After being admitted to the hospital late Sunday night, Persy received blood and platelets to prepare for his surgery the following morning. On Monday, an apheresis catheter was successfully placed in his neck. As he came out of anesthesia, our sweet little buddy was very agitated and tried to pull at his new port several times. This made us very anxious, but we were assured by the doctors that it was sutured really well, and P’s agitation improved immensely throughout the day. Although the catheter placement didn’t seem to cause him any pain, it did cause him quite a bit of discomfort, especially when trying to sleep.

Over the next two days Persy’s stem cells were harvested using an apheresis machine, which is similar to a dialysis machine. This meant that P had to be in bed and relatively still for over 5 hours each day. Anyone who has ever been around a two year old knows how challenging this could be, but our little warrior handled it like a true champion. Although he asked to get out of bed several times (especially on day 2), he demonstrated patience and understanding far beyond his 2 ½ years throughout the entire process.

The harvest was successful in retrieving the number of stem cells required for future transplants Persy will need (and then some). The doctor had set a goal of retrieving a total of 16 million stem cells. On day 1, they collected over 8 million stem cells. On day 2, they collected an additional 19 million stem cells, which was more than the goal for the entire harvest. Wow!

We got to go home from the hospital on the 29th, just in time to celebrate the New Year. Since being home, Persy has been thriving. He has had no pain that required medication, continues to eat, play, sing, and quite literally run circles around the house all day. Seeing our happy boy feel good and have so much energy fills us with strength and hope.

BIG Little Victories

• Persy completed the stem cell harvest and is on to the next step in his treatment.
• Persy’s stem cell harvest was successful in retrieving many more stem cells than the doctor even requested.
• Persy continues to be pain free and full of energy while enjoying life at home.

Please pray…

• For Persy to continue to feel good and have lots of energy.
• For Persy to remain happy and positive despite all that he has had and will have to endure.
• For Persy to get through the third cycle of chemotherapy without suffering the possible side effects.
• For Persy’s body to respond to the chemo and specifically that the chemo obliterates all of the metastatic cancer sites in his body.
• For Persy’s cancer to be attacked by the chemo, but for his precious body to be protected from the damage caused by the toxic chemicals.
• For continued strength for Persy’s mama and dada and his whole family.