I had alot of stress the past couple of days. I worried about Antonio and his health, I had a final yesterday in school, and I felt so bad that I missed the trip to pullman, but i found out Antonio had the flu, I aced my final and hopefully Shannon isn't to upset we couldn't make it over there. Well please everyone just say a prayer for Antonio's scans to come back clear. Thank you all we love you all so much.

Love
Olivia

Wednesday, February 23, 2005 5:52 PM CST

Antonio hasn't been feeling very good the past couple of days. He's had a very bad cough and last night I took him to the ER cause he got a fever. When we got there they did a chest x-ray and drew some blood. His counts were okay that's why we are still home, but his chest x-ray came back with something on it. The doctor told me that there is a small spot and that it might be just a virus. Now I am freaking out cause he's had chest x-rays before when he was sick and there is never anything there. I am trying to keep positive, but all day today he has been complaining od aches and pains. We have scans next week and hopefully whatever is in his chest will not be there and that it is just a virus. My stomach is in knots and I am very stressed. He is having sharp tummy pains again and is even complaining of his legs hurting. I hope this is just the flu and he's just feeling achy. He's been just laying around the past couple days. We are suppose to go back and talk to the doctor tomorrow hopefully everything will be okay. Please keep him in your prayers.
love
olivia

Wednesday, February 16, 2005 2:43 PM CST

Antonio no long has a pic line. Yesterday when I went to flush it started leaking. He got a hole in it and I had to take him to Children's late last night to have it removed. He really doesn't need it cause he isn't on any iv meds, but its convenient when it come to blood draws. They pulled it out and Antonio was pretty good about it. He mostly cried when they were taking the tape off. He will probably get another one put in when he has his scans in a couple weeks. They have to set it up cause he has to be put asleep for it. He is all excited thought cause he has no tubes, except his nose. He asked me last night if we can take the one in his nose out. I said he has to eat some more and eventually they would take it out. It would be great to go to Disneyland tubeless. He weighs a little over 32lbs. his weight has to be at least 35-38lbs before they can remove the tube. Well, I'll keep you all updated.

Sunday, February 13, 2005 1:24 AM CST

Well I'm going to drive myself crazy with all the worring I am doing. Antonio is doing great, but me on the other hand I can't stop worring about Antonio up coming scans. I try and keep positive and brave for myself and for my little angel, but it is HARD. There is that constant fear of relapse, but I know as soon as they do scans and they tell me he's fine I'll be okay. Just like last time. It's just the thought of it being 50/50. Then I think about the what if's. It just sucks that they don't have a lot of treatment for the children who relapse. I know I have to stay strong. Everyone's love and support helps tremendously. Antonio and I are so lucky to have such a great support group. I look at Antonio and feel that everything is going to be just fine. He is getting so big. I wish he was well enough to go to preschool. He is so smart. He knows almost all his alphabet letters, just not in the right order. If you show him a letter he knows it. All the blues clues and seasame street he watched in the hospital and at home has helped. Those shows is awesome. He learned alot just watching those. I hope that last year was just a bad year for us and that this year will be so much better. So far it has been good. I started school and am going to do what I have always wanted to do, Antonio has his big wish trip coming up that we all can wait for. Antonio so far hasn't been really sick all year, just a small bacteria infection. He is excited to be able to take normal baths and wants to go swimming when we go to california and actually he just got home from motocross with uncle Ty and Andrew and well Antonio just told me he wants a dirt bike so he can do flips too. Now that is something to look forward to:) We love you all.

ps
I have to share what my cousin Cindy gave my Aunt Mary for Valentines day. This past week a radio station here in Seattle was having a radiothon for Childrens Hospital. Well she gave her a $20 donation a month for a year to Childrens Hospital in Antonio's name. That is the sweetest and most kind thing you can do thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Wednesday, February 9, 2005 5:07 PM CST

Antonio is doing great. We haven't been doing much. He doesn't have an appointment until next week. Antonio has been enjoying the sunshine and playing outside. He loves playing outside. He's been driving his jeep around and as I write he is at the park with grandpa and cousin Izaac. Antonio has scans again in three weeks. He has been doing so well, I am trying not to be worried. He has been so strong and brave that I hope he will be just fine. I think that I will always get this knot in my stomach when we are getting close to scans. It's just something I think about all the time. Even when he is doing great I still have a little worry in me. Well just pray that everything is well. We love you all for all your support and prayers.

love
olivia

Friday, February 4, 2005 12:58 AM CST

Antonio is Home! It's so nice. We came home last night. His hickman removal went well. He was so excited to get to out. I wish you sould have seen his face when I showed him they were gone. He is happy. He has a picc line in his arm. I'm not sure how long he has to have that in. I am also happy cause when we go to california for his trip he can go swimming. He loves to swim and hasn't been able to for a long time, and he can take a bath and swim on his tummy again. Now if he can just gain enough weight and get his ng tube out. Well Antonio is feeling great. He was so happy to go home he was running up and down the halls in the hopital. I was happy to see all our nurses. People kept saying it's to bad you had to come back, I bet you hate it. It actually is okay. We know everybody and besides Antonio getting sick it was a great hospital stay. The nurses and doctors have become our second family and they come in and visit and always asks how my family is doing and they love Antonio and are always so excited to see him. Thats a great feeling cause some hospitals dont really care they just check you out and then go on. Everyone at Chidrens is great. Well we are just going to enjoy our time at home. We actually don't have to go back until the 14th.

Wednesday, February 2, 2005 0:42 AM CST

Antonio is doing better today. His blood pressure is alot better. He didn't complain about his tummy all day so that is good. His scans came back all clear so that was a great relief. He gets his hickman out on Thursday morning. 7:30am its going to be an early day. It will be so nice to not have to change dressings anymore and Antonio can take a regular bath. He will be happy to. I tried to explain how he won't have it anymore, but he started crying, I don't think he understands. The doctors came in today and they said Antonio actually has two bacteria infections, but he's going to stay on the same antibiotics cause it is covering the infection. They haven't said anything about us going home, but hopefully by Friday.

Monday, January 31, 2005 10:17 PM CST

Antonio is doing okay. He adjusted really well having to be back in the hospital. It's so nice seeing all our nurses. Antonio's blood pressure has been really low. It got really low and they were talking about putting in in ICU cause they aren't sure what is causing it, but he perked up and his blood pressures got better. I was a little scared. I missed class today. I was going to go, but Antonio's blood pressure was so low and I didn't want to not be here for him. They are going to take his Hickman line out on Thursday. They think it will help with infection control. He has bacteria in his blood and they are still trying to figure out what medacine is right. He had a CT scan today cause is tummy still is bothering him. They started giving him pain meds cause he just gets sharp pains. He has been acting a little funny. He will be feeling great then all of a sudden he will cry cause his tummy hurts and then he just lays around and is quiet. It's like instantly. One minute his bouncing off the walls then he is just laying there not feeling well a minute later. I don't know what is wrong with him. He doesn't look himself and looks sick. He is actually getting blood tonight. He hasn't had a transfusion since October, but his red blood cells are low. Hopefully he will feel better and we can go home soon. We will be here until at least Friday cause they are doing surgery on Thursday to remove his hickman. I will keep u all updated.

Sunday, January 30, 2005 3:05 PM CST

Well I have some bad news. We are inpatient. I don't know what happened, but last night I gave Antonio a bath and when he was done he wanted to go to bed. It was about 8pm and so I took him to his room and put a movie on. After about 15mins he called for me and he said he was cold. He never says that so I put another blanket on him and took his tempature it was only 99.0 so I didn't really think anything was going on. I waited about 20mins and I checked on him again. I took his temp again and it was 100.6 and he was just shivering. So I called the the hospital and they told me to bring him in. He started moaning and whining alittle and when I put him in the car he just started throwing up. I was so weird. He was fine all day then all of a sudden he he got sick. Well I had to take him back in and clean him up by the time we got to the hospital his fever was 103.2 They hooked him up and started some antibiotics. He had a rough night. We didn't get a room until 1am and he didn't fall a sleep until 2:30am. Then at 4am they woke me up cause his blood pressure was really low and we had to try and wake him up. So he is a little cranky today. His blood pressure has been low the whole time we've been here. They aren't sure why. His blood cultures grew something out. We won't know what he has until tomorrow. He also has been complaining about his tummy hurting. He has sharp pains cause he will be fine then all of a sudden he will just start crying and say his tummu hurts. I don't know what they are going to do. When I was giving him a bath last night I thought his stomach looked a little swollen. My mom didn't think so, and I'm not completely sure. He let the doctors feel his stomach and they said it felt okay. So it is probably me just being worried. Well for now we will be here for at least a couple days. I let you know what he has as soon as I find out.

love

olivia

Friday, January 28, 2005 6:56 PM CST

Antonio is doing great. His face is dry and he's still a little cranky, but that is the accutane. He is running around and his legs haven't been bothering him (thank you god) He has been actually walking flat footed. What a blessing. He will still need braces for his feet, but i'm just glad he is walking better. He is really into his new mickey mouse movie he got from some ladies in Colorado. He watches it over and over. It's great cause when I was little my grandma had some of the same videos that are on the dvd he has and it brings back good memories. Antonio loves it so much. Thank you Mary and girls. Antonio is getting all ready to go to Disneyland. Although we still have a month in a half. He is ready. He's been wearing the Mickey mouse baseball cap Cathy gave him and is taking it with us to disneyland. He's such a mickey kid. Mickey, goofy and donald are at the top of the list for characters to see in disneyland. Well everything is going well. I finished my first week in school and it went great. I am already giving shots and drawing blood. I am also a dummy for the other students too. For the last two hours are we do it give eachother injections, do vitals, draw blood, and I will learn all kinds of other things. I like it alot, it is something I have wanted to do for a long time and I am glad I am doing it. I had my first test last night and got 100%. I was so nervous, but I studied so much and I passed all my tests with 100% so I'm happy. Now lets just hope I do good for rest of the course.

love

olivia

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 2:25 AM CST

So every morning I awake to my son saying "mama hold you" which really means me. As I lay in my bed (trying to wake up) I smile and after a few minutes later Antonio comes running in with his banket in hand. He always crawls into bed with me and gives me tons of hugs and kisses. Now I ask who wouldn't like to wake up to the sweet voice and kisses and hugs. After laying with him for a few minutes he says "mama put your eyes in" cause I wear contacts. Then we get up and go on with our day. I love waking up to that sweet voice. It just makes my day. Antonio is doing well. We went to the doctor today and everything is okay. I told her about Antonio's legs and they said just to watch it for this week and if it gets worse they will do something. He's been doing good though. He still wants me to hold him, but not as much. His eyes are dark and the doctor said to watch that too. I am trying to stay positive cause I figure i won't stress out that way. Although the stress is always there. NB parents I know you know that feeling. Antonio is still running around and mostly happy. We go back on monday for a follow up. My schooling to going good. Lots of homework, but I'm not working so I find time to do it.

Love,

Olivia

Monday, January 24, 2005 0:54 AM CST

Antonio is doing okay. He has been a little cranky since starting his accutane again. I am probably being paranoid, but he has been complaining of his legs hurting and yesterday while at a family party he just dropped to the floor and started crying and wouldn't walk after that for awhile. I didn't see him fall, but from what I heard he kinda just collapsed. I am hoping that his legs are just a little weak and that his body has gone through so much that it is just nothing. He did just get his casts off last week so I think that his legs are just sore and he just wants me to hold him. We go to the docor this week (well every week) and I will see what she says. I do have some news. I have decided to go to school. I actually start tomorrow. I am taking night classes to become a medical assistant. So I can still spend all day with Antonio and my mom can watch him for a couple hours at night so I can go to class. I am nervous cause I didn't expect to start so soon, but hopefully I can try and get my mind on something else besides worrying about Antonio. My school is very helpful and they know my situation with Antonio and if anything does happen and I need to leave, I can go back whenever and it won't affect my credits. I am scared and I feel like i'm just leaving Antonio, but my classes are only 4 days a week and only 4 hours long. Maybe I can try and have a social life, besides video games, blues clues, and all the kiddy stuff we do everyday. Although I don't mind it at all. I love watching Antonio play video games and dance and sing to blues clues. If I could put a video on the web I would. Well I'll let everyone know what the doctors say about antonio and his legs.

Thursday, January 20, 2005 6:58 PM CST

Hello everyone! Antonio is doing great. He got his casts off on Tuesday. He still is running around on his tiptoes, but they said it is okay cause it takes time for his feet to remember to stay flat. We go tomorrow to get fitted for braces for his feet. He has to wear them until he starts walking right again. At least he can get his feet flat again. We got and actual height on him yesterday cause he got his feet flat. They have been just estimating. He is back on the accutane. So far he's taking it good. I am feeling so much better. I am so glad Antonio didn't get sick. Well I hope everyone has a great weekend. We love you all.

love

olivia and tony

Monday, January 17, 2005 6:56 PM CST

Antonio is doing well. The day after Nikki and Ty came back from the hospital, Ty and Izaac got sick with the flu. Well they gave it to my mom, dad, brother and me. For the past couple days we have been so sick with a stomach flu. It was horrible. Luckily Antonio, Nikki and Isabella didn't get it. Antonio was very helpful. He was so sweet he brought pillows and blankets to us and tried to cover us. He was so sweet. Now everyone is starting to feel better. My mom and I still aren't feeling 100%, but hopefully tomorrow will be better. Antonio gets his casts changed tomorrow although they might not cause last time they changed them his feet had done very good. So maybe they will just take them off. Well, I hope everyone is doing well and I hope know one gets this flu cause it is just icky.

