Half way done!  Jack finished his 10th day of radiation this morning and we are halfway done…10 more to go.  Jack’s Halloween costume came yesterday in the mail (Luigi from the Super Mario Bros.) and he really hasn’t taken it off since then.  He really wanted to wear it to radiation this morning, so of course I let him!  We posted a few pics to show you our little Luigi. 

The machine was down this morning for radiation so we were a little behind schedule, but we all did fine while we waited.  After radiation we came home and Jack wanted to show the neighbors his costume so we did that and then came in for some blueberry pancakes.  We were able to take a walk this afternoon up to the grocery store.  Jack just loves being outside!  Thank goodness it is getting cooler so we can get out and get some fresh air more often. 

I heard from the nurse who is putting together all of Jack’s dates for his next part of treatment today.  We have scheduled his next set of scans for the 16th and 17th of November.  As long as there is no evidence of disease coming back (please pray and pray hard that all his scans are clear) we will move on to the next part of treatment, immunotherpy.  I will go in to details of that at another time.  If all goes as planned, we will most likely be checking in on Dec 3rd for his 1st round of immunotherapy.  This part of his treatment lasts for 6 months with the last month being at home so no more hospital nights after April!!  We have scheduled it so we will be home for Thanksgiving, the golf tournament, Christmas, Bradens’ 1st birthday, and we will be coming home from our last hospital admitance on Zac’s birthday…so happy!  Now…hopefully all will go as planned!

Anyway, Jack finished the night eating a wonderful dinner and then had Nikki and I doing yoga poses with him and making “snow angels” on the carpet.  Braden is all over the place and starting to pull himself up to a standing position on the couch…how fast he has grown up.  Please say prayers that the rest of Jack’s radiation goes well and that his scans come up clear on the 16th and 17th.

Side note:  GREAT NEWS!!  Erin, our dear friend who took on cancer and won, got her scans back today and they are all clear!  She is cancer free and loving life.  Jack and Nikki did a wonderful happy dance for her.  McKenna had her scans today and will have more tomorrow so let’s pray that all goes well for her and she can start her immunotherapy in a couple of weeks!

Ok, so I am off a day…but that’s good because I thought we were on day 6 today when it was actually day 7 so…we are done with day 7 of radiation and day 8 is tomorrow and then we have the weekend off.  Woo hoo!  Today was a good day for Jack.  Radiation went well this morning and I took a few pictures to show just how happy Jack really is.  These pictures are of him on his way in to radiation and then the battery died on the camera so I will take more tomorrow to show him after radiation. 

We left radiation and after we got home our wonderful neighbor, Angie, brought over more Halloween decorations for our front yard.  She is just the best and I am so happy that her family moved in across the street from us.  Jack was thrilled to put up more decorations with her.  Thank you Angie!

I talked to Jack’s nurse from PCH today and she gave Jack the OK to have his friend, Shawn, over tonight to play.  Shawn was our roommate at PCH after surgery and they became quck friends.  Jack was so excited to have a friend over and to actually play with someone his own age!  They had such a good time!  Shawn and his mom were able to stay with us for dinner and then when we realized it was time for a dressing change for Jack, they decided it was time to go and Jackers started to cry because he did not want his friend to leave.  Poor little guy.  They left and Nikki and I had to change his dressing and Jack was perfect for it as he usually is!

So another good day in the Morton house and that’s always a good thing.

Tomorrow is Grandma Jean’s (Zac’s Grandma) birthday so a big happy birthday to her!  We love you so very much and thank you for everything!

Day 5 of radiation is done and we start day 6 tomorrow…we cannot wait for this to be over with!  It is the strangest feeling because Jack runs, literally, down the hallway to see the nurses and Dr. Maze and goes right into the radiation room without a problem.  He really doesn’t even want me to pick him up because he is so comfortable with everyone there.  He gets there and is pretending to be Luigi (from the Mario Brothers) and shoots them all with his ice and makes them frozen.  The nurses call him Luigi and Dr. Maze calls him “Bubsy”…it is like an ordinary day with your friends…then they put Jackers to sleep with a push in his broviac and right before he drifts off he tells me he loves me and starts to giggle.  I get all welled up and walk to the waiting room where Nikki and Braden have been this whole week.  We wait for 15 or 20 minutes with another father and his daughter as well as 3 EMT’s who brought them over from Phoenix Childrens.  The nurse comes to tell us that Jack is all done, we go back and see Jack as he is waking up and wondering what color his popsicle is that he will soon devour.  He eats the popsicle up (2 in fact) and then he wants to get down and run out down the halls saying thanks and bye before we head home.  So strange because it feels like a normal day, yet Jack is getting radiation.  I cannot explain the feeling, but it is a bit of an out of body feeling.  You feel as if all is normal, but it’s not.  Hopefully this will be all over soon.

