Radiotherapy done - NEXT!

What an exhausting week we have all had!! Firstly, Jamie has now finished his radiotherapy and has coped remarkably well!! On his last session the nurses decorated his recovery room with Power Ranger pictures, streamers and a huge helium balloon. They also gave him a Transformer gift which was so kind of them! I think Jamie's character is infectious because wherever we go he just charms everyone!

So on the last day of radiotherapy we handed back the hire car which was only for 2 weeks. Thank you again Flo for that. A fantastic organisation called 'Alex's Lemonade Stand' offer support to families such as ours and they have organised a lease car for us for the duration of our stay! We pay the insurance which we have managed to reduce from the original quote of 1900 dollars! We met the volunteers from Alex's Lemonade Stand as they were cooking one evening at the RM House. All of these wonderful organisations start from something tragic like losing a child so to meet Jay, Alex's father was quite something. We would like to express our thanks to this wonderful organisation and to 'Wynne' the car company that have leased this to us! You have made our life here much easier!'

Jamie's blood counts are stabilised but his weight had dropped again last week. He is still eating fairly well and is trying new foods daily. We returned to New Jersey to our host family for 2 nights to get everything packed and organised for our house move to Bucks County. We were sad to leave and Jamie was too but we know that we will see them again. I do worry that Jamie has met so many people that he gets attached to and then we move again but at least we are now in our 'own home!' We arrived in Warminster [in the country] on Thurs pm and again we received wonderful help from the 'Travis Manion Foundation.(www.TravisManion.com)' Travis was a US Marine Officer killed in action a couple of years ago and his parents have set the Foundation up to help others. Tina, one of the volunteers and her family were there to greet us and had got the house furnished with secondhand furniture for us! There was a baby play centre for Poppy, a beautiful cot, a bed for Jamie, dining table, coffee table, sofa. Not only that but they gathered kitchen essentials and had a box of cupboard ingredients for us! We were then presented with a gift card from the Foundation to get whatever else we needed to make this homely! There is great cheap store here which sells everything but is good quality so we have managed to make this look like our own home! At the end of our time, this will all go back to the Foundation to help another family :)

The house here is great and the neighbours great too. Within 5 minutes of being here we had already met Matt and his family who even cut the grass for us and came round with a huge box of toys for Jamie and Poppy!! Another lady who lives at the end walked in and handed over some money to get us started. They said that they all arrived with nothing and want to help us!!! It was a bit overwhelming but we really feel settled here and I now have the confidence to drive!! We managed to get the Internet and cable sorted, they company came out on a Sunday and were so efficient. That just sums up America really! Efficient in everything EXCEPT road and sidewalk maintenance in Philli!!!! The pot holes are more like craters!!! OH and whilst I'm at it, what about the traffic lights. I am programmed to stop on a red but some Americans don't seem to know this, either that or they colour blind!!

Poppy was a little unwell last week with a cold and cough. This is still waking her up in the night but through the day she is fine. She is a little adventure chick and is happy wherever she goes!! Jamie has enjoyed visits to the park again and was so thrilled when yesterday at the park, a little boy asked Jamie to play with him on the slides. Now that I see Jamie playing with others, I can see just how small he is compared to others of his age. His growth has certainly been affected by all the stuff that has happened to him but hey, his father is not exactly six foot is he??!!!

So what next? Tomorrow we are back in Philli at CHOP for the MIBG substance to be injected, ready for the scan on Weds. Wednesday is a big day where Jamie will have all the diagnostics done, the same as when he was first diagnosed. Bone marrow aspirates will be taken to see if there are any cancer cells and the MIBG scan will be done to see if there are any hotspots. Jamie's MIBG scan revealed no hotspots in December but he hasn't had bone marrow taken since May 2009. This one is an anxious one but hopefully Jamie is still in remission and the final documents can then be signed ready for the antibodies to start next week. We are also now planning to have Jamie's tumour sent to CHOP as they are doing a new test for ALK. If a tumour is shown to have this ALK then the team here in CHOP have recently developed a new treatment to target Neuroblastoma, should a child relapse. Again it will cost to have the test done and then to ship the tumour over but the other families have done this and we have nothing to lose. We are doing everything for our beautiful boy and will continue to do so until this is gone forever!

Off now to feed Poppy as she is hungry, as ever!!!!!

Love to you all and thanks again for reading!