Thursday, January 13, 2005 7:04 PM CST

Well, we have been just enjoying our little Bella. She is so pretty. Antonio got new casts today. I was so proud of him he didn't even cry when they took the casts off. I would have been scared, but he was so brave. He didn't even cry when they put new ones on. The casts are working very well. He is already half way there. They were surprised cause usually it takes some time, but Antonio might not need anymore casts after these ones. that would be nice. We got some good news today. Antonio is going on his Wish trip to Disneyland on March 14th thru the 18th. They confirmed it today. He is so excited and so am I. We get to go to Disneyland for two days then to either knotberry farm or Universal Studios. Antonio wants to see the Wiggles so bad. Him and Izaac have been dancing around the house with the wiggles guitar and wiggles microphone for weeks. It is so cute. Antonio has all the dances down. He does all the moves and stuff its funny. Well if you want to see pictures of bella they are on the other site listed up above. Everyone have a good weekend.

love

olivia

Tuesday, January 11, 2005 12:18 AM CST

Antonio is doing awesome. He got his casts on today. They are real casts that you get when you break something. I thought it was going to be different. I think it’s sad that he has to have them on both feet at the same time, but it is cute cause they are so small. He picked out his own colors. One foot is purple and the other is neon green, very fashionable. He didn't like it when they put them on, but then again who would. He was pretty good over all. He has these boots on the casts so that he can walk. We go back on Thursday, to change casts. We had our weekly doctors appt. Everything is still doing well. Erinne they should really invent something like that, I think that it would put parents at ease. I’ve been going crazy with boredom and constantly wondering if he’s okay. I think about you everyday I hope all is well. Well today my sister going to be induced so hopefully tonight we will have our little Bella. My poor sister she is 11 days past due. Well I let everyone know how everything goes on Thursday and with my sister.

love

olivia

Tuesday, January 4, 2005 7:56 PM CST

Hello everyone! Well Antonio is still doing great. His appointment yesterday went very well. Dr. Park still wants to see us weekly for the next couple weeks. Then we will go a whole two weeks without seeing her. Now I feel relieved, but scared at the same time. I'm so use to taking him in all the time, and now they are seeing him less and less. Although I know he's doing great, it's just hard to believe that his treatment is basically done. It was extremely hard to go through, but I can't believe we are practically done. Antonio has grown so much in the past 10 months it's amazing. He has been through so much and has amazingly fought so hard all the way. I am so proud of him. I feel a little lost and confused on what to do now that we are not at the hospital all the time anymore. I even asked the doctor. She smiled and said a lot of families feel the same way. She told me to probably wait another month before I try and go back to work cause Antonio still has a lot of doctor’s appts for his legs and hearing. We went today for his E.N.T appointment and all they did was check to see if he has an ear infection. Which he didn't. I guess he has to have that checked first, then we of back for a fitting, then he will receive the hearing aids. They are all separate appointments, which just means more time in and out of the doctor’s office. Well Antonio is dancing and singing to the Wiggles as I am writing. Very cute. Well have a wonderful week. I'll keep you all updated on everything.

Saturday, January 1, 2005 11:04 PM CST

Happy New Year! Antonio is doing wonderful. He is full of energy and happy. He has been doing well taking his meds (well he doesn't know its in his food), but it is all getting in him. His skin is very dry from the medicine, but I keep putting lotion on it and it helps. We go on Monday to our first E.N.T appt. Then we have a couple more appts. with the E.N.T then he should get his hearing aids. Then on the 10th we go and get the braces on Antonio's feet. He isn't tip toeing as bad as before, but still needs something to help get those little feet on the ground. Hopefully it won't be that traumatic for him. Well I hope everyone had a good new years.

Wednesday, December 29, 2004 3:29 PM CST

Antonio is doing good. We went to the doctor on Monday and everything is going well. His kidney levels are alot better. Dr. Park said it could have been from the antibiotics he was on. We went to Chuck E. Cheese's yesterday. The first time since transplant. Antonio had lots of fun. It was fun. He is getting really smart playing his V-smile. I think every kid should have this game. Nikki still hasn't had her baby, Anyday now though. We all can't wait. Antonio and Izaac have all of a sudden become best buds. Antonio has been playing with his cousin so much lately. I think now that Izaac is walking and can kind of keep up with Antonio he is more fun to play with. Antonio chases him around the house. It's cute and believe it or not he has even been sharing him games with Izaac. Well I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year.

Saturday, December 25, 2004 9:54 PM CST

Merry Christmas Everyone. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Ours was wonderful. Antonio is feeling so good. He's a little cranky, but thats normal for him. Antonio got everything he wanted for christmas and more. I am so happy that my little guy is doing good. My heart goes out to all the families who have lost their little ones to NB. I can't even imagine. I have been thinking about Hunter's parents along with David's a lot. It brings me to tears just thinking about what they are going through. I'm at a point to where I don't know what to do. It's wierd cause we aren't going to the hospital constantly and Antonio has been doing okay. I feel like I should go back to work, but I don't know. Oh well I think I need to get through the holidays first and Nikki having her baby. One day at a time right. Well I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I want to thank everyone who filled antonio's piggy bank at Auntie Anna's. Deann that magic number is 713. Thank you all it will help alot. Also Thank you Aunt Molly and everyone from her work. It was so thoughtful of all of you. We love you all.


love

olivia

Tuesday, December 21, 2004 1:02 AM CST

Antonio is doing great. He started the accutane today. He didn't do very well taking it. I have to mix it with food and well he spit it out. It's oily so Dr. park said try mixing it in food first and if that doesn't work try the tube. I think we will be trying the tube tomorrow. He is feeling very well. Happy and can't wait until christmas. On Saturday we went to my Auntie Anna's house and Santa came. Well I decided that I would give him on of the things that was on his list for santa to bring cause santa hands out toys. Well after we opened it he was happy, but said where's the Bear game. That's another toy he wanted. So I told him Santa was still coming to our house. So he was not that sad. We went to the Dr. today and i found out Antonio's kidney isn't doing as well as it should, but they are going to watch it. He only has one, so she said she will keep an eye on his blood work. We are just having fun at home. Antonio got a lot of present in the mail today from MACS. It was like an early christmas. Thank you. Well if I don't write before Christmas I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. We love you all.

Friday, December 17, 2004 11:49 AM CST

Antonio has been doing great. He's been feeling really good. We have just been enjoying our time at home. It's been so nice. We went to the community of Kirkland with my old boss and her work gave us a lot of gifts for christmas. It was so nice, Antonio got the V-smile which he has been playing non-stop since he opened it. He loves it and i don't mind him playing cause its all educational. We are already for Christmas. Antonio is getting anxious, he keeps trying to poke his fingers in all the presents under the tree. We are going to my auntie Anna's tomorrow for a christmas party. We always have fun there and Antonio will be able to see santa cause he always stops by. Well I hope everyone is doing well. Have a great weekend.

love

olivia

Monday, December 13, 2004 5:27 PM CST

All of Antonio's scans are CLEAR. There is no evidence that his Cancer has come back. I am so happy. I felt like there was a tone of bricks on me before we found out and they were instantly lifted when The Dr. said he was a superstar and that his scans were clear. He startes his Accutane on Monday. We are very happy. thank you for he prayers

Monday, December 13, 2004 1:04 AM CST

Well, we had a wonderful weekend. Antonio saw Santa and was so excited. We got our Christmas tree and now have some presents under it and Antonio can't wait to open them. Now it was a nice weekend hanging out with my family. Izaac was a little sick and we ended up have to take him the hospital on Saturday morning. He was have a hard time breathing, but he just needed some breathing treatments. He has asthma and had a cold so it was a little bit woo much for the little guy. He is fine though. I on the other hand I have been scared and nervous all weekend. It was nice spending time with everyone, but in the back of my mind I've been scared. Tomorrow we find out Antonio's results and although I feel everything is fine, there is a 50% chance this disease has come back. Now after tomorrow I'm hoping everything is well, then I can try and get into the Christmas spirit. It's always going to be hard when we do re-staging tests cause it is a cancer that likes to come back and when you enter the world of relapse there isn't a whole lot they can do. Please pray everything is okay and that Antonio has clear scans. Thank you everyone.

olivia

Friday, December 10, 2004 8:07 PM CST

I'm so sorry I haven't updated you all in a couple days. We have been back and forth from the hopistal all week. I'm exhausted. Antonio did ok during his hearing test. His hearing is about the same as it was last time. We need to visit the ear, nose, and throat doctor and get clearance from them and then they have to write a special letter to our insurance company, cause he needs a special type of hearing aid and they usually don't cover it with the insurance we have. So they have to write a spacial letter explaining the curcumstances. They said that it will take a while, but Antonio should have his hearing aid by febuary. Yesterday, he had his MIBG and bonemarrow apspiration. It took way longer they said. They said it would take about an hour and I was waiting 3 hours. I'm not sure why it took so long, but antonio was a little drugged all night cause they gave him a pain killer for the bonemarrow aspiration. The nurse said " your going to have to treat him like a drunk person for the next couple hours" I was thinking thats a weird thing to say, but he was acting all drunk. He could walk straight, his eyes were so red and glossy, and he could talk right for about 3 hours after we were done, but he was so happy it was funny. I don't know what they gave him, but i've never seen him act that way. We are going to visit Santa today cause its our only day off this week and Antonio want to see him so bad. I hear what he wants for christmas about a dozen times a day. So today he's going to tell Santa. He's so excited. They we have the weekend off of course, then on Monday we get all the results back from his tests. Please pray everything goes well. I don't want one more bad thing to happen this year. I want to rest and just spend time with my family and Antonio at home.

love

olivia

Wednesday, December 8, 2004 0:02 AM CST

Antonio is doing great. My little man did an awesome job today with all his tests. It was a long day starting with his echo at 8:30am, and then we waited until 11:30am to get his ct contrast and nuclear injection for his bone scan. Then we had to wait until 1:00pm to do his ct scan. He stayed wake for that and did so good. He stayed so still. Then we had to wait until 3:00pm for his bone scan. They usually put him to sleep for this cause he has to stay still for two minutes at a time, but he tried it and was so good again. Stayed perfectly still. He got two beanie babies for that. The nurses were so proud. It can be scary for kids having these huge machines all around them. I was so proud I had tears in my eyes. He is so brave. I was with him the whole time and when they put the machine over his face for his bone scan, I thought he would get scared cause its like he's in a tunnel the machine is only inches away from his face. I was thinking he might be a little Claustrophobic, but he did amazing. We go tomorrow for his hearing test. He will be sized for his hearing aids too, I think. We will have all the results on Monday. Please pray everything is clear.

Monday, December 6, 2004 11:45 PM CST

We are home. Antonio is happy to be home and so am I. I'm tired and a little drained. We have to go back tomorrow for his, ct scan, bone scan, echocardiograph, and injection for MIBG. It's an all day thing. He's antibiotics are on a weird schedule. He has one at 3:30am, but they gave me a schedule to follow and it will eventually get to an ok schedule the first couple days will be hard, but thats okay. Antonio is all into the christmas spirit. He can't wait to get the tree and he watches the charlie brown christmas everyday. He already know what he wants from santa and he tells me about a dozen times a day along with everyone else. It's cute. He's wants to visit santa so I think I'll take him this weekend or next week during the week. Hopefully after next week we will be done for the year. I hope so cause it would be nice to just be home. I can't wait until March so we can go to disneyland and relax. Its so far away, but that will be nice cause their should be no stress.

love

olivia

Monday, December 6, 2004 0:46 AM CST

Antonio is doing great. My little fighter. We get to go home tomorrow, Hopefully. We do have to go home on IV antibiotics. It will be a little different then usual cause he's on two antibiotics by IV. He has to have the antibiotics until the 17th. If it is to much they said we can stay, but I want to go home. He does so much better there and I would like to be with the family to do all the christmas stuff. I don't think it will be that bad. He's on a total of 8 oral medications (most he takes twice a day) , plus now the two IV antibiotics, his feeds and IV hydration. Sometimes I wonder how I do it. Right now there are lots of kids that are passing away that have neuroblastoma. We are on a neuroblastoma list. Its a list where parents, family and friends can see what's going on with other families that are going through the same thing we are. It's nice to here about the other kids that are doing good and the different types of studies, but its sad when families are reaching out for help cause there kids are dying. Its hard to read. Well my heart and prayers go out to all the people that have to go through this. I hope everyone had a good weekend.

