3 down.....9 to go

and the Mogle family couldn't be more pleased!

We took Dylan up to Primary's on Monday (Aug, 10th) for an MRI and his 3rd round of treatment. (9 more to go!!!) It's always nerve-racking going up there. Just when I think I am getting used to all this, if that is even possible, something new gets thrown our way. We knew Dylan would be having MRI's done every 3rd treatment and so mentally I try to prepare myself for them but its hard. I guess the hardest part is watching him fall asleep instantly in my arms...thanks to the "milk of amnesia" the nurses give him! Medicine is crazy stuff! The next hardest part is waiting. Once he is in the machine we have to leave the area to wait. wait. wait. wait. and wait some more. It stinks to be quite honest. When he is done with the scan they move him to the recovery room and that is where we can go sit with him until he wakes up. This is where all the flood of high emotions and crazy thoughts come rushing in....what did they find? is he ok? is the tumor shrinking? is the tumor growing? is the medicine working? are we really doing this? will we do this forever? and then I pray. and pray and pray and pray that his little body can keep fighting. The medicines are hard on him. They make him sick, groggy, tired, nauseated, and just not normal. I don't know how they affect his body on the inside but I pray that he will be strong.......

And then...he opens those big deep blue eyes, looks over to his mom and dad and smiles, every time! He is so sweet. He comes out of the anesthesia really well. He is happy and wants to be held, but mostly he is HUNGRY! It's hard for his little chubby self to go without food for such a long time and so he drinks and eats whatever we give him. He acts drunk. He looks perfect. His red fluffy hair is now matted down and fuzzy in the back. His body is warm and he is so cuddly. This brings me peace. It takes time but eventually he gets back to normal and we get to go home. This time "the 4th floor" was our next stop.

I hate the 4th floor but I love the nurses. They are so good my baby. They love him. They want him to be as comfortable and happy as he can be while up on "the 4th floor."

We waited what seemed like 3 hours....I was antsy, ask Paul. Finally Dr. Bruggers came in to give Dylan the look-over. She asked us lots of questions about how he is doing. We told her about how well he is doing. He uses his left hand more. He puts weight on his left arm. He is almost walking. Lots of milestone developmental stuff like that. She was excited and I was excited telling her about how well he is doing. She then told us, "The tumor is shrinking!" She read lots of medical mumbo-jumbo that I didn't understand but she was almost as excited as we were with the news. The tumor is shrinking. It feels so good to say it over and over again. I sent a text to my family and my sisters', reply was that "it makes my heart happy!" It makes my heart happy too. I wanted to jump up and down and hug that Dr. Bruggers. She is a smart woman and she is certainly taking good care of my baby.

We did another round of chemotherapy which turned into a 4 hour process. We think Dylan ate and drank too much too fast after the MRI because he was sick before the meds were even started for the chemo. The nurse had to readjust a few things on his port and then we were able to start. He was tired and didn't feel well but he did great. When we left the hospital he was doing lots better.

Today he is happy to be home and resting in his own bed. He will have fluids tonight and tomorrow night through his port just like last time. I think this will help with the nausea. He is my little trooper.

Lots of people ask us how Connor is doing with all this. Thankfully he is too young to know what's going on. He definitely knows that Dylan goes to the doctor a lot, and that he has a "bump" on his belly. (the port) Dylan is his best friend. He loves him so much. Connor is such a blessing in our home. He makes us laugh when we don't have anything to laugh about and his sweet smiles makes me smile everyday.

Our spirits are up. We are so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who truly does hear and answer our prayers. We are learning so much about each other and what family is all about. We don't know why some kids have to go through so many hard things. We don't know why Heavenly Father has blessed us with so many good things in our family. What we do know is that he is watching over our family and I am so thankful for that. I pray that through all this that I can be made stronger so that I can be there for others when they go through hard stuff. So thank you for your prayers. I know there is strength in numbers. Dylan's name has been put in more temples than I have ever been in. Thank you. We feel your love, and we are so grateful for that.