Journal entry by Julie Ordal —
Update from Josi!! Zan update Mayo thru Feb 2024 -
Zan completed radiation treatment at Mayo on January 29. Whew, it was great to have that part done! Zan was a trooper. We had been worried how this would go for him and our family. It went different than planned due to weather. Despite facing harder treatments and many emotions, it went well - better than expected.
After he finished out a 5 day chemo treatment and heading home, he had a couple weeks of "lighter" or no chemo until the end Feb.
Highlights!
- Zan's music lessons moved onto Beach Boys while riding on the Mayo shuttle. He decided it was "OK", but rock is better.
- For an early early appointment, Zan was pretty excited when our "medical taxi" was new Tesla with a fancy driver. The driver told us how Mayo has changed in past 10 years. We had to take a couple pics to show Ash.
- A different medical taxi driver joked around with us on the drive to St Mary's Hospital for chemo. His commentary on a other taxis dropping others off before us was pretty funny . We were taken to the door by him, but not so much by the other taxis.
- We enjoyed getting to spend more time with Ellie and her family before heading home. Zan had a bonus day with her because of delay in chemo treatment.
- Zan played lots of tag and hide-n-seek in the gym by our room. Thank goodness for the gym!
- We met an adult who beat her childhood cancer. While Zan was pretty shy around her, his questions after her visit left no doubt he was paying attention. Up until then, most of his exposure was to kids with cancer/serious medical conditions in active treatment.
- Zan loved zooming around Mayo in his Warrior wagon. After each treatment he snuggled into it with 2 peach yogurt and his tablet while his wobbles (from anesthesia) wore off.
- Zan was so excited when Brian joined us.
- We loved to see Zan's smiles when looking at the letters, cards, and a special video messages he received! SO much love sent his way! We stopped by our mailbox a couple times a day just in case.
- The last couple weeks, it has been wonderful seeing Zan playing like he used to - riding his bike, running around outside.
- His numbers were good enough to visit his pre-k class and even a Brookings Rangers hockey game!
While we miss our new Rochester friends, we hope not to see you until Zan visits for after treatment checkups!
Zan recently had scans showing his is on track, no new tumors or concerns. It takes time to see treatments are working. Patience isn't something I'm good at.
Zan is handling treatments pretty good. A new challenge is his boredom. He wants to be around his friends, school, and just do "normal stuff". We think (fingers-crossed) the new Hopecam Connection with friends will help.
Each treatment is one closer to being done!
Looking forward to him being able to go to kindergarten this fall.
-Josi and Brian
Zander is currently at the Castle receiving his 4-day round this weekend. Unfortunately, he was unable to be at his Kung Fu Panda benefit in Brookings "in person", but was able to "be there" via Hopecam!! It was very overwhelming for him to have everyone looking at him, but he stayed on camera to see all his amazing supporters! Thank you to the over 450 supporters that showed for the family!! 💕 Thank you to Brittany Peterson, Ronda Buurman, and the Brookings Cinema 8 for making this happen!!! ❤️ Pics and videos to follow
-Josi and Brian
Zander is currently at the Castle receiving his 4-day round this weekend. Unfortunately, he was unable to be at his Kung Fu Panda benefit in Brookings "in person", but was able to "be there" via Hopecam!! It was very overwhelming for him to have everyone looking at him, but he stayed on camera to see all his amazing supporters! Thank you to the over 450 supporters that showed for the family!! 💕 Thank you to Brittany Peterson, Ronda Buurman, and the Brookings Cinema 8 for making this happen!!! ❤️ Pics and videos to follow
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