Sun, Oct 2nd - Sun, Oct 26th - Cole received his last dose of Depocyt Chemotherapy and his CNS and bone marrow were again tested. Thankfully both are still clear! The remainder of the month was full of testing in preparation for a bone marrow transplant that is scheduled to take place on Nov 3rd.

In general Cole has been feeling very well. When his counts have been up, he has been able to have some fun. We did the Fenway Park tour, he again went to Faneuil Hall and went to a New England Patriots game!

His brother Michael and sister Madisen took a long weekend to visit Cole as well. I hadn't heard Cole laugh so much in many months. It was very heartwarming to see then together again.

Last week Cole received Cranial radiation because the doctors want to make sure to rid him of any un-measurable remaining Leukemic cells in his CNS.

This coming week he will have a Hickman line installed on Monday. Then he will receive TBI (Total Body Irradiation) Tuesday - Friday. Saturday and Sunday he will will receive Cyclosporine. This is to basically kill off his immune system and prepare him for the transplant.

His brother Michael (the Bone Marrow donor) will fly up on the weekend before the transplant and on Monday will donate his marrow. Michael will probably only need to be in the hospital for a day or two, but we need to be prepared for him to be in for up to a week. So he will probably stay the week no matter what.

Once the transplant takes place, Cole will need to be in Boston for about 100 days. The first month or so in the hospital and the next 2 months he needs to be nearby.

We are obviously not out of the woods yet and are still rightfully nervous about this process. I am sure sure we will be feeling better about things once we are about 3 weeks into the transplant process.

We are so very thankful for all who have been helping us though this journey and for all the thoughts and prayers!

Cole at the hospital

Cole and Denise at the park

Michael, Cole and Madisen at Fenway Park

Denise and Cole at the Patriots game

Cole with the Patriots Cheerleaders

Fri, Sept 19th - Wed, Oct 1st - Before I get into the last couple of weeks, I wanted to let all know that we got word on Wednesday, Oct 1st that there is no sign of Leukemia cells remaining in Cole's CNS. This clears the way for a bone marrow transplant for sometime within a month or so. This is the news that we have been waiting for!!! 

Now for the last few weeks: We are now settled in at our friends house and getting used to our new surroundings. They have a beautiful 90 or so year old home in a very nice Brookline neighborhood. It is just a short walk to the local Shaws/Star grocery store and a number of local restaurants. 

We have appointments on Mon & Tues at the doctors to check his blood counts and other. On Wed the 24th Denise returned home. Before she flew out, we all went to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market for some lobster rolls, clam chowder and other great food. Then we took a walk over to the North End for some goodies from Mike's Pastry and Modern Pastry. 

Denise returned home and our kids are back to their normal routines. Meanwhile, Cole and I are exploring the local Brookline neighborhood. We really like this one restaurant called The Publick House and ultimately wind up going their 4 or 5 times. They love Cole there and offer him a job, LOL. The last time we were their, they made a special order Root Beer Float for him. This was very cool, as they actually went across the street to get the ice cream for it.

We are really enjoying our time in Brookline and getting to know Fern and Jack the owners of the house where we are staying. It have been a pleasure staying there, however it has been 2 weeks and we need to secure our own apartment. The rental market is tight in the area near the hospital, but ultimately wind up finding a nice one bedroom apartment that is just under a 1/2 mile from the hospital. It also happens to be about 2-3 block from Fenway park, so there is plenty of life around here.

We moved in Wed, Oct 1st and shortly after we arrived, we received the great news about Cole from his doctors. After doing the happy dance and notifying many. Cole and I went out for a nice dinner!

Stay tuned as our adventure continues!

Cole after being notified that his CNS is free from Leukemic cells 

Cole with me and his cousins Nick and Jeff

Cole gets cool Johnny Damon gifts

Cole enjoying a root beer float

Cole and I celebrating the great news