Making up for lost times

Carter and Bennett playing with their cousin, Ethan


My sister and her family came over this past weekend. The boys were so excited to play with their cousins. It had been too long, and finally their whole family was healthy enough (at the same time) to be able to come over. That’s all the boys talked about the entire next day. Carter especially loves his cousin Emilie because her favorite color is “lellow” and she loves giraffes too.

Matt took Bennett and Carter to the park and had a picnic on Sunday. The boys were so happy to be out and running around. Carter is not wearing his brace anymore, and hasn’t fallen once (knock on wood).

Carter is spending much of his day sitting at the dining table. He is eating an assortment of foods and definitely making up for lost times. Matt and I are so happy to see it, so we let him take his time.

I bought whipped cream at the store the other day for our pies on Thanksgiving. Well, Matt discovered it and let the boys have whipped cream on their waffles this morning. They were trying to keep it a secret, but (of course) I found out. And I asked Carter if he liked whipped cream. He said, “No, I didn’t like it…I LOOOVVVED it!” He is a funny little guy.

On the medical front, the last day of Carter’s IV meds is Wednesday. Then, on Thursday we will begin the oral version. If all goes well, the doctors are still discussing taking out Carter’s Broviac mid-December. We will also begin a vitamin D and multi-vitamin this week.

We talked to UCLA today, and Carter’s liver levels look great. His Prograf (anti-rejection drug) level was a little low, so we increased that medication. Matt and Carter were at CHOC also today and got some great news. For the first time since diagnosis, Carter’s AFP levels are in the single digits. His AFP is 8!! We were just anxious to get it below 10, so this is fantastic. We’ve come a LONG way from his original AFP of 270,000!!