Saturday, December 4, 2004

Antonio is doing ok. His fever reached 106.2 last night I was so scared. After awhile the tylenol started kicking in and his fever went down. He started perking up and was ok. He hasn't had a fever since. We will be here until at least Monday. He has a bacteria in his blood. I'm not sure on what the name is, but he is on the right antibiotic. He has to be on it for 14 days. I can do IV antibiotics at home they said, but he has to have no fever for 24 hours and negative cultures for 48 hours. He's been in a great mood today. The nurses are amazed. By looking at him today and knowing yesterday he had such a high fever, know one would have ever guessed. He was walking the halls and in a great mood. As I write he is dancing and singing along to blues clues. He's amazing.

Thursday, December 2, 2004 9:29 PM CST

Well, we are in the hospital. This morning around 4am, Antonio was crying a little and I felt his head and he was so hot. His temp was 101.5. I called the doctor, he said that his counts were ok and if we wanted we could wait and see if his temp went down. I waited about a half hour and it went down, so we stayed home. We left for our appt. at 7am and we got all hooked up and ready for the kidney test. They took blood cultures cause he had had a fever, then they sent us up to clinic for a check up. They decided to admit him and start an antibiotic. He didn't have a fever this whole time, then while we were getting his antibiotic, he started shaking and saying he was cold. The nurse took his temp and it was 101.2. He got some tylenol and fell asleep. When he woke up he was happy and in a great mood. We got our room and he played his game for awhile. Then he got really quite. I left to get something to eat and my dad stayed with him. My dad called me and said that Antonio was shaking and was really cold. I rushed back and when I got back his fever was 104.0 then it went to 105.2. Its so high. His blood pressure is kinda low. His blood culture has already grown something. We won't know until tomorrow or the following day what he has. Some sort of infection or bacteria. He's so hot. It is a sudden thing. He was doing so well and now he is sick with something. He's resting peacefully and isn't in any pain. They gave him some more tylenol. Just pray everything is ok. I do have some very sad news, our little friend David passed away on Saturday. It is so sad. That is two little boys that are now in heaven. Although it hurts so bad, they are in no pain and in a better place. Its hard cause we meet so many families and I know not all the kids are going to make it. Its hard being in this little cancer community. Know one will ever know how it feels until they go through it. Also a while back I said a little girl we knew was dying, she also passed away awhile ago. To see all these little kids that haven't even started living their lives, being so brave and fearless. They all are my hero's.

love

olivia

Monday, November 29, 2004 7:55 PM CST

Antonio has been doing great. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I hope everyone else did too. My dad's birthday was Friday so we had a party on Saturday it was fun to see all the family. Antonio finished radiation today. So we are done with that part of treatment. Now we have a couple weeks of tests, then on the 13th we will get results and then talk about rest of his treatment. Antonio has done so good during this whole thing I'm so proud of him. He is the bravest and strongest kid I know. He is the child of the month for Fight for A Cure. www.fightforacure.org Please visit the site it's so cute.

Thursday, November 25, 2004 11:47 AM CST

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have so much to be thankful for, First All of YOU, We have been so blessed with all the support of my family, friends, strangers that care, when they don't really have to. There are so many people in this world that have so much good in their hearts. All the people that have sent us gifts and cards from the Make A Child Smile program have been so thoughtful and sweet it brings my mom and I to tears. We have gotten well over 100 cards from kids and families. I am thankful for my Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother, My Bother-in-law, and My sweet nephew Izaac. They have been there for Antonio and me the whole time, visiting everyday at the hospital helping me with Antonio when times were just hard and Always making me feel that I am doing the best that I can. I love them all so much I would be lost without them, it has brought us all very close. My aunt's and uncles, Cousins, second cousins, everyone in the family I am thankful for all of you. All the visits to hospital, the gifts, the cards, the love and support I am lucky to have such a huge family that supports us and loves us so much. Some people we only see around the holidays, but this year we have seen them countless time thank you. I am thankful for all the doctors and nurses. Children's Hospital in Seattle is Awesome. I trust all the doctors and nurses so much; they always made it easy to go to the hospital. Last, My son, Antonio has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I love him so much; he brings so much joy and happiness to my life. He has been so strong and brave through this whole thing. I am only 22yrs old (sometimes feel older) Some people ask how I do it, how do I handle a 3 year old on top of all the treatments, and stuff we go through. It's Antonio that keeps me strong. He is so good and full of love that its hard not to want to be around him all the time. Thank you everyone for everything and Happy Thanksgiving. Antonio only has one more radiation appointment next Monday and we are done.


Love,

Olivia

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Antonio is doing great. He has a little nausea, but I can deal with that. He is in a pretty good mood. We went to physical therepy today. He is going to have to have serial casts on his feet cause he just won't walk on his feet. They will be on for 3 days then they will change the position of his feet and have them on again 3 days and it will go on like that until his feet are better and more relaxed. He walks on his tiptoes right now. They said its pretty easy and he can walk with the casts on so it won't stop him from doing anything. Knowing my son he will not be happy, but for him to walk normal again we are going to have to work with him. His muscles are just so tight. Our friend David isn't doing very well. He is in ICU still. His lungs have been overfilled with fluid. His kidneys are failing and he has a tube down his throat to try and drain the fluid in his lungs. I feel so sad for his parents. I wasn't able to see him. I would start crying if I did. His parents are very brave. I will keep you all updated.

love

olivia

Saturday, November 20, 2004 9:51 PM CST

Antonio is doing good. He has a little cough, he's actually had it all week, but no fever and the doctors say he sound normal. He had so much fun at Nikki's baby shower. Everyone was happy to see him. He has been tired alot, but that's normal with radiation. Our friend David is still in ICU. I wasn't able to talk to his mom when we went there so I don't know how he really is. Hopefully we will know more tomorrow cause another mom is going to check for us. I hope everyone had a good weekend. Please click the link below to see Antonio's smile quilt it is now finished.

Thursday, November 18, 07:32 AM

Hello everyone. Antonio is doing great. He hit his half way point in radiation yesterday. He's doing really well with it. He's getting more and more tired everyday, but they said its normal. Please say a special prayer for our friend David who is right in the middle of transplant and his liver is failing. We are going to see him and his mom today. I guess he is in ICU and it doesn't look very good. His actual transplant day is today, so he still has the bad weeks of getting really sick to come. I pray for his family that everything will go well.

love

olivia

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Antonio is doing good. We are still going to radiation everyday. I was kinda mad yesterday cause every time we go Antonio remembers everything even though he's sleeping. Well the doctor that put him to sleep the first time (when we had a really bad experience) she told me that he woke up 4 times during that visit and that she wasn't surprised he had nightmares. The reason I was mad was cause I asked the nurses if he woke up and they said no, but he actually did. Oh well the dose they give him now is four times the regular amount, cause it takes so much to put him to sleep. He's a real fighter and fights real hard to stay awake. Yesterday was the first day he never woke up during his radiation treatment. I guess he woke up or started to wake up every time last week. I am glad that he isn't scared to go though. After that one time I thought he would never want to go, but he's good. He's been in a pretty good mood and has been sleeping ok. His hair is coming in its weird cause he hasn't had hair for so long. His tummy hurts sometimes, but it doesn't stop him from really doing what he wants to do, like playing his video games:)


love

olivia

Monday, November 15, 2004

Hello everyone. Everything is going well with Antonio. We had third radiation treatment on Friday. It went well. His hair is starting to come back. Its so cute very soft. It might fall out during radiation, but so far its not. We had a busy weekend. Saturday we had cousins Izaac's birthday party that was fun. It was nice seeing everyone. Then Sunday we went to Monsters Inc. on ice his dad? took us. It was nice, Antonio had a good time. It was a really good show. Antonio is doing so good. He's been in a good mood alot. I'm so glad cause he was cranky alot. He still is on a weird sleeping schedule. We have radiation everyday this week. last week we had a couple days off, but this week we go all five days. Well I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Antonio is doing okay. He had his second radiation treatment yesterday. It went alot faster then the first time. They said once a week it would take longer cause they do films. He is feeling okay. His tummy hurts every once in a while and he's a little cranky. His new word in " I'm tired" if he doesn't get his way or he's mad he crys and says "i'm tired" "I wanna go nite nite" I here that about a dozen times a day. He got so spoiled being in the hospital and always wants everything right away. I can't even move fast enough for him. He's still adjusting to everything. Its okay though. Well we didn't have an appt today cause of holiday, but we will be back early in the morning for his third session.

Tuesday, November 9, 2004

Antonio had his first radiation treatment today. Everything went very well. He did very well. He's been running a little fever, but it's not high enough to take him to the doctors. It just goes up and down. As long as he's playing and feeling okay I can deal with a little fever. We have 12 treatments of radiation. So we will be back and forth every day except weekends and the holidays. His last treatment is on the 29th of November. Then we have scans and decide what treatment we want to do after that. We are down to the end. I have to say I have had so much anxiety. I'm scared about what's going to happen next. I pray so hard everyday that this horrible cancer doesn't come back. Everytime he acts funny or has a bump I get scared. I know that I'm probably just paranoid, but it's hard not to be. One day at a time though. I've done so well during all his treatments so far. I've tried to be so strong and now I'm feeling weak and worried. Some days are harder then others, but I'm going to continue to try hard and be strong for my little guy.


love and prayers

olivia

Antonio is doing well. We went to the doctors this afternoon and everything is good. He had a flu shot and his counts are all good. We start radiation tomorrow morning at 10. He has 12 sessions of radiation. So about two in a half weeks cause theirs no radiation on the weekends. We had a nice weekend. I hope everyone else did too. We just stayed home mostly. Antonio's god fathers took him to dinner that was nice on Saturday. Well I'll let you all know how radiation goes tomorrow, hopefully it won't be a bad experience like last time. I put his new pictures in the photo album. They are from halloween and at the hospital.

Friday, November 5, 2004 3:48 PM CST

Antonio is doing okay. We went to the hospital for a clinic appointment today. His counts dropped a little they are 1800. He's been kinda cranky lately. His sleep schedule is messed up. He wakes up very early around 4 or 5am then he is very cranky all morning into the afternoon. I'm trying to fix that though. The evenings are great though, he is usually happy and very playful. I figure that it is just going to take time to adjust to being home. It will be nice cause we don't have to go to the doctors for two days. So it will be a nice weekend. Everyone I want to thank you for all the love and support . I don't think I could do all this without all my family and friends. I love you all.

love

olivia
tony's mama

Friday, November 5, 2004 3:48 PM CST

Antonio is doing okay. We went to the hospital for a clinic appointment today. His counts dropped a little they are 1800. He's been kinda cranky lately. His sleep schedule is messed up. He wakes up very early around 4 or 5am then he is very cranky all morning into the afternoon. I'm trying to fix that though. The evenings are great though, he is usually happy and very playful. I figure that it is just going to take time to adjust to being home. It will be nice cause we don't have to go to the doctors for two days. So it will be a nice weekend. Everyone I want to thank you for all the love and support . I don't think I could do all this without all my family and friends. I love you all.

love

olivia
tony's mama

Thursday, November 4, 2004 12:01 AM CST

Antonio is doing well. We went to the doctors this morning and his counts are good. 3100. So that is good. He's been a little cranky in the mornings and very happy in the evenings. We go back on Friday for labs then he has his first radiation treatment on Tuesday. We have been pretty much just hanging out at home. I'm trying to plan my sisters baby shower it should be fun. She's having a girl a big change since we have pretty much all boys in the family. Well I'll try and keep you all updated.

Tuesday, November 2, 2004 0:59 AM CST

Well, Antonio is due better today. He said he wanted to go to the doctors this morning and I said okay lets go. (we already had an appointment.) He actually slept the whole appointment. Everything went well. His counts are up a little 1500 so at least they didn't go down. He was full of energy today. Fighting papa (they like to wrestle) and just having a good time. We don't go back until Wendseday. If you have time Antonio is on a couple site.
www.makeachildsmile.org and www.bridgeofdreams.org they are both sites where people will send Antonio cards and prayers. They are very nice programs.

olivia

Sunday, October 31, 2004 11:36 PM CST

Well we are home. It's been a litle stressful for Antonio. He's trying to adjust. He cried alot when he got home and was saying" I want to go to the doctors." He really worked himself up. I think his tummy was hurting a little too. So I brought him to our room and just talked to him. He said his tummy hurt. So I gave him some medacine and I told him Brayden was coming over ( his friend) Then he instantly was happy and didn't want to go back. We went trick or treating. He had lots of fun. He walked alot. Right now he's playing his game with grandma. We have to go back early in the morning. Oh and the greatest news... He is drinking juice and milk I'm seriously shocked. He also had 1/2 a cracker. I really thought he wouldn't eat or drink. They said that everything usually tastes like rusty medal and when we were in the hospital he didn't want anything. His counts did go up yesterday on there own to 3140, but dropped today to 1400. They said they would probably yo-yo for awhile.

