Cole Update Friday June 2, 2006: Cole saw the surgeon on Tuesday and had chemo treatment no. 5 Wednesday. Cole is tentatively scheduled for surgery to remove the tumor as well as his left kidney and adrenal gland on Thursday June 15, 2006, if the CT scan next Wednesday shows the tumor to be small enough.  Cole cried even less Wednesday than before, and tolerated the treatment very well. His blood pressure is back up, though not as high as before. The tumor has shrunk down to about 8 1/2 cm, and, even more significant, the tumor is confined to the left half of his body and no longer crosses the midline of his abdomen.  This seems to indicate a high likelihood that the surgery will proceed as scheduled, but we will know for sure on the 14th.  Cole is handing the chemotherapy remarkably well.  Although he has a change in eating habits and has lost his reflexes in his knees and stumbles more than usual due lack of muscle and nerve coordination, expected effects of the chemo, he has not thrown up, has not had fever or infections, has not lost his hair yet, and is mostly a happy, active little toddler with a strong will and great ambitions for independence. No more crib. No more high chair.  No more spoon feeding. He is hanging tough.  Keep praying. 

 Cole Update Thursday, May 25, 2006: (Note: This update and most of the previous updates were written by Cole’s Dad.) Cole had Chemo treatment no. 4 yesterday. The whole process took about 4½ hours. We applied lidocaine cream to the skin over the mediport on his chest and covered it with a clear bandage.  But Cole removed the bandage twice and they had to reapply the cream when we got to the chemo clinic. 
Cole is 33 inches tall and weighs 26 lbs 6 ozs.  His blood pressure was 89/83.  It is finally starting to come down! All of his blood levels were good. He has no reflex in his left knee, but still has some reflex in his right. We told the doctor Cole was beginning to trip and fall more than usual, and she confirmed this was caused by temporary effects of the chemo on the nervous system and muscles. Eventually, he may lose the ability to walk – but not yet (see below). The tumor originally was 11 cm long. Last week, the doctor’s external measurement of the tumor was 9 cm. This week it was still 9 cm.
Cole was a real champ all day. He only cried a little when they inserted the needle into his mediport. After drawing blood samples for testing, the nurse set him up with an IV to the mediport and started him on fluids and Zofran, an anti-nausea medicine. After that, Cole received an injected push of vincristine into the IV, followed by more fluids, then a slow drip of doxorubicin through the IV, followed by more fluids and Zofran. While the medicine was dripping from the IV bag through the mediport, Cole played and played and played, while I followed him around with the rolling IV stand. Cole was very active and very fast, so following him around like this for 4 hours required a high level of alertness, dexterity, quickness, and stamina. We blew bubbles, read books, played with blocks, rode in a little tykes push car, ate a Hershey bar, pecked out songs on an electric toy piano, colored with crayons and felt markers, dumped puzzle pieces on the floor, played on the computer, and I am sure I left some things off the list.
As of Noon today, Cole has not thrown up and has not had fever. He has been a little cranky at times, and was “wired” last night until he fell asleep around midnight. But, thank you God, none of the traumatic effects we were concerned about.
Cole is scheduled for more chemo on May 31, and a CT scan on June 7, to see if the surgeon can remove the tumor and kidney. If so, he will have surgery either that week or the next.
Roger update: Roger has had a miraculous path to recovery. He is able to use his right arm and leg, and can walk with support. He could go home as early as this weekend, but still has a lot of rehab and physical therapy ahead of him. 
Thank you for your prayers.  Please keep praying for Cole. Russell