Wanted to update everyone on Parkers progress. 

It’s been a rough month. We expected it to be but I think this far in we are more than ready for him to be done. I know he is!!!!  

It all started with a spinal tap and 3 chemos. Steroids for 7 days then off for 7 days and on again for 7 days.  Parker had the DI(Delayed Intensification) Blues.  The first week he was really down out. Missed baseball all week and really couldn’t or didn’t want to do anything. By Saturday of the following week he perked up. Started to get back to a little normalcy. 

He was able to get back to school and baseball. Played his first game since being diagnosed. I will say it was really emotional for Robyn and myself.  While I didn’t make it there for it I was sent a picture of him in Centerfield.  It got really dusty where I was.  All the emotions were felt.  He played a couple innings. Made a catch.  He batted. All in all an amazing accomplishment from where he was.  Of course he was a little hard on himself after he got home. Always trying his best. The one thing he said to us when he first got out there was he almost cried!  I got to see him the next game at Wild Things. Again really dusty there.  Nothing came his way but it was great to see. 

Later in the week Robyn had him at Childrens for a treatment and his numbers were so good they moved us up basically a week for the second half of DI.   Looking at the calendar we are projecting his last treatment was going to happen April 18th!!!   Yes we are close. Things started to go South after this. 2 days later he wakes us up at 5:30 in the morning.  Running a temp.  99.8. Dammit. If it gets to 100.4 we monitor it for an hour and if it stays the same or higher we call the hospital. If it gets to 101 we go straight to the ER. Thank goodness it stayed in the 99 range. We had to shut him down for the day.  The worst part is he is not permitted to take anything to feel better or bring the temp down.  He is taking his temp every 20 minutes to an hour. Fast-forward 24 hours he runs normal.  We let him go to the West A Baseball Cornhole fundraiser. He had fun. Him and Rheece finished 3rd or 4th. But they had fun. 

Come Monday Robyn had him back at CHP.  They had to isolate him. Tested negative for everything. His ANC number was low. He was close but too low to start.  So we are delayed for a week.  Which in reality is only 4 days from the plan.  He has been battling this Temp thing all week.  Woke up this morning still coughing and running a temp in the high 99’s. Frustrating. 

Parker did something yesterday. He made the difficult decision to not play baseball until his intense treatments are done.  Back in September the doctors told him that it probably would not be possible. That he probably had nerve damage in his brain and he might not get full movement of his eye back.  He never lost faith. He worked hard when he could.  He would get chemo and go try. There’s so many things I could go on for hours.  He said they told me I couldn’t and I did. That’s enough for me right now. His body hurts and he feels like shit(sorry). He is losing all his hair again.  But in his mind he can still do what he could in July but his body won’t let him.  That’s tough for a kid who runs fast, plays the game 100+ all the time.  His love for baseball runs deep.  Those of you that have had the opportunity to see him play know that he is always smiling on the field. That’s tough when everything in your world is fighting you. While hard for us to understand, I’m proud he made a decision that was best for him.  

He goes back Monday for treatment. There everyday for an hour drip. Prayers please that his sickness goes away and he can move forward with this. Also prayers for the other children and adults who are having it so much harder.  We have been blessed. We will get through this. We are so close.  Keep the faith!!

Love you all

The Browns