Everything looks great!

It has been a long time since a put up a post. A lot has happened since. We had all of Collin's test/scans done. We got all the results last week when we met with the transplant doctor. Everything came back great. The hearing test was the only one that wasn't great. He has some hearing loss. They had talked about giving Collin hearing aids. After talking with the Ear, Nose & Throat doc, the hearing aides are going to wait until after transplant. They want to retest him after that. This will be in June or July. If he has lost more hearing or it is still the same he will get hearing aides. He can make it through life without them, the only reason we would get them is he would have trouble in school without them. The tumor has shrunk. Not very much. It didn't shrink as much as the docs had wanted, but because his last two chemos where so far apart, it only shrank a little bit. Now it is time for transplant. Collin will be admitted on Feb. 14th for transplant. We pushed the date back a week for two reasons. First, he has a cold & they have to give him time to get over it. Second, his Valentine party at school is on Feb. 11th. We want him to be able to go to that since he won't be able to go to any other school functions after transplant. We figured it up. His 100 days will be up June 1st. That is a long way away!! The docs are saying that once his counts recover he can go home. They said that could be 3 weeks!! That is how he has reacted to the other chemos. Three weeks post chemo, his counts are all back up to where they want them to be. This is how the transplant is going to work. They start us at a count down. Admit day is day -7. So days -7 & -6 he will get one type of chemo. Then days -5, -4, -3, he will get two more types of chemos. Then days -2 &-1 are for rest. Day zero is transplant day. Then our 100 day count will begin. They are very optimistic that Collin will recover quickly. The chemo he will be receiving is high powered. It will wipe out any bone marrow and white blood cells he has left. We believe he will do great. Another bit of news is that we will be moving prior to Collin's release from the hospital. We weren't actually looking to move. We will be moving into my Aunt Yvette's home. For those of you who don't know, Aunt Yvette went home to Jesus suddenly Labor Day weekend. It is a weird who all of this came about, us moving into her home. Like I said, we weren't looking. Monday, Jan. 24th I had taken Kasey to see her counselor. While she was with her, I decided to run a couple of errands. I hardly ever drive down Jefferson street. I needed to go to Walgreen's & Jefferson is the fastest way from her counselor's office. As I drove by Aunt Yvette's house I noticed a sign out front that the house was for lease. I thought it would be too small for us. I ran my errands. Stopped by my house to meet Collin's teacher. I kept thinking about the house. I decided to call on it. I hadn't been in it for years, so I thought why not. If it works, great, if not that is ok too. So, I called. The realtor agreed to meet me after I picked Kasey up. I picked her up then went over to look at it. I loved it. It was bigger then I remember. I then asked the realtor if he could wait 10 min so I could run home & get Collin. He was at home with his teacher. I told them that if her couldn't do the stairs then the house wouldn't work. They agreed. I came back with Collin & he did fine on the stairs. He was a little nervous, but really like the house. The we set up a time that Heath could go over and look at it. The night that I had looked at it Heath & I were talking about the house. All the kids were in bed. Then we heard a loud crash in the back of the house. I had thought Zack had fallen off the top bunk. The kids were fine. The rack in Heath & my closet had fallen. It was the rack that held my clothes. We looked at each other & I said "I think Aunt Yvette is trying to tell us something!". Heath agreed. We went over together at the scheduled time for Heath to look at it. He agreed it would be perfect for us. The realtor had us fill out an application. I was not asking for any special treatment because I am related to the family. The realtor called Monday & said we had been approved. We are so excited. It is also a lot less a month then or current home. The kids are excited too. We haven't set a move date. We are talking with our transplant coordinator & trying to time everything right. I will probably be the end of Feb. We HAVE to move before Collin comes home. No if, ands or buts about it. The transplant doctor made himself clear on that. We have a lot to do. We have to clean the air ducts at the new house along with the carpet. We are going to clean our furniture once we get it at the new house. We are very busy. We wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't in the best interest of our family. Since I am no longer working, we have to find a cheaper place. We were just going to wait till summer & then all this happened. So if anybody would like to assist, just shoot me an email. juliessimon@yahoo.com Any help would be greatly appreciated. He have to pack our current house, move it, clean the stuff as we unpack, clean the carpet & the air ducts. We also need people to help with Collin. He doesn't do well sitting at the hospital by himself. So if anybody would like to spend a day with him that would greatly help. I will put a post up later of what we will need help with once he gets home. Once he get home, he CAN'T leave the house. Only for doc appointments can he leave. He can go outside, but has to wear a mask. It is going to be really hard. Especially with Heath working long hours & me being the primary transportation for Kasey & Zack to their activities and appointments. Collin is doing GREAT!! He is enjoying everything. He is eating great. he is putting weight on. Last week he was at 62lbs. He had lost weight after chemo in early January. He will loose weight during transplant, so we are trying to put some on him. He is still having pain in his back & legs. That is to be expected. I am just so proud of him! I am proud of Kasey & Zack too at the way they are handling things. We have our usual sibling fights, but otherwise, they are great. Also, we are looking at doing some fundraisers for Collin. If anybody has any suggestions, please let me know. I have a couple of ideas, I just have to get them rolling. I would like to thank everybody for their constant support and prayers. I would also like to ask you all to pray for Jenn, my sister. She is preparing for the bar exam & is having some medical issues. Also, pray for Aaron's mother. (Jenn's boyfriend). She is having some medical tests done & is very nervous about them. Please pray from them. That is all I have for now. I will put up another post as soon as I have more information. I am unable to put up a post everyday when we are home. We stay very busy. I will keep you all updated. Thank you.