Alaska!

In August we were more the blessed to find out that we were going to be going to Alaska for Ethan's "Make a Wish"wish.

The trip was amazing that it is hard to put in words how much fun we all had as a family. The highlight of course was seeing Ethan enjoy seeing whales, puffins, and much more. Ethan loved the puffin birds enough that he decided he wanted to go to the sea life center and check them out up close, so we did, when we got to looking into the place they had a puffin encounter that taught you about puffins and then allowed you to hand feed them this was incredible to see Ethan get excited about this and want to do it!

Of course, as an emotional Mamma I was misty eyed many times as I watched him enjoy this trip.

The train was very relaxing and beautiful the Alaska Make a Wish bumped Ethan and crew to gold star statues and gave us a wonderful time!

The cruise was equally relaxing and was enjoyed by all we loved being cold and watching for many things we have never seen before. We experienced many firsts on this trip these memories we will treasure for our life time.

The dog sledding tour was delightful and interesting to watch. The kids loved holding the little pups!

The kayaking was also very fun!!! James our guide was great, and gave us a memorable tour of Bear lake, so beautiful!!! I have to also chime in about the weather it was sunny every day we were there and just chilly enough for a sweatshirt. We loved the weather!

In our extra time we went to the Sea Life Center and also enjoyed a show in Anchorage, a well as Anchorage Museum. We were so very busy, but so happy to be together. We laughed a lot on this trip and after a year of suffering it was a healing suave for our Ethan.

Words will never be enough for how grateful we are to Make a Wish for making this such a wonderful wish for Ethan and Family.

One Year Anniversary

The start of September is here and with it has brought about many memories of the challenging year.

Ethan has gone through. September 1, 2013 was the day we found the tumor and then on the 6^th we learned it was cancer. These are dates that I will never forget. They are etched in stone in my memory. The whole year of Ethan’s story is much to process and I am sure for Ethan will take his lifetime to fully understand all that he went through and is still going through.

Ethan has started his sophomore year and is one month in. It has been a work in progress to independently get him to the student that he desires to be. He has a very strong determination to push his brain every day and give each subject his best. Drew is at home with Ethan Monday-Thursday afternoon doing homework and on Friday’s I get to hang out with Ethan. Even though Ethan is taking half school days 8:15 to 12:15 it is a full load for Ethan’s brain. Ethan still has chemo fog and can have this for some time. The brain has the knowledge, but he forgets. Often times he understands what is being taught in school, but then forgets in the afternoon. This is a struggle emotionally and can take a toll, but with Ethan’s Dad at his side he is overcoming his school days and giving his brain a boot camp like workout every day.

 Along with his fight to get his brain back, Ethan is working on building up his muscles. Thanks to Shelby (our very own physical therapist) has worked up a plan for Ethan to work out those muscles. Ethan came to me the other day and said,” Where is my Shelby plan I need to work out.” Thank you Shelby!

I asked Ethan if he had anything he wanted to say on the blog?

 Ethan says, ”Thank you for all the support and prayers I have a long ways to go in recovery, so please keep praying for me. Thank you!”

I echo Ethan’s gratefulness in the support and prayers. There is no doubt in my mind that I was able to walk this journey with Ethan because of God’s grace in my life. On the day that I got the call from Drew that the tumor was cancer my brother Jon and sister Kelly were with me, I felt numb and a bit in shock of the news, Jon’s first words to me were “this is not a surprise to God” these very words directed my thoughts to look beyond the test results to God’s plan for Ethan, to trust the God who made Ethan has a plan for him to prosper him not to harm him. By faith each challenge and each surgery, was approached with my faith in that I will trust that God’s love does not ever fail, by faith trusted in my savior to heal Ethan and cure him from cancer knowing full well I did not know the outcome, but I did know the savior already did the hard part he died on the cross for us and because of this sacrifice we would never be separated from God’s love. God’s overwhelming outpouring of his mighty healing powers on Ethan will be another memory of God’s grace and love in our life. I know that those who have walked this past year with me I will forever be grateful for the love you poured into me, from my family and friends who just cried with me and prayed over me to the many that I do not even know, who prayed daily and still do for Ethan. I pray that as ya’ll have done for us may God richly bless you for walking this journey with us!

                            

Update and Make a Wish

Hey all!

Funny how a guy has to be seated at 38000 feet to make the time to write a blog so those that care and support know what is going on. None the less it is the way it is.

The past couple of weeks has been busy and good. We've kept working with Ethan's meds and have finally gotten him off everything except Bacterium (preventive). Ethan and I plowed through a semester of P.E. in 3 weeks. It took us about 5 hours a day and gave us a good taste of what he might be able to handle for the next semester. He did great and it gave him just enough credits to be a sophomore this fall.

We met with the Mandeville High School last week and they did a beautiful job of hearing us as parents and taking direction from Ethan for his desires, limitations, and wants. He will be taking four classes next semester from approximately 8 AM to 1230 PM. All three classes are back in gifted and he will be working with the special services to get needed class notes and tests if he needs them read and any other needs he might have.

As we have come off the meds, stuck with a regular exercise routine we have seen his sight return to the only double vision (he can read) and we have seen the personality of Ethan return! This is so exciting. He actually was able to pin his brother the other day. Lol.

