This week we were lucky enough to meet another little boy with DGS from Wisconsin. He is beautiful. One of his brothers gave Rocky a pair of shoes which he had worn as a baby, then Tyson had been lucky enough to wear them, now Rocky! Thank you Calvin. You are very sweet and just too cute!! There is another family from Vancouver who we are hoping to catch up with in the next week or so. Their son has his transplant next week. It's great to connect with other DG families.

We are just taking it easy, watching a little tv, eating rice crackers and putting them all over our clothes(check it out - Rocky).
Our fabulous forecast is.....
Sunday 27° C
Monday 30° C
Tuesday 31° C
Wednesday 28° C
Thursday 22° C

Gone Fishing.....

Today we ventured out to the beach (about a 2 1/2 hour drive) to Wilmington. For all those people in Aus who saw the movie, it's in Cape Fear country - yes, there is actually a place called Cape Fear - you may have known that I did not. It was lovely and I think Rocky enjoyed it alot. He did his first ever spot of fishing (see pics ) and check out what he caught - a baby shark! Not bad for his first go lol . We hope yáll enjoy the pics too.

Mini Me....

Check out the look a likes ....plus some pics with Aunty PC., on our walk yesterday. and with his mum. The weather is just so lovely at the moment. Rocky is doing great. Brett left this morning : ( we will miss him alot!

The Many Faces of Rocky

Rocky has been great. His levels all tested well on Friday. Calcium continues to improve so that is good. Now only has to have that twice a day (instead of 3) but of course, still has all the other stuff. Last night he slept from 8pm til 6 this morning, and was a lot happier for it (aren't we all?!) He started eating rice crackers yