Tuesday, July 05, 2005

 

Busy Month!

Devin has had quite a month since the last update. The biggest and best news is that he passed the 2 year mark from his second transplant on June 9th! We think that is just awesome and are thrilled that he is doing so well.

The week of June 13th, Devin went to Camp Horizon. This is Devin's third year at Camp Horizon so he is an old hand at it. He looks forward to going each year and is already talking about next year. As always, our little media hound managed to be filmed for a local news station. Devin was the third time no hands eating contest winner. This year he ate beans with no hands. In the clip, he said it was great because his parents never let him do that. Yeah, we are kinda strange here...we encourage the use of a fork at meals. We also noticed he was wearing his shirt backwards.

Devin got home from Camp Horizon on Friday and turned right around to go to Webelo Resident Camp down at Camp Boxwell with his Cub Scouts for 3 days. He was a little disappointed to not pass the swim test but he still had a fun time. He earned 5 of the 20 Webelo pins while he was there. Devin was also recognized for being a model Cub Scout when he found a wallet with money in it and turned it in. The Cogioba District Commissioner, Greg Brown, took Devin to the Trading Post for a bowl of ice cream. Ticks and chiggers were abounding and Devin did come home with some chiggers. A little anit-itch medication took care of it though.

Devin had been begging to mow the yard so I finally gave in and let him attempt it. He didn't find it nearly as much fun as he thought, which is an indication that he is able to do it. He mowed a few strips and wanted to quit. I told him since he wanted to do it, he needed to finish the job. He complained but then put some effort into it and finished up. He mowed the smallest section of our yard, the portion we have fenced off for our dogs. He was glad to be done with it and is now dreading when I ask him to do it again.

On the 4th of July, Devin's friend Donna came up to Clarksville so she could take him to the Nashville Fireworks display. Devin had fun swimming and then watching the display from a barge.

Today, Donna brought him up to the Clinic where we met up. Devin has gained weight and now weighs just over 61 lbs. He has no other issues going on and Dr. Frangoul was very pleased with how he is doing. We did get a schedule to start his immunizations again, which Devin was not exactly thrilled to see.

Dr. Frangoul also went over the results of the 2 year post transplant work up. Devin's heart is working just fine and there is no concerns with it. His bone marrow is still 100% Ryan and all his counts are looking great. His pulmonary function has decreased a bit but Dr. Frangoul said this is hardly surprising given all that Devin has been through. Devin is certainly not experiencing any shortness of breath so it is not even a concern but just something to make a note of. His thryroid number is a little bit high, again, not surprising. The high number may be a lab error or it could be accurate. In any event, 50% of kids who go through chemo and radiation end up on thyroid medication. Thyroid levels were drawn again today and we will moniter it. Dr. Frangoul said in some cases, it takes years to really manifest so there is no need to be overly concerned with it right now.

We also discussed the orthodontist and Dr. Frangoul suggested getting an x-ray to look at his permanent teeth. With radiation, sometimes the permanent teeth are damaged or fail to even develop. I know Devin did not get an x-ray at his last appointment but I will check to see if he has had one and if not, ask if they will do one so we can get an idea of what is going on with his adult teeth and if they are damaged.

Basically, it was a very quick appointment and we go back in 6 weeks. See ya then!

posted by Devin's Mom 7:05 PM