Another warm day in NY

From Carolyn:

Yesterday Nick went into the PDH(Pediatric Day Hospital) and received a platelet transfusion. You could tell by the bruises on his body, that he was in need of platelets. Today Nick did not have any appointments. He spent the day relaxing in the hotel with his brothers' and uncle. Together they played Guitar Hero and really enjoyed the game of LIFE. They laughed and goofed around like brothers do!! Nick is feeling better.....finally.... and his food intake is slowly increasing. He actually wanted to do the school work his second grade teacher, Mrs. Hab, had sent to him. One reading comprehension story was on wishes. I asked Nick what he would wish for if he had one wish and he replied, "I wish that it would be one year from now, so I would be cancer free." Amen to that!! Although he has been handling his illness with grace and courage, he so wishes it was all behind him and life was normal again. Nick has been receiving two GCSF shots a day from Mom to boost his white blood count to prepare him for his bone marrow harvest tomorrow. These shots have not been easy to administer, but Nick is brave and knows they are necessary for the stem cell collection. We are hoping this procedure can take place tomorrow, so we can head back to California for a weeks rest prior to Nick's scheduled surgery on August 2nd.

From Ken:

Happy 70th Birthday to my Dad!!!

As Carolyn said, Nick is starting his bone marrow harvest today. It can take a couple of days to get enough stem cells for them to freeze. The idea is that they take these clean stem cells now and save it away....if the cancer ever returns down the road, they can use it for a bone marrow transplant. Here at MSKCC, they use a special antibody called 3F8 instead of a bone marrow transplant as part of the initial treatment and only use the transplant upon relapse.....lets hope we never need it. It still looks good for us to come home but I don't expect to actually get the green light until Friday.