Saturday, October 30, 2004 1:29 PM CDT

Antonio is doing really well. His counts have started coming up on there own. I am very happy. We get to go home tomorrow. Antonio is excited and so am I. We have a lot of packing to do. He has so much stuff. He still has some nausea and isn't eating anything yet. Yesterday was an exciting day. We were playing on the floor and he just stood up. He was a little wobbly, but then he started walking. I was so excited. He was having so much fun. We walked a little, but he got tired easily. We also got a great costume for Antonio from my mom's cousins. He is going to be Buzz Lightyear. It's so cute. We put it on last night and roamed to halls. All the nurse's thought he was so cute and I have to say he was Super Cute. Well we will be home in time to go trick or treating with cousin Izaac. It will be fun.

olivia

Friday, October 29, 2004 3:36 PM CDT

Well everything is going a lot better. Antonio's counts did drop fromm 8800-3100. Today they are at 2440. So it didn't drop that much. We are going home on Sunday if everything goes well. He's been in a good mood and play alot. The mornings are a little harder, but thats okay.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 11:39 PM CDT

Today was a very long and tiring day. We got hardly no sleep last night and we had to wake up early for our appointment at the UW hospital. They ended up putting Antonio to sleep so they can do a CTscan, a mask for radiation and markings for where to do radiation. It went okay until he woke up. He was throwing a fit. He was crying and just so upset. He kept saying he wanted to see the cat go round and round. Which means he wanted a CT scan. I never told him he was going to do that today. So I don't know if he woke up during his testing or what happened. I asked and they said no. They are not very kid friendly. It's mostly older kids and adults. Well he was so upset he was hitting and screaming. Then we had to go cause our ride came and he had no time to calm down. He cried so much and he was even bitting me. I just started crying. I couldn't help it. I just think its not fair for him to have to go through all this. I wasn't mad at him at all. I cried cause I know that it's not his fault he is going through all this. He has every right to get mad even if its a stupid reason. I probably would throw a fit like that more often. People are constantly bothering him. So I just cried, plus that hospital is busy so everyone was looking our way cause he was crying. I actually needed to cry I haven't for awhile cause I'm constantly trying to make sure he's okay. Then when we got back they said you can go home tomorrow. That was sudden and I don't feel completely ready. After talking to the doctor I explained how I'm worried about his counts not wanting to stay up( hopefully they won't drop to much tomorrow) and he's not walking yet. She said that if he was on the Oncology side we would be home cause as long as he has no fever he's okay to be home. I think since it's a transplant I'm more worried and paranoid. So we are going to go home on Sunday if everything goes well. Tomorrow is just to soon and she came in later and said she didn't want us to feel rushed so we will wait a couple days then see how he is. Then tonight I noticed he has a huge bruise on his right knee. I don't know how we got it, but instead of him not bending it, now he won't straighten it. I swear it's one thing after another. They said they are going to see if his platelets are low and check it again tomorrow cause he went to sleep. It's been a long day. For both of us. I just keep telling myself it will get better tomorrow.

olivia

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 11:40pm pacific

Antonio is doing so much better today. He's bending his leg and hasn't really complained of it hurting all day. They ended up not doing the MRI. They are just going to watch him. Today was his last day of GCSF. They decided that they are just going to wait until his counts come up by themself. So it should be interesting how far they go down. They changed his pain medacine again. He's on methadone by oral though so thats good and they put these beads on his ears. It's like magnets and I guess it helps with the side effects of weaning his pain medacine. He's doing so good in physical therapy. He has so much fun. He walked a couple steps today. It's weird cause he has to learn to walk and eat all over. He's like a baby again. We have a radiation appointment tomorrow. They are going to take us by ambulance cause he is still hooked up to IV. They are just going to do measurements. They want to start in about two weeks.


olivia

Monday, October 25, 2004 8:52 PM CDT

Okay Antonio's x-rays came back ok. There was nothing there so that is good. They do want to have a MRI on his leg tomorrow cause he just won't bend it and it hurts really bad. I was so scared all day. We still have to have another test tomorrow, but hopefully everything will be okay. He's in a good mood besides his leg hurting. Please pray everything goes ok tomorrow and thank you so much for all the prayers today.

Sunday, October 24, 2004 12:19 AM CDT

10/25/04



I need EMERGENCY PRAYERS. Antonio's hip has been acting weird and he can't bend his leg and we are going to do scans today. Please pray that all the scans are clear. I am so nervous. Please pray that everything is well.





10/24/04
Well Antonio's body is being stubborn and does not want to keep his counts up. We went from 7000 to 1900 to 900 and now down to 672. So we have to start back on the GCSF again and hopefully this will be the last time. It is not very common for kids to have there counts to go up and donw like that. There counts always go down some, but usually they bounce right back. Antonio is just taking his time getting better and I don't care. He's so little that if he wanted to stay here and rest for another month I'd be ok with it. As long as he gets better, but hopefully it won't take that long. They told us that we might be able to go home this week, but this sets us back a little so maybe the following week. I'm still going to buy him a costume and he can just wear it in here. He's in a good mood though so it's that's good. I'd rather have a happy baby then a cranky one. Yesterday he slept all day he didn't wake up till 4pm, but he also went to bed at 3am the night before. He wasn't in pain or anything he just wanted to play, but I think since he slept for so long and he had physical therapy the day before when he woke up his right leg was stiff and he cried and cried cause it hurt really bad. He couldn't bend it and I got worried. So I decided to put the mat down on the floor and have him play on the ground and work out his leg. It worked and his leg is fine now. He just needed to get up and move around. Well other then all that everything is okay. Please pray that this time his counts will stay up and not drop to much.


love

olivia

Saturday, October 23, 2004 1:43 PM pacific

Antonio is doing very good. We might go home late next week if everything goes well. They are going to change his pain medacine to oral so we can go home on it. When we do get out we still have to be here everyday or every other day in clinic. I'm not sure how long they wait for radiation after his stem cell transplant, but that is the next step in treatment. He had phsyical therapy yesterday, he is getting closer to walking. We are going to go everyday next week. So hopefully he will be walking by the end of the week and we will be home and he can go trick or treating with cousin Izaac.


olivia

Friday, October 22, 2004 0:13 AM CDT

Antonio is doing good. We had a good day. He is doing a little better. His stomach seems to get better everyday. We put the NG tube back down today. He was not very happy. He's been cranky all night. He always stay's in one spot and doesn't move after they put the tube in. He's traumatized a little and doesn't want anyone to touch him. He even was falling a sleep, but wouldn't lay down so his head was just bobbing. It's kinda funny, but sad at the same time. He's stubborn, but i still love him. Erinne, Hunter's mom came to visitand a friend of her's. It was so nice. She is a wonderful women. We had a great visit. It's nice to talk to someone who know's everything we are going through, cause they've done the same. They are going back home to Selah,WA. tomorrow so i'm glad she came by before they left. Antonio is still having fun. Yesterday he was so funny. He was looking at his stuffed cat and his blues clues puppy and he was like "oh no kitty pooped" Then he wanted diapers for them. We put them on Blue and he kept checking his diaper and would say " no poop" then he said "oh no puppy pooped" Then he took the diaper off and was like " mama it's a icky diaper" "eeewww". Well I thought it was so funny i thought i would share. So his spirits are up and I'm glad


love
olivia

Thursday, October 21, 2004 0:25 AM CDT

Antonio is doing a lot better today. His counts are up to 9785. He had his last GCSF today. He had a little reaction to something yesterday. he broke out in a rash and was breathing funny, but everything is okay. Today he played all day. He's in a good mood. I want to thank all of Allie's Angels. We can use all the prayer we can get. Thank you. That also goes to everyone else. They said if everything is well we will be out in about a week in a half.


love and prayers,

olivia

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 10:36pm

Antonio is about the sameas yesterday. His stomach is hurting cause it is full of gas. That is what the x-ray showed. So he's been feeling pain from that. I'd rather it be that then something else. They gave him some gas drops and hopefully it will start working. His counts are very high. 5372. That was a huge jump. They are going to keep him on the gcsf for three days still unless it goes above 10,000. Hopefully this will be the turn around. We have been here for 4 weeks now. Am i going crazy? Maybe a little, but hopefully his counts will stay up and he will be off the pain meds sooner then later. He's been playing still so that is good. just some pains here and there.

Monday, October 18, 2004 11:04 PM CDT

Today Antonio is not feeling as well. His stomach has been hurting alot. His counts dropped to 437. Very low. They started back on GCSF and some antibiotics to prevent fevers. Its not very common for there counts to drop that low, but they are watching him very carefully. He's going to have a x-ray of his chest and stomach tomorrow to make sure everything is okay.

Sunday, October 17, 2004 11:38 PM CDT

Antonio had a really good day. He's feeling a little better. The nausea really gets to him. They are back to giving him nausea medacine around the clock. His counts dropped to 1827 which in normal since he stopped his GCSF. We will probably be here for another week or two. He has to be off his pain meds. They are going to start going down again tomorrow. This time slowly. He played all day and his friend Brayden came to visit. That made him very happy.

Saturday, October 16, 2004 2:03 PM CDT

Antonio is doing okay. He's been throwing up every morning for the past couple days. It's normal they said. It's like a late reaction to the chemo. This morning he wasn't feeling very well. We went up in pain medication instead of down cause he was just not comfortable. It will take time for his body to adjust and ease off the pain medication. Thats the hardest part right now. His counts are 5467 very high and where they want them to be. Last night was Hunters memorial. It was so sad. He was so cute. They had a little video and some of his favorite things there. I have never been to a childs memorial so it was hard. His parents are great people and I have felt so blessed just knowing them.


love and prayers

olivia

Friday, October 14, 2004 10:21pm pacific

Antonio is doing great. He's happy and having fun. Today we had physical therepy. With him being in bed and not walking he is unable to stand or walk without assistants. He had fun. He threw the ball, played basketball, and bowled a little. After all that he was tired and has been sleeping. His counts are 2277. Hopefully we will be out by next week. He got a game boy tonight from my old boss and her family he hasn't put it down since he woke up he loves it. Thank you Pamela and Jasmine. I think i might be in trouble cause know he can play anywhere:) As long as he's happy I will be happy extremely happy.

Love and Prayers
Olivia

Wednesday, October 13, 2004 11:04 PM CDT

Antonio is doing GREAT. his counts are up to over 1900. He's been up all day playing and having fun. Its such a change for last week. We started going down on pain medication and that is going good so far. I'm so happy cause he's doing so much better.

Monday, October 11, 2004 11:28 PM CDT

Antonio is doing so much better. Everyday is better. He's been sleeping alot, but when he's awake he's in a pretty good mood. He's playing a little and smiling. Oh how I missed his smile. And the sweet voice. We still aren't done yet though, but the hard part is pretty much over.

olivia

Monday, October 11, 2004 0:14 AM CDT

Antonio is doing so much better. I slept all night and didn't wake up until 11:30am. Antonio slept too:) He slept most the day. He took a bath tonight the first real bath in about a week. We have been giving him sponge bath. He was playing more nintendo and did a puzzle. My mom read books to him tonight and now he's sleeping. He's still drooling and can't swallow that well. His counts are 290. His fever has stayed down. He looks so much better. I am so proud of him. He has been so strong this hole time. I need to take him somewhere special after all this. He completely deserves it.

olivia

Sunday, October 10, 2004 0:26 AM CDT

Last night was horrible. I didn't sleep at all. At about 1 or 2am he was so aggitated. He was screaming and slamming himself on the bed, trying to pull his line out. It was like the exorcist without the head spinning. I started crying cause I have never seen him act like that. It was horrible. They almost sedated him cause it went on for so long. He was having a bad reaction to the pain medacine. Finally he calmed down and slept. It was so scary. They have everything under control now though. Today he was way more comfortable and he was even smiling and playing a little. At this moment he is playing his video game. His counts have started coming up they are 187. So he soing alot better. It was just a bad night. His fever is staying around 101. So that's better. Hopefully this week will be better and we can be home by halloween.

Saturday, October 9, 2004 0:53 AM CDT

Today was just horrible. Last night I didn't sleep at all. Antonio has been so aggitated, he just kept waking up yelling and crying. They decided to change his pain medacine. He's no longer on morphine. They think he was having a bad reaction to it. He was acting like he was having bad dreams, he was jerking alot and just not himself. So today they changed it to try and make him feel better. Its taking awhile, but I think its starting to work. His mouth actually looks better. Today has been long though cause I got no sleep at all last night. On top of that a little girl we know is dying. she had a rare leukemia and she had a bone marrow transplant and it didn't work so theirs nothing else they can do. Plus, I found out theres another little boy who has neuroblastoma and he's ahead of Antonio, but he just relapsed, so that is really hard cause they can't do anything else either. I haven't talked to his parents, but another family we know has. So after no sleep and hearing all that news it hasn't been a good day. Well I hope tonight is better and Antonio is feeling better tomorrow. Everyone have a good weekend.

olivia

Thursday, October 7, 2004 11:21 PM CDT

Antonio is doing a little worse today. His mouth has been hurting and he has been way aggitated. They have been trying to figure out if he has to much morphine or not enough. He's more alert and he was watching tv today. He hasn't talked much, but he did say "mama I want medacine in my tubey" In the sweetest voice. So i know hes not feeling that great cause he wants medacine. A couple more days. I've been a little stressed cause I hate seeing him this way. I can't wait for it to be all over.