Last Thursday, we met with Make a Wish foundation and learned that we are heading to Alaska for his wish. This is the reason I am flying now. It is a strange feeling to receive such a great gift. We will be gone through August 5. We are all very grateful and excited by it.





We are thankful for this Alaska gift being granted but more importantly, we continue to be blow away from all the regular gifts from all of you! There is no possible way I could have taken the time that was needed to work with Ethan the last few weeks without out your support. There is just no way we could have  happened. Thanks!!

Where we are at.

Hi all

I am going to backtrack a little in time to recap, however, at the moment the cancer is in remission and we are attempting to set your “new normal” going forward. This has been interesting to say the least.

Around June 29th, we took Ethan to the ER for symptoms we thought were related to his ear infection but turned out to be the side effects of taking too much Zophran (nausea med). During this ER visit they put him on Reglian a different nausea med. Remember his meds target the nausea in his brain(vomit control center) not the stomach cause the brain thinks he is sick even though his stomach is fine.  This med really put him to sleep (18 hours a day) and when he was awake he wasn't. He would shuffle around with no energy. He had some friends over on the 7th (the day he got his glasses) and he was only able to stay awake for 2 about hours. He just couldn't keep his eyes open. This was and continues to be a sources of discouragement to him.

 June 16th, I called the Doctor and said we need to do something about this and they changed the med to Granisetron also called Kytril. They also had us start using a Motion patch that goes behind the ear. With in 30 minutes of the placing the patch his eyesight blurred and he got dizzy. This is different than the other eyesight issues we have had where things were more double vision. After about a week of this we became aware that we were taking the meds wrong by only taking half of what we were supposed to. We corrected that where he was getting the full amount over and after 24 hours of this we tried to remove the patch for the next 24 hours to see if he could do without it and be able to see again. His eyes and the dizziness cleared up within 12 hours, but the nausea returned. After the 24 hours of testing we let him decide if he would rather the bad eyes of the increase nausea and he choose to have the patch to feel better.

 So we really don't have a handle on all this yet and will try taking him off the Kytril this next week and see how he does with just the patch.  He still has to take Benedryl at night to sleep so we are going to try melatonin. This is what your brain produces at night when you get sleepy.

We have started a good daily routine here I wake him a 9 and we go for a walk every morning after breakfast and settle into homework shortly after that. With his eyes blurry he cannot read so I have to do all the reading for him. We finished up PE last week and not sure which course we start next week. The school here has been wonderful to work with.

Tuesday the 8th we get his port taken out! This should be the final hospital procedure! We are very excited!

Thanks again for all the support we could not do what we are with Ethan without it.

Support Update

So THANKFUL for the news of Ethan being Cancer Free!!!   Team Adams has been such a support- both financially and emotionally through this journey.  

I wanted to update you all on our opportunity to support the Adams during these four months of transition. (June, July, August, September)

We have 6 families that have pledged to donate during these 4 donation times equaling $750/month.  Our goal is $2,000 during each of these months. 

Please pray and consider being part of this opportunity! Even if you can't pledge to do a donation each month. A one time donation is JUST as important and helpful! See the link below for details on how to donate and more information about our four month opportunity!

4 Month Plan

Cancer FREE!!!

Results from the tests are in.

Ethan is Cancer Free!!!!!

All of the tests have come back and there is no cancer cells, alpha protein is good and MRI is clear!!

We are in awe.

Thank you for your prayers we thank God for his mighty healing hand that brought Ethan through this Cancer journey.

Ethan has gotten his glasses this last Friday. Ethan’s eyes are good enough that the glasses are now able to finish lining up what he sees. He can read for short times each day, but again this can make his brain very tired, so Ethan is able to read half of his summer school each day and Drew and I read for the other half.

The next hurdle will be surgery to remove Ethan’s port, which will be scheduled for the end of June.

 We'll continue to transition during these four months and continue to take it one moment at a time but we are definitely breathing a little lighter.

THANK you for your support and prayers!!!

Tests

Today, June 3, 2014, we start the testing to see if Ethan’s cancer is in remission.

The testing will last two days. Day one we meet with Dr. Velez,  then MRI, hearing exam, eye exam and then back to Dr. Velez before we come home for the night. Day two we have a Spinal tap for a sample of spinal fluid to check for alpha fata protein levels (germ cell cancer indicators).

We expect things to be clear especially after having had the CT Scan last Thursday. It was during this visit that we learned the added symptoms he had been experiencing over the last week or two we related to taking to much Zofran (meds used to control nausea).

 We also learned that the area the tumor was located in also controls the nausea feelings we all have, and the Meds we have been taking are actually aimed at this part of the brain not the stomach. The new meds Ethan was put on this Thursday are also aimed at this same area (the brain) and have been making him feel much better but the main side effect has been drowsiness and thus he has been sleeping 16 hours a day again. At least he is eating well when he is awake.

There will be more discussions on this issue during the next two days because the ER Doctor has suggested the fact that both theses to meds are helping points to the possibility that there is damage to this area of the brain (nausea control). The problem (nausea) is similar to the eyes in that the stomach is fine as are his eyes, but the brain is telling him he is feeling nausea and struggling to interpret with signals form the eyes.