Jack had a great day today…after we got home we played and played and played.  Nikki and I set up a fort for Jack with the pillows off the couch and he thought that was great.  He pretended he was Luigi and Nikki was the Princess as they fought off King Koopa…too cute.  He took a good nap and then ate a great dinner and some cake that we made yesterday for Grandpa’s birthday (which we served to him over Skype!).  Jack talked to Zac tonight to say goodnight and exchange “I love you’s” and it is so darn cute.  Jack talks to his Daddy on the phone like he is an adult.  He has grown so much over the past 7 months that it is just unreal.  He is such a big boy now…amazing.  Jack is off to bed now and I am getting ready to turn in since we have such an early day again tomorrow.

Please keep our friends McKenna and Erin in your thoughts and prayers.  McKenna will be going through scans and tests over the next week before she starts her immunotherapy and Erin had her scans today and will know her results on Tuesday.  Please pray they are both cancer free!

Day 4 of radiation…done! Today was a very long day for us, but at least we have another day of radiation done and over with.

First to recap the weekend…we had a pretty relaxing weekend here so that is always a good thing! Melanie and Barry dropped off a few Wii games for Jack and some Mario and Luigi toys to Nikki while she was working at Nove’ and Jack was totally excited to say the least. They have really found the way to Jack’s heart! Our wonderful neighbors across the street also stopped over this weekend and gave Jack a tool bench with tons of tools and a Cars race track. He begged and begged me to clean it as soon as I could (since we have to sanitize everything that comes into this house!) and after waiting a full day for me to clean it, he played and played with it. He pretended to build everything and even managed to cut off our arms and legs, but hey…he was having fun so that’s what matters!

Zac had to go back to Tucson this morning so I somehow managed to get Nikki and Braden up to go to radiation with Jack and I this morning. Radiation went really quick and Jack woke up wanting his popsicles and full of energy. I have never seen him like this after being “asleep”. I am not sure if it was because Nikki and Braden were there or just because he is feeling so great, but my gosh…that kid was nonstop. He left radiation and headed over to Phoenix Childrens to get his levels checked. We ended up waiting over an hour to see the Dr because we were too early, but Jack was a good sport about it all. We found out that Jack’s hemoglobin was a tad low so he had to get blood today. He hasn’t needed blood since the 2nd week of transplant so it has been awhile since we have had to do this. Since it takes about a hour for the blood to get to the clinic, we all piled back in the car and headed out to get coffee for Nikki and I. Once we got back to PCH, we had to wait in the car for about 15 minutes because there was a fire alarm and everyone was outside and we had to wait for everyone to go back in. Finally we were able to get settled in and Jack took his premeds and fell right asleep. Braden was able to take a short nap too so that was good. Thankfully Nikki was with me so we were able to chat away to pass the time. 

By the way…our little Jackers if gaining weight like a champ!!  He has gained almost 4 lbs since transplant and that makes us soooo happy!!!

We will go back for day 5 of radiation tomorrow, but at least we get to come right home after instead of having a long day out at the Dr’s.

Also…it’s my Dad’s birthday! Happy Birthday Dad! We love you and thank you for everything you have done for us…you have no idea how much we appreciate it!!

One more thing…it is official! The 1st Annual Jack Morton Foundation Charity Golf Classic will be at Las Sendas Golf Course on December 5th. All money raised from this event will go directly to the foundation, helping with medical expenses for the rest of Jack’s journey as well as helping other families in the same position, and childhood cancer research. We would love everyone to participate in this event, either by coming out and playing or if you do not want to play possibly help in a sponsorship or some sort of involvement. There are countless ways to help! We want all of our friends there to share this time with us. Our goal is to make this event a great success so we can continue The Jack Morton Foundation Golf Classic every year to raise money for other families as well as childhood cancer research. We are so excited for this and can’t wait to put it on every year to raise money for Neuroblastoma and Pediatric Cancer research. If anyone needs any information, please email me and I will get you everything you need!!

TEAM JACK!!!! The first ever Jack Morton Foundation Charity Golf Classic is Dec 5th!!!! Please help us make this event amazing! Details to come soon! We are taking sponsors and reg buy ins! It is going to be a fun filled day for a great little guy! All proceeds benefit the Jack Morton Foundation, it will help with the remainder of Jacks treatment and then to help other families and childhood cancer research! We are determined to be heard and raise enough money to help find a cure!!!! Lets all come together and use our resources for an amazing tournament! Details to follow! Let me know if your interested in participating or know a company who wants to sponsor! It will be WELL worth it!!!