Thursday, October 7, 2004 1:04 AM CDT

Antonio is about the same. The wonderful nurse we had last night raised his rate of morphine perfectly. I slept so much better and Antonio slept better too. He's more comfrontable, I feel bad cause I think he got use to the morphine and has been uncomfrontable the past couple of days and I thought it was just his drooling that bothered him, but today he was not crying out as much. He's still not doing as well. He's opening his eyes a little more, but still not talking much. I know in a couple days he will be feeling better (well I hope) and in a couple weeks he will be all better and probably driving me crazy.

Wednesday, October 6, 2004 1:56 AM CDT

Antonio is pretty much the same. He's a little more alert today. He was awake a lot more. I was up all night last night with him. HIs mouth kept needing suctioning. Every time I went to lay down and as I was just getting comfrontable he needed suctioning. I starting to get use to staying up though. I just lay around a little more. There's not a whole lot to do anyways. It's day +4 we still have a while. He's getting use to the morphine so they are uping it cause his pain is coming back. His mouth was hurting all day. He's had a fever all day of 103.2 and it's 103.4 as i'm writing. Pray it will go away. He had a chest x-ray today we will get the results tomorrow, they are routine for transplant patients. Well please pray for my little angel he needs it right now.

love and prayers,

olivia
tony's mama

Tuesday, October 5, 2004 0:05 AM CDT

Antonio is doing about the same as yesterday. He's slept all day. The only time he wakes up is when needs to be changed or his mouth needs to be suctioned. His rash is starting to spread all over his body. He's comfrontable though they haven't had to up his morphine at all. Its just really quite without him talking or playing. I know its just for this short while, but I miss it. Just a couple weeks ago he was so hyper and driving me crazy, its weird how I can miss that, but I just miss his sweet voice and smile. He's just so out of it.

love
olivia

Sunday, October 3, 2004 10:06 PM CDT

Antonio is starting to get really sick. He is now unable to swallow. It hurts so we have been suctioning or he'll just drool it out. The bad thing is he can't take his tylenol. They don't have an IV version only oral. So he has to just burn it off. It gets to about 103.2 then usually goes down a little. It stays above 101.0 all the time though. He has rashes in lots of places. Under his arms, legs, diaper area, behind his ears. He's been just sleeping most the day cause he's on so much morphine. He's pretty comfrontable. He's still so puffy it's so sad.

Love
Antonio's mama

Friday, October 1, 2004 11:57 PM CDT

Today was worse then yesterday. Antonio isn't feeling very well at all. He's still very swollen and his mouth is full of sores. Tonight they decided to pull out his ng tube cause his mucusitis is so bad all the way down. His mouth started bleeding so they wanted to pull the tube out before it caused any more bleeding on the way out. They added more morphine for him today cause he's very uncomfrontable. Last night I didn't get much sleep cause he was up alot with some pain. It will get worse within the next couple days and after about 10 days he will start getting some counts back and he'll start feeling better. So it will be a long week in a half.


olivia

Friday, October 1, 2004 1:20 AM CDT

Today was a little better. Antonio has been just out of it all day. He's just not feeling very well. He's very puffy from all the fluids. He only has one more bag of stem cells left. They will do them early in the morning. His lips are very swollen and mouth too. he won't open it for us so I'm not sure if he has alot of sore or not. My stress level is getting up there, well its more concern and sadness seeing my little angel in so much discomfort and pain. I hope it doesn't get any worse cause he's actually not that bad, its just hard cause he was feeling so good about a week in a half ago and now he feels icky.

love and prayers

tony's mama

Thursday, September 30, 2004 0:24 AM CDT

Today was a very long and stressful day. Antonio is still feeling just okay. We noticed his hickman line having some discharge and they ended up doing surgery pretty much just a couple hours after we noticed it. He had a hole in the line and the fluids were leaking out. So they had to replace it. He didn't get a bag of stem cells tonight cause he was in surgery. They are just going to give him the last bag on friday morning. It's been just a long day. They had to give him an IV on his hand which isn't always pleasant. He's doing okay though tonight just a little bit too much excitment for one day. He's feeling okay though. They started a morphine drip to keep him comletely comfrontable. Otherwise everything will continue tomorrow.

love and prayers

Olivia

Wednesday, September 29, 2004 1:11 AM CDT

Antonio is doing okay. His first two transplants went okay. He got sick with both. They preserve the stem cells in this chemical that smells horrible, but it can make the patients gag. So Antonio got sick both times more the second time though. He still has four bags to go. He's still doing okay he's more sick today then yesterday. His counts are very low today I think They will be at zero tomorrow. He's very touchy feely. He's crying a little easier and talking funny cause his mouth is swollen. The hospital gave him a big bouque of balloons to celebrate transplant day. On Thursday they will sing Happy Transplant Day to him when he's all done. I've been taking advantage of all the stuff they provide for the patients familys. Yesterday I had a massage and my sister and I learned to knit too. Trying to keep busy i guess.


Love and Prayers,

Antonio's mama

Tuesday, September 28, 2004 1:01 AM CDT

Antonio is doing excellent today. Full of energy is an amazing change from yesterday. He even walked all the way down the hall and back. He's been eating very little. They started IV feeds tonight. They start his transplant at about 7:30am. He has 6 bags of stem cells. It will take about 3 days to infuse. Each bag takes about 12 hours to infuse. His counts are starting to drop alot. So he'll start feeling icky by the end of this week. Keep praying everything is going great.

antonio mama

Monday, September 27, 2004 12:47 AM CDT

Antonio is still doing good. He has some mouth sores. They stopped his feeds cause his stomach is hurting. So they are going to start IV feeds. He's still playing his game and coloring. As I'm writing he's painting. He's a little weak. He's have a hard time walking sometimes. His mood is great. Still smiling and playing. Which makes me very happy. His hickman line is okay. They checked it this morning and they aren't very concerned cause it has a cuff in the inside and its still attached. Besides that we are juct hanging out trying to keep ourselfs busy to pass the time.


Love
Olivia

Saturday, September 25, 2004 2:05 AM CDT

Antonio is doing okay. Last night after his bath we noticed that his hickman line had been pulled out a little. Its very sensitive in the area for antonio cause its been pulle dout before. The doctors came and looked at it and they said it was okay, but they would watch it close. This morning he looked really swollen and didn't talk much. I thought to myself its already starting. His stomach was hurting and he threw up. They gave him some nausea medacine and he fell back to sleep. When he woke up he was feeling great. Very good mood and playing around. I felt better. He has the start of some mouth sores, but its not that bad yet. The nurses and doctors have been extremely nice. Constantly asking if we need anything, coming in often making sure he's not in any pain. They are so great.

love
antonio's mama

Thursday, September 23, 2004 7:27 PM CDT

Antonio is doing very well so far. He got sick once yesterday,but hasn't since. He was very cranky yesterday. I think being here again is a little aggitating for him. Transplant day is still the 28th. Today we decorated his room it is very cute. He's been in a really good mood today. He won't really start getting sick until next week. Yesterday was kinda hard. Hunter passed away yesterday morning. I was afraid to go see his parents, but the nurses said it would be okay. They are such nice people. It was very nice talking to them. It's so hard to believe he's gone already. It was just about a month or longer since he relapsed. My love and prayers go out to his family. I only got to meet him a couple times, but he was so beautiful.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004 8:05 PM CDT

Antonio is doing really good so far. He started his chemo around 11:30am this morning. He's been just playing his video games and coloring. We got a really nice room. There's a big window so you can see outside. They are doing constuction so Antonio gets to see the men work. He likes that. We are in room T3295. Transplant day is on September 28th. That will be a big day for him. This morning he was a little cranky, being back at the hospital is a little hard. He's been so use to no tubes and now he's got about 4-5 of them. Well today has been pretty easy. I know it will get harder, but one day at a time for now.

love

Antonio's mama

Tuesday, September 21, 2004 0:35 AM CDT

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone who showed up at chuck e cheese. It was very fun. It was so nice seeing everyone. Well we go back to the hospital tomorrow. Nice and early 8:00am. I'm very tired, but I'm trying to get ready to go. I don't want to bring to much, but we will be there for awhile so we have to bring thing to keep us occupied. Well I'll let everyone know how things are going.

Saturday, September 18, 2004 7:43 PM CDT

Hello everyone! Antonio is doing great. Yesterday I took him to the fair. He had so much fun. They have a toonzville and he say garfield, odie, and spiderman. It was cute. We watched a little skit with garfield and odie. He liked it. He went on some rides we say some one dressed up in a horse outfit. I thought he'd be scared cause he's scared of chuck e cheese, and the marinier moose, but he gave it a hug and took a picture. I was so surprised. We go back to the hospital on Tuesday. I'm not sure what time yet.

Love,
antonio's mom

Friday, September 17, 2004 0:20 AM CDT

Antonio is doing well. Today we had a couple appts. then we took Antonio to the mariners game. He had fun. He always get way into it. Claps, dances, and cheers. He loves it. We walked close to the field so we could see the mariner moose. We got so close and he went to say hi to Antonio and Antonio got scared so he backed off. He's always scared of thing like that. We go to Chuck E. Cheeses all the time and he's still scared of him. I think it is just his age. Well I had the bid meeting with the doctors today. It went well he told me the risks, which I already went over with our doctor at Childrens. It's still scary. This whole wekk has been very overwhelming. I've been a little stressed. After all this time I'm still trying to absorb everything. It's hard hearing all the stuff over and over it feels like a dream and i'm watching from afar. I'm glad we are almost done though. I talked to my social worker today and she rold me if all goes well we should be done with stem cell and radiation by mid november. I still have to decide about the last six months of treatment. I was given a couple options. Antonio starts his Stem Cell Transplant on the 22nd. So we have this weekend to just enjoy being home then we will be admitted to Childrens on Tuesday morning. He will be feeling okay the first couple days then will start getting sick after 2-3 days. Everyone please keep him in your thought and prayers cause the next few weeks will be extremely hard.

Love,
Antonio's Mama

Wednesday, September 15, 2004 2:49 AM CDT

Antonio is doing great. Full of energy. We had our first visit at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance/ Fred Hutch. We had a tour of the place, then met with a nurse, had some blood drawn and talked to one of the doctors. He went over the transplat with us a little. I kinda already knew what to expect from talking to our doctor at childrens, but he explained a little more. We meet with the head doctor on thursday. Well this is how the transplant will work. They count back words for 7 days. Day 7, 6, 5, 4 he will get very intense chemotherapy then day 3, 2, 1 will be rest days. Then on day 0 will be transplant day. On this day he will start feeling very sick from the chemo. His counts will drop fast, and he can be at zero for up to two weeks. that means no immune system. He will be watched carefully for infection. Anyone who visits will need to make sure they are completly healthy. He will have alot of sores in his mouth and can and probably will go down his throat and into his stomach. There are risks. With the sores he can have a hard time breathing and might have to go to ICU to help with breathing. It's very scary, but the doctor told me today that there airway is small already for being so young, that it can swell and he can have trouble breathing. They are going to take the ng tube out, cause he will get IV nutrition. I am a little happy to be able to see my sons whole face without a tube in his nose, but for him to be so sick it will be hard. The doctor told me that this will be the sickest he will probably ever be. Unfortunatly they have to make him sicker to make him better. As long as he stays in remission and if they can try to keep him there I will deal with it. For anyone who wants to visit we will be on the same floor just instead of going right when you walk in the cancer unit we will be on the left side (hematology) We are going to be taking visitors. We will be inpatient for 4-6 weeks so it will be nice to have some visitors. I will keep everyone updated as much as I can. If he's really sick he might not want visitors so I 'll let everyone know. There is no date yet for when we go in either the 22nd or around the 27th. We have a few more doctors appts this week the should know by the beginning of next week. Please keep Antonio in your thoughts and prayers he will need them during this very hard time.

love,
antonio's mama (olivia)

Saturday, September 11, 2004 3:26 PM CDT

Antonio is doing great. We have been enjoying our time home. He's been playing so hard. He has bruises on his legs from running so fast he falls. Before he always wanted me to hold him, now all he wants to do is run and run. I feel like i'm constantlyl telling him to slow down. It's so nice to have him so happy and want to play. We go to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance on the 14th for a clinic appt. we will have I think five clinic appts then they will start the chemo. On the 15th we go to the university of washington for a radiation appt. They won't start radiation until after his transplant, but we just have to go talk about how it works and fill out paperwork.

Wednesday, September 8, 2004 2:13 AM CDT

Antonio is in REMISSION. All his scans were clear. I am extremely happy about that, but with good news there usually always comes bad news too. Antonio had a hearing test today and he has had some hearing loss, and after he's done with his transplant he will need a hearing aid in both ears. Its a permanent hearing loss so he will have to were them for the rest of his life. I already thought he had a little hearing problem, but I didn't want it to be that bad. The reason he has hearing loss is cause one of the chemos he was on cause some hearing loss. He can't hear the letters or sounds of some words and in big crowds all he can hear is noise. It's very sad. They want to wait until after his transplant cause some of the chemos he recieves for transplant also can cause some hearing loss. We talked to the doctor today about Antonio's transplant. I got all my questions answered. It's kinda scary. He will start it around the 21st of this month. We will be in the hospital for about 4-6 weeks. Antonio can get really, really sick. usually when his counts get low from chemo they come up within 3-4 days. With transplant he can be at zero for around two weeks. So we have to be really careful with infection. I talked to the people at the transplant center today and they advised me that anyone who comes and visits him during transplant to get the flu shot since it's around flu season. The doctor also talked about treatment after his transplant. there are some newer study's they told me about. I really couldn't handle it. I have the paper work. and she went over it, but it's really scary. the doctor told me not to worry about it yet cause I have a couple of months to decide what I want to do, for his last six months of treatment.

Monday, September 6, 2004 6:23 PM CDT

Antonio is doing very well. We have had a really good weekend. On Saturday we went to the Park with Auntie Nikki, Uncle Ty, Izaac and grandma. It was fun Antonio was playing on all the toys. ( so was Uncle Ty) He had fun. Then Uncle Ty took us back through some trails and we saw some bunny's and ducks. Antonio loved it. Then we went and visited our friend shannon and her family. It was really nice. They have some dogs and Antonio just loves dogs. He was throwing the ball for one of the dogs. It was cute. On Sunday morning we went to Greenwater to visit some of our family that was camping. We actually stayed the night there. We were having so much fun. Antonio was throwing rocks in the river and someone brought a trampoline so Antonio was jumping on that. He had so much fun. He was asleep by 8:00pm and didn't wake up till morning. He was so worn out. Well we had a busy weekend. We go to the doctors tomorrow for a couple more tests and to talk about his stem cell transplant. I hope everyone had a good weekend.

Friday, September 3, 2004 10:45 PM CDT

Antonio is doing really well. We went to the hospital today for another test. He had a MIBG its a test that they do to all neuroblatoma patients. It's like a bone scan, but it looks closer. We go back on Tuesday to meet with our doctor to go over the tests we had this week and to talk about the stem cell transplant. We are getting very close. It seems just like yesterday he was diagnoised. The months have flown by. While I was waiting for Antonio I went and saw Hunter. He's so adorable. This was the second time I had ever seen him. He's doing okay. His mom and I just talked about all the treatment he had been on. Him and Antonio are on the same Protocol. He's in a very good mood she said, and has been playing alot. ( he was sleeping when I was there) Well I hope everyone has a good long weekend.

Thursday, September 2, 2004 3:09 AM CDT

Hi everyone! Antonio is doing great. We have been really busy this week in and out of the hospital. Antonio is having all these scans and tests done. He also has had to have blood and platelets. We have the day off tomorrow so that's nice then we will be back at the hospital on Friday for more tests. We get the results from his tests on Tuesday. It's been a hard week for us. I've been really emotional. I ran into Hunter's mom again and she told be that he isn't doing well and that he doesn't have much time left. They are trying to make him as comfortable as they can. It's so sad. He's the only kid we know that is ahead of us in treatment. So it's also really scary. It hit real close to home for us. I all just happened so fast i just talk to her a couple weeks ago and now he's at the point where they can't do anything for him. Everything makes me tear up after talking to her (me and my mom). Antonio is doing really good right now so I have tried hard not to think negative, but some days are just hard. I just ask that everyone take time to pray for Hunter and his family. Thank you.

Saturday, August 28, 2004 11:12 PM CDT

Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't wrote for a couple days. Antonio is doing good. We have been just hangout at home. Today we went to my cousins birthday party. Antonio had fun running around. We go back to the doctors on monday. We have a total of 15 doctors appts. in the next two weeks, So we will be at the hospital alot. Out patient though so that's good. He has to have all these tests done before they start his stem cell transplant. Well I hope everyone is having a good weekend

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 9:08 PM CDT

Antonio is doing good. We went to the doctor today. His platelets were low so we go back tomorrow for a transfusion. His counts are up so that's good. We went to nikki's today and he played with his friend brayden. He gets tired so fast. Before he would never want to go home, now when he plays for about 1/2 hour he wants to go home cause he's tired. That's okay he's allowed to be tired. Well we go back tomorrow and don't have to go back till monday after that.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 1:17 AM CDT

Antonio is doing good. We are home now. It was nice only being there for a couple days, instead of longer like usual. We have to go to the doctor every two days until his counts go up cause they are still zero. We went home on IV antibiotics. I have learned so much in the past six months that I think when I go to nursing school it should be easy. Antonio has been doing really good. He's been very hyper. He does have a couple mouth sores. He's never had them before, but besides those barely bothering him he's just as happy as can be.

Sunday, August 22, 2004 6:36 PM CDT

Hello everyone. Antonio is doing good. We are in the hospital. He got a fever on friday night so we've been in the hospital for a couple days, but we are going home tomorrow hopefully. He's been in a good mood, playing his video games, and coloring. Hope everyone had a good weekend

Friday, August 20, 2004 6:37 PM CDT

Hi everyone. Today has been a hard day for me. I've been thinking all day on what to write on the site. Let me start out by telling everyone that during Antonio's last chemo I saw a parent that I have been wanting to talk to for some time. Her sons name it Hunter and he also has Neuroblastoma. He is the only kid that I know of that is ahead of us in treatment. He actually was done in july. However, when I saw his mom at the hospital I got scared cause I thought if he is done with treatment why is he in inpatient. At about midnight last friday I was going back down stairs to our room when I actually ran into hunter's mom and actually got to talk to her. She told me he had relapsed. My body went kinda in shock. She explained his story to me and its amazing just like Antonio's. Well I think with talking to her, being a little stressed and reliezing how real this horrible disease is I fainted. I was more embarassed then anything. I am fine. So one thing she told me is he relapsed cause when he had surgery to remove his tumor they left some things in there too. well what they left in there started to grow new tumor and he is doing more treatment. So I guess the scary thing for me is Today I got the pathology report back and Antonio's tumor was all very active. i asked the doctor if he will relapse Like Hunter? She didn't say anything at first then said every kid is different. So I hope and pray that Antonio is different and that when he has radiation it will kill it. I seriously have to say that even after almost six months of this it seems more real. I think after talking to another parent who has already gone through most the treatment we are receiving now it helped. There is three other boys who also have neuroblastoma Gilbert, David, and Taylor. They are behind us in treatment. I don't know Taylor, but have heard about him from Gilberts mom. So I ask everyone to please take time out of there day and pray for all of them, and my little Antonio too.

Thursday, August 19, 2004 1:54 AM CDT

Antonio is doing good. His appointment went good. His counts have dropped, but he's not at zero yet. Probably within the next couple days. We go back on friday for blood work and to find out the pathology report from his surgery. We have been just staying at home cause his counts have dropped and I don't want him to get sick. He's getting a little cranky. He usually gets that way when his counts drop cause he starts to not feel that good.

Tuesday, August 17, 2004 6:21 PM CDT

Antonio is doing so good. He's been in a really good mood, most the time. We've been just enjoying our time at home. Auntie Nikki started watching Antonio's little friend Brayden so we have been going to her house and playing. I bought him the new Three Musketeers with Mickey mouse, Donald duck and goofy. He was so excited he loves Mickey Mouse right now. So we have been watching that today. We go back to the hospital tomorrow for a check-up.

Sunday, August 15, 2004 3:37 PM CDT

We are home and Antonio is doing great. He hasn't been sick at all. We don't go back to the doctors until wednesday. So we are just going to enjoy our time at home and play alot.

Friday, August 13, 2004 9:30 PM CDT

Hello everyone. Antonio is doing okay. Yesterday was not a good one for us. For about five days now he's been really constipated. I thought it was cause of his pain medication for his surgery so I took him off it cause he hadn't complained of any pain, but he still continued to be constipated and having gas pains. Yesterday was the worst cause he just kept screaming out and crying cause he was in pain and he ended up throwing up. They think he threw up cause he's so backed up and he's on constant feeds while we are here so his food had no where to go, but up. They did an x-ray to make sure there wasn't anything else. Everything came back okay though. So now he is on gas drops and some merlax, (a kind of laxative) to help and as of tonight he is doing good and not that constipated anymore:) We go home tomorrow his chemo is only 3 days not 4 like I thought. So we will be home tomorrow evening. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Thursday, Aug 11, 2004 9:38pm

Antonio is doing good. He started his last chemo today and it will go for about 4days. The doctors have decided to start him on physical therapy because he has been walking kind of funny and always wants to be carried. One of his chemo's can damage the nerves in the larger bones, like his legs, and the kids can lose their reflexes. Antonio now doesn't have any reflexes in his legs and hasn't for some time. So they are going to start the physical therapy to help him walk a little better. Not sure when that will happen, but besides that he is doing great.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 1:36 AM CDT

Antonio is still doing great. We've been enjoying our time at home. Today we went at played with his little friend brayden and then we went to the beach. It's kinda sad cause he couldn't go in the water and all the kids were playing and swimming, but he didn't complain at all. We just walked on the docks and looked at the ducks and boats. It was very nice. We go back wednesday night for his last chemo. (yeah!) We will be in the hospital for a least 4 days. We are pretty much half way through his treatment. Next is the Stem cell Transplant which is going to be hard, but Antonio has been so strong hopefully he will do okay with it. Well I hope everyone is doing well.

Saturday, August 7, 2004 4:07 PM CDT

Antonio is doing really good. We've been just hanging out at home. He's been in a really good mood and hasn't complained at all about pain. We don't have to go back to the hospital until August 11th so we will have alittle time at home.

Friday, August 6, 2004 2:15 PM CDT

Antonio is doing really good. We actually already get to go home today. He's been up playing and hasn't complained at all about pain. So we should be going home early this afternoon the doctors said.

Thursday, August 5, 2004 7:32 PM CDT

Antonio is doing amazing. He got his tube taken out last night and had some ice chips, then this morning he had juice and milk and got sick at all. Then this afternoon he ate some chickem nuggets and fries and has been feeling really well. They are talking about letting us go home tomorrow already. He's been sitting up on his own and talking alot. He looks alot better. He's not puffy really at all just his legs. So we are all happy with the way it is going.

Wednesday, August 4, 2004 2:15 PM CDT

Antonio is doing great. He had a really good night and this morning when the doctors came in they were really amazed by how good he has been doing. He even get's to have the tube in his nose taken out this afternoon. The doctors said they usually keep it in for at least 4 days after surgery, but he's doing so well and they already hear noises in his tummy that they are going to take it out early. He's been playing his game and watching cartoons. My sister and I were making him laugh this morning as we played with cousin Izaac. He doesn't look all that great with ihis puffy face and tubes everywhere, but he has been in a pretty good mood and is talking alot more.

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 5:20 PM CDT

Antonio is doing so well it's amazing. He was pretty much out of it all night and early morning. Then we moved to our new room and his little friend came to visit and he just kinda perked right up. He actually is playing nintendo as I am writing. It's so amazing I am in complete shock. His face is really puffy and his eyes are open but you can't really tell. I thought when he told me he wanted to play nintendo he would just look at it or just watch someone else play, but he wanted to play and is actually doing really well and beating the levels. it's very wierd cause it hasn't even been 24 hours since his surgery. He is very strong and I am so happy that he is doing well. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for him I think it really works.

Monday, August 2, 2004 11:11 PM CDT

Antonio is out of surgery and is doing really well. They ended up taking his tumor and kidney out. The tumor was about the size of a golf ball and then it went down and around his kidney so they ended up taking the kidney out too. They are going to be doing some tests cause the surgeon left what he thinks is some scar tissue from the tumor so they will do tests to see if they are dead cancer cells or live ones. The tissue he left was attached or to close to some main blood vessels so he didn't want to risk it. Antonio is doing good though. he lost some blood and ended up getting about 1 1/2 bags of blood, but he's very stable and should be out of intensive care tomorrow.

Monday, August 2, 2004 5:32 PM CDT

Antonio is in surgery right now. they started at about 2:15pm. They decided to do the surgery his counts were only 690 they wanted 700, but it was close enough I guess. I will keep everyone updated the best I can. He will be in intensive care on the forth floor for a while after surgery.

Sunday, August 1, 2004 11:24 PM CDT

Okay Antonio's counts are still low. They are at 465 they need to be at least 700 to have surgery tomorrw. I am really sorry it is all really up in the air. We go in at 8:30am to do labs. So we will know if Antonio has surgery tomorrow after about 9:30am. I will be calling people in the morning after we know and I will update the website as soon as I know too. I'm sorry for the people who want to take time off to be there. It's really frustrating for all of us. I am very stressed about the whole thing so if anyone has any questions about tomorrow they can call and I can explain more.

Friday, July 30, 2004 6:18 PM CDT

So we met with the surgeons yesterday. They told us about the surgery and all the risks. It's really scary, but I'm hoping for the best. He will be in intensive care for a while after. The time for surgery will be at 12:00pm on august 2nd. When we went to the doctors yesterday his counts actually dropped alittle more so hopefully they will be up by monday. We go in on sunday for lab work. If his counts are still down then they will probably cancel the surgery. So I will make sure and write on the website on sunday so everyone will know what is going on, but for now they have it scheduled for monday at noon.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004 1:04 PM CDT

Antonio is doing good. He was suppose to have surgery tomorrow, but his counts dropped from 1600 to 300. So it's not safe to do the surgery, so they are going to do the surgery next week. It will be on Monday we don't know what time yet, but it sucks cause that is his actual birthday. So it's going to be hard. We go back on thursday for a conference about the surgery. then they will call on sunday for the time for surgery.

Sunday, July 25, 2004 1:46 PM CDT

Antonio is doing very good. We had his birthday party yesterday and it went really well. It was nice seeing everyone. Antonio has a doctors appt. tomorrow and hopefully we will have a date for surgery.

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 2:18 PM CDT

We are still in the hospital and will be here until at least Thursday now. He's doing really well, but his counts still haven't gone up. Yesterday they were 21 so we were hoping they would go up today and we could go home, but they went down a little to 10. So they have to be 200 for us to go home so we have to wait a couple days. The reason his counts are not coming up fast is cause when kids get to about there 5th or 6th chemo it takes longer for there counts to recover cause the chemo really beats up there bone marrow and it takes longer to heal.

Sunday, July 18, 2004 2:44 PM CDT

Antonio is doing better and better everyday. We are still in the hospital and will be here now till at least tuesday. He wants to go home, but his counts are still at zero. The bacteria he has can be really bad if not treated well. So far he's been ok he hasn't had a fever for about 5 days and his cultureshave been negative for 3 days now, but since he has no counts they want to wait till they come up for us to be able to leave. He's still having a little diarrea, but today and yesterday he's been really spunky and jumping around. So hopefully his counts will come up and we can go home soon.

Thursday, July 15, 2004 2:36 PM CDT

Antonio is doing a little better every day. He's got a bacteria infection that is called enterococcus. What it is i'm not completly sure, but from what I understand it's a bacteria that lives in your stomach or intestines and when you have a low immune system or none at all in Antonio's case all the bacteria grows in some kind of line or something and travels to your blood stream and threw your stomach and body and just makes you feel sick and icky. I guess everyone has a bacteria like this in there body, but it doesn't ever do anything to us cause we have stronger immune systems. He's okay though. He just has diarrea and is just tired. It's kinda like when we have a bad cold or flu. He is on two antibiotic's and we can leave when he has 3 days of negative cultures. So far he's had none so we will probably be here till Saturday or Sunday. Thanks to everyone who is praying and thinking of us it means so much to me that we have such great friends and family.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004 8:12 PM CDT

Antonio is doing okay. He's not feeling very great, but it's understandable. He has some sort of infection, they think it might be a type of strep, but they are doing some tests. He has had alot of diarrea he's been putting out more then they have been putting in so they have been giving him alot of fluids. He got sick today and threw his tube up again so he had to have a new one put in, and he's been pretty quiet the whole day. His counts are at zero today and probably won't go up for a couple days. He's going to feel a little icky for the next couple days. They put him on the strongest antibiotic they can give little kids cause the antibiotic he should be on he's allergic to. Please keep praying and hopefully he'll feel better by next week for his birthday party.

Monday, July 12, 2004 11:49 PM CDT

We are back in the hospital. We came in on saturday night around 11pm, and didn't even get a room until 3am. Antonio is doing okay. He has a little fever and they are keeping him until his counts go up or he stops having fevers. He's a little cranky, but has just been lying around. We are on isolation cause they think he might have an infection or virus. He's not complaining of any pain, but he's had a little diarrea. So we will be here until at least wednesday or thursday.

Thursday, July 8, 2004 6:35 PM CDT

Antonio is doing so good. He hasn't got sick at all since we have been home. I was really scared cause last time he had this chemo he was really sick, but so far he's feeling great. We went to the doctors today for an appt. and I expected them to tell me his counts are at zero, but they said his counts are fine and we could do whatever. So we took antonio to chuck e cheese. He had fun. We go back saturday for blood draws to see where his counts are, but otherwise we are just enjoying our time at home. He's been in a good mood and just running around and being happy. It's wonderful.

Sunday, July 4, 2004 3:49 PM CDT

Antonio is doing great. We've been in the hospital for his 5th chemo and he hasn't got sick once yet. The kidney test turned out ok. He had to be in between 81-100 for him to start his chemo and he barely made it with a 82. They said its low cause he only has one kidney. We will be here until tuesday afternoon then we will be out for a while unless he gets a fever. He's been in a great mood all happy and smiles, and he is even eating so I'm really happy. He is having his surgery the week of the 26th they aren't sure what day yet though. Well I hope everyone has a nice 4th We are going to go upstairs and watch the fireworks on the balcony. i guess you can see all of seattle so it will be nice.

Thursday, July 1, 2004 9:29 PM CDT

Antonio is doing good. Sorry I haven't wrote for a couple days. I've been sick and was adviced by my doctor to stay away from antonio for at least 48 hours so my antibiotic could kick in so I stayed at a friends house and my parents and sister have been helping with antonio. I missed him so much we spend so much time together it was weird not really seeing him for a couple days. I'm feeling a little better now so I'm back home. Today My mom took him for his test that lasted 9 hours. They did a blood test but it was like dialysis. To make sure his kidney is working right. I find out tomorrow the results. We go back for chemo tomorrow and will be there for 5 days. So we are celebrating the 4th of july tonight so tony doesn't miss it really.

Tuesday, June 29, 2004 0:57 AM CDT

Antonio is doing good. We went to the doctors today and thought we were going to start chemo, but we have to wait till friday. They have to do some tests to make sure his kidney is okay. The chemo he has next is real hard on your kidneys and since he only has one they need to make sure it's working good enough so they can start his chemo. So we have rest the week to play. Today we went to the Rain Foerst cafe and tomorrow we are going to chuck e cheese or family fun center. So we will have a good week then go to the hospital on Friday for his 5th chemo.

Sunday, June 27, 2004 7:51 PM CDT

Antonio is doing well. We go back to the hospital tomorrow for chemo #5. Antonio got baptized yesterday. It was very nice. Antonio only being two, acted just his age, but did a good job. I was very happy with the way it all turned out. There was so much family and friends it was wonderful. Thanks to everyone who came it was so nice to see everyone.

Thursday, June 24, 2004 4:36 PM CDT

We are home. Antonio is doing so good. His counts are up and we don't go back till monday for his fifth chemo. When we got his ct back it was normal, and I am very happy to say that antonio has no more tumors in his chest. We are very happy.

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 7:19 PM CDT

We are still in the hospital. Yesterday Antonio had and EEG to make sure his brain waves a ok. The test came back good there's nothing wrong. He's been in a better mood since yesterday. He hasn't had a fever for almost 24 hrs. so hoprfully we can go home tomorrow. He also had a ct scan of his whole body today to make sure they aren't missing anything. They did find out he has sedif. its a bacteria in his stomach. So he's on an antibiotic for that. hopefully everything will be good so we can go home and get ready for his baptism.

Saturday, June 19, 2004 6:52 PM CDT

Well they let us come home. This is the first time they let us come home with his counts at zero. we go back tomorrow for some lab tests. We can't go anywhere cause I don't want him to get sick or anything. He's still kinda cranky, but is happy to be home. He still has a fever, but its not that bad. I'm just watchig him real close.

Wednesday, June 16, 2004 12:39 AM CDT

Well we are in the hospital already. We came in last night with a high fever. When we left the house it was 102.0 and when we got to the hospital it was 104.2 way to high. He's been just a little cranky and tired. They aren't sure what's wrong he has no cold or anything, but still is constantly running a fever even with tylenol. We will be in the hospital for at least 3-4 days or longer if he has an infection.

Tuesday, June 15, 2004 1:22 AM CDT

Today we went to clinic. Antonio's counts have already dropped, way faster then all the other times. The doctors said it's pretty normal cause the chemo is real tough on your body. He's been pretty good. He's been a little cranky, but we had an early appointment and he was tired. He was running a little fever, but not high enough to take him to the hospital. Izaac's surgery was good.

Sunday, June 13, 08:41 PM

We had a very busy weekend. Antonio is doing very good. Yesterday Antonio went out with grandpa to the park and for some ice cream, today we went to a family party and Antonio got to eat cake (his favorite) and play, then we went bowling again with my dad's family Antonio did good he actually got a couple strikes. We go to clinic tomorrow and My nephew has surgery for a hernia in the morning at Children’s so we are just going to stay with Nikki and ty. It was very nice seeing everyone this weekend and just say again thanks for all your love and support it means the world to us:)

Saturday, June 12, 10:10 AM

Antonio is doing so good. He hasn't got sick at all and is full of energy. He's been running around all over the place. It drives me crazy, but I'm so happy. He looks really good he hasn't been eating as much, but that's pretty normal after chemo.

Thursday, June 10, 06:36 PM

Antonio is doing well. We go home tomorrow and come back on Monday for a clinic appt. He hasn't been sick at all with this chemo so far so it's been nice.

Wednesday, June 09, 06:20 PM

Antonio is doing good. He hasn't really been sick at all yet. He's been just playing video games and watching movies. We get to go home on Friday morning.

Tuesday, June 08, 04:30 PM

Antonio is doing really good. He's in for his forth chemo now and will be here for about 4 days. We had a very busy weekend. On Friday I took him to the Mariners game. He loved it that’s all he can talk about, then on Saturday we went to the Dora Explorer live that was real cute he liked all the music and dancing then on Sunday we went bowling with all my family it was really fun Antonio did ok, but he had more fun just running around.

Friday, June 04, 03:58 PM

Antonio is doing good, I took him to the beach yesterday and the park today. we are going to the mariner game tonight and the Dora explorer concert tomorrow. Our friends we met at the hospital gave us the tickets cause they are in for chemo. There son also has neuroblastoma too. It’s been nice to talk to someone who is actually going through the same thing.

Thursday, June 03, 10:27 AM

Antonio is back home we went to the hospital this morning, but they told us his counts are to low for chemo, so we have to go back on Monday. They said sometimes when kids are on antibiotics there counts go down. So they told us to just have fun this weekend and be careful on what we do.

Wednesday, June 02, 07:10 PM

Antonio is doing really good. We go back to the hospital for his forth chemo tomorrow. He's had a lot of fun since we've been home. We took him to the Rain Forest cafe he liked it a lot. He loved all the animals. Then he went with his dad and grandma on a boat and went fishing he liked that too.

Monday, May 31, 08:28 PM

Antonio is doing well. We had a big weekend. He played a lot. We go back to the hospital tomorrow for blood and go back for chemo on Thursday. He is looking really good compared to last week. He's all smiles again.

Thursday, May 27, 07:08 PM

Well we had a good day. We got to come home this afternoon. Antonio is feeling really good. I learned how to do IV meds. Today there was a little concert for the kids at the hospital. Antonio was so cute he was singing and dancing to was so sweet. He loved it. we are home until Tuesday.

Wednesday, May 26, 07:34 PM

Antonio is doing good today. He got blood and platelets today. We hopefully get to go home tomorrow. I just have to learn to give him antibiotic's by IV. His counts are starting to come up. What ever virus or infection he had is not showing up in his blood anymore so that's really good. He was really cranky today, but I would be cranky too.

Tuesday, May 25, 05:53 PM

Antonio is doing good today. He had a fever last night and this morning, but is in a good mood. The doctors told me that whatever infection he has is rare, and they are doing a lot of blood work to figure out what medicine to give him. They said because it's rare doesn't mean they can't help him. The antibiotic he's on now seems to be helping so they are just going to watch close. they are pushing his next chemo back a little cause he's sick and still has no counts.

Monday, May 24, 05:28 PM

Antonio is doing a lot better today. He woke up smiling and talking. It’s so great to see my baby smile I missed it. His tests came back positive with some type on infection. I'm not quite sure what it is though they are going to tell me tomorrow cause they just take blood and put it in these bottles and wait three days to see if anything grows. Then if something grows he has a bacteria or some type of infection, then they try to determine what type of infection it is, so they are still looking into it. His stomach still hurts, but they have him on pain medication to help.

Sunday, May 23, 07:42 PM

Antonio is doing a little better today. We had a long night cause his tummy was in a lot of pain. He's been pretty quite today. He just watches TV and that’s about it. He doesn't talk as much as usual and whines every time a nurse comes in. they took him off the heart monitors. We will hopefully know what's wrong with his stomach tomorrow.

Saturday, May 22, 07:56 PM

Well we are in the hospital. Antonio got a fever this morning. So we have to stay for a couple days. He's been a little better today (mood wise) his stomach is still hurting him and his nose has started running so I think he might have a cold. They are watching him close. They have him hooked up to heart and oxygen monitors. His breathing was a little slow today they said but not anything to be worried about

Friday, May 21, 08:15 PM

Today was not a good day either. We went to the hospital to get a blood count. While we here waiting for the results we went to lunch and he ended up getting sick in my car again and threw his ng tube up again. We went back to the hospital and they put a new one in, but on the other side. He was not happy at all for the rest of the time we were there all he did was look down. I couldn't get him to look up at all he was so sad. The nurses tried to give him toys he didn't even want them. It was very depressing. He ended up getting platelets cause they were low. We were there for probably three hours and he didn't hardly talk. I sure hope things turn around cause I don't think we can hardly another sad day. All he's done since we got home is sit on the couch. He's watching toy story 2 his favorite movie and Nikki & ty came to visit he cheered up a little he loves seeing them. Pray tomorrow will be better.

Thursday, May 20, 09:00 PM

Today was a very long and stressful day again. We went to the Hospital early this morning. On the way there Antonio started acting like he was going to get sick, so I gave him this bowl I keep in my car in case he gets sick and instead of using it he put it on his head then got sick all over himself. So we stopped and cleaned it up and went to the Hospital. We were there all day. His red blood cells were low so he had a transfusion, but he was sick the whole time we were there. His stomach was been hurting him really bad so they did some tests which we don't get back till tomorrow. Then he got sick and threw his ng tube up again. So they had to do another one. He stayed pretty calm the whole time. I don't know how he does it, cause he can for sure handle it better then me sometimes.

Wednesday, May 19, 09:06 PM

Today was a very stressful day. I had to do some things and my sister watched Antonio for me and not even 20 mins after I left he got sick and actually threw up his ng tube. (the tube that goes down his nose to his stomach for his food and meds) My sister had no way to get a hold of me so she called 911 and they didn't really know what to do so by then my mom came home and called the hospital and she had to just pull the tube out. Then I got home and had to take him to the hospital by our house and get a new one. He was so brave I was so proud. He just whined a little. The nurses were amazed of how well he did. We go back to the hospital tomorrow for a check up.

Wednesday, May 19, 10:41 AM

Hi everyone! Antonio is doing good. We don't have to go back to the doctor till Thursday. He's kind a quiet cause he doesn't always feel so good. We've been just hanging out around the house. I don't really want to take him anywhere till he starts feeling better. My sister and her husband went to lunch with us on Monday and Antonio ended up getting sick at the Restaurant. He hasn't been as sick the past couple days.

Sunday, May 16, 05:59 PM

Antonio is doing well we are home now and can stay home for about two weeks as long as he doesn't get a fever. He's been a little more sick with this chemo but he's done real well tolerating it. If you didn't read already he has no Neuroblastoma in his bone marrow any more but they still are going to do all the treatment, he stopped eating again but takes bites now and then. Please keep praying it really is working I think he's done so well so far.

Thursday, May 13, 05:34 PM

Antonio is doing good. this morning he was sick but they gave him something and he slept for along time, but when he woke up he was doing good. We have one more day of chemo and on Saturday we should be able to go home.

Wednesday, May 12, 09:51 AM

Antonio is doing good his ct scans came back really good. His tumor on his side has shrunk a lot. If it were a grapefruit it is now a little smaller then a plum. I haven't had any news on the rest of his tests. He is on a new chemo it is a little more intense. He hasn't got sick yet but I guess a lot of kids don't react good to this chemo treatment. It can attack your kidneys and lungs. Since only one of his kidneys is functioning they are watching him real close. We have to change him every hour so last night was a long night, but he slept through most of it. He's really happy and is still eating so they might take the tube out of his nose if he continues to eat. Which will be really nice.

Monday, May 10, 04:52 PM

Antonio is doing good. We went to chuck e cheese today and he had a lot of fun with cousin Izaac and his friend Brayden. That’s all he has talked about all day. He didn't have his bone marrow aspiration today they are going to do it tomorrow along with ct scans and a bone scan. So he will be sedated tomorrow afternoon for all that. Then we will be admitted for chemo for four days not three like usual cause his medication is suppose to change after the second chemo. The doctors said he looks really good.

Sunday, May 09, 09:28 PM

Happy Mother's day. Antonio is doing good. He was a little tired today. I think he had a big weekend, and just hasn't played that hard for a long time. Well tomorrow we go to the hospital, and Tuesday he will be admitted for chemo.

Saturday, May 08, 09:02 PM

Today was a good day very relaxing. Antonio was very busy. My dad took him shopping, to uncle Paul’s, and to Mcdonalds he had so much fun. When he came back he had so much to talk about it was very cute. It's so nice seeing him semi back to normal. He plays outside, and just runs around the house laughing and playing. he's so happy at home.

Friday, May 07, 04:41 PM

Antonio is doing so well. We are all done with the stem cell collection. They collected over 30 million stem cells. it's going to be nice cause this weekend is I think the first weekend we are doing nothing . He doesn't go back until Monday. I want to wish everyone a Happy Mother’s day. Have a good weekend

Thursday, May 06, 10:15 PM

Antonio is good. We went and had them collect more stem cells today. Tomorrow is the last day. Then we go back on Monday for a bone marrow aspiration and then he has a ct scan on Tuesday and then will be admitted for chemo.

Tuesday, May 04, 03:07 PM

Antonio is doing well. He has his stem cell collection tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. His third dose of chemo starts on Monday. We went to Fred hutch today and he starts his collection at 8am tomorrow and it usually lasts about 4 hours.

Monday, May 03, 11:03 PM

We are home. Antonio is doing good. He's happy to be home. He's been running around outside and just being a kid it's great. We have to go to the hospital everyday this week and sometime next week he should start his third dose of chemo.

Sunday, May 02, 07:53 PM

We are still in the hospital. He's been pretty good. He had a platelets transfusion yesterday, and got another red blood transfusion today. they are suppose to do the stem cell collection on Monday, but it might change to Tuesday. He has to do that for 3 days about 4 hours a day to collect stem cells for his bone marrow transplant. I'm hoping we can come home on Tuesday but I'm not sure. the stem cell collection is suppose to be at the Fred hutch cancer center in Seattle, but if we are still in the hospital they can do it here. He's doing good though

Thursday, April 29, 07:37 PM

Well we are back in the hospital cause not even a half hour after I wrote he was doing good he got a fever and we had to come back to the hospital. We will be here for a couple days. He's doing ok he just has a fever. Hopefully we can go home on Sunday.

Thursday, April 29, 10:01 AM

Antonio is doing really good. We went to the hospital yesterday and he had a red blood cell transfusion and that went well. He does so much better when we are at home. his white blood cells are at zero right now. So we are watching him closely but so far no fever.

Monday, April 26, 03:40 PM

Antonio is doing really good. It's so nice to be at home. He does so much better at home cause he can be pretty much himself. He eats and drinks more at home then in the hospital. We went to clinic today and his blood counts are dropping and he will probably need a transfusion on Wednesday, but I think it is actually only a day thing so we don't have to stay over night.

Sunday, April 25, 10:01 AM

Antonio had surgery this afternoon, to replace his line. Everything went good we are actually home now and just have to go back twice a week for clinic visits and the only time we have to stay is if he has low blood count and needs a transfusion or he gets a fever.

Friday, April 23, 05:35 PM

So we can't go home today.( we were getting ready to go and I noticed his shirt was wet and what had happened is his hickman line in his chest (that he gets all his chemo and blood draws through) was leaking and they are going to have to do surgery in the beginning if the week to replace it. I actually noticed his shirt being wet yesterday, but he was sick a couple times and sweats sometimes when he sleeps so i thought nothing of it, but they are concerned cause the line isn't attached to the blood vessel anymore and he had chemo all yesterday and last night. So they are watching him closely to make sure he doesn't develop a rash or anything and his line is bleeding out so they want to watch that to.

Thursday, April 22, 05:33 PM

Antonio is doing very good today we get to go home tomorrow and just have to come back twice a week. He hasn't gotten sick that much today and is in a really good mood.

Wednesday, April 21, 08:13 PM

Antonio is doing good he started his second dose of chemo on Monday night and is done with it Friday early in the morning. He's already getting sick, but is still doing well. We get to go home hopefully on Friday morning. Then we will have to come back twice a week for clinic visits to check blood counts. He hasn't been running a fever at all. We changed rooms it’s way bigger. T3268 is the new room number.

Sunday, April 18, 03:51 PM

We have been at home since Friday night. Antonio has done really good he hasn't even gotten sick at all. He's been running around and just being himself. We go back to the hospital on Monday morning for chemo and will be there again for a while

Thursday, April 15, 05:57 PM

Antonio is doing great. we get to go home tomorrow, but have to come back on Monday. It will be real nice to be at home. He is starting to get use to the food and still hasn't had a fever.

Monday, April 12, 03:16 PM

Antonio is doing ok. After we came back last night he started to run a high fever and kept getting sick. Today they had to tube him cause he won't eat or take any medication orally. It’s very hard to see him like that, but hopefully if he does good and doesn't pull it out we can maybe go home in Thursday cause they changed his chemo date to Monday.

Sunday, April 11, 06:50 PM

Happy Easter everyone. Nothing really new today. We did get to go home for a couple hours that was very exciting, it's just really hard bringing him back. He's doing good he hasn't had a fever for over 24 hours.

Saturday, April 10, 06:17 PM

Antonio is doing good he had a ct scan yesterday cause he is still having fevers. Everything was ok though. We might be able to go home for about 4 hours tomorrow if he isn't running a fever. He's kind a cranky today, but we did a lot walked and went on an Easter egg hunt and saw the Easter bunny. So he was very tired this afternoon and has been sleeping a lot. He starts chemo on Thursday and they told us we probably won't be able to go home for a while.

Thursday, April 08, 02:50 PM

Antonio is off isolation, we are so happy. We went and played basketball and nintendo in the playroom today and walked a lot around the unit. He's doing so well. The only way we can come home is if he starts eating and has no fever. he hasn't eaten in over two weeks cause he just doesn't want to, he's on nutrition so he hasn't really lost any weight. The doctors said some patients just don't want to eat and its okay if they don't. That’s why they put them on nutrition, but they are going to stop nutrition for half the day tomorrow to see if he gets hungry at all. They also aren't going to start his next chemo treatment till the 15th of this month. Instead of next Thursday. He's doing so well that hopefully he'll start eating and we can go home for a couple days.

Wednesday, April 07, 06:11 PM

Antonio has been doing so well the past couple of days it's so nice he's almost back to normal. He had some test’s today cause he has a bladder infection. He might get off isolation tomorrow so that will be so nice.

Tuesday, April 06, 06:39 PM

Antonio is feeling way better. His white blood count is starting to come up. He might be getting off isolation in a couple days we are just waiting for the test results. Things are starting to look up we might be able to go home in the beginning of next week as long as Antonio is feeling better and he has no fever. He is looking really good and is playing more.

Monday, April 05, 06:27

Today Antonio is good. Last night was kind a scary cause he was throwing up blood. So they gave him a platelet transplant which helps with the blood clotting. He's fine though it mostly just scared me. His hair has started to fall out and was everywhere so I shaved it. He's getting sores in his mouth but they don't seem to bother him. the reason he was throwing up blood was cause his stomach is so raw from not eating that sometimes when kids get sick that can happen. His blood count hasn't dropped at all so that good and he is starting to get some of his white blood cells back which will help with his infections.

Sunday, April 04, 01:20 PM

Yesterday we got the good news that Antonio's tumors have shrunk and we are all so happy and excited. He is still having fevers and his blood count dropped a huge amount yesterday and he had a blood transfusion last night. They are watching him very closely to see if the tumor is bleeding out. He had an allergic reaction to a new antibiotic yesterday and his tongue started to swell so they changed it to another antibiotic. He's doing good and is in a lot better mood then the last couple of weeks.

Friday, April 02, 08:03 PM

Antonio was good today, but still complaining of stomach pains. He's had a constant fever for almost a week and the doctors aren't quite sure why so this afternoon they did a CT scan to see if they are missing anything just for a precaution. We get the results hopefully tomorrow morning. He has slept a lot today cause they put him on a constant morphine drip so his pain doesn't go up and down. So hopefully he will stay comfortable.

Thursday, April 01, 02:29 PM

Antonio has been a little cranky today. His stomach and side have been bothering him. His immune system is gone, but we are giving him shots to boost his white blood cells (which fight off infections and bacteria). We are just being very careful of who comes in and out cause I don't want him to get sick. He's been just watching all his favorite Disney movies over and over, and reading his books and playing with his toys

Wednesday, March 31, 04:06 PM

Antonio has been doing well today and yesterday. He has been running a fever for the past couple days, but they are watching him closely. He's getting a new bed cause he has developed a rash and sores from the other one. So he's getting an air bed that is more comfortable. He's doing better and better each day with his pains in his stomach and has been in better moods.

Monday, March 29, 04:33 PM

The past couple of days Antonio finished his first dose of chemo starting on Thusday and ending on Sunday morning. He's been doing okay he has an infection so we are on isolation again. He's been playing part of the day but still has his cranky moments. Just last night he started reacting to the chemo and is getting sick to his stomach but the doctors are giving him medication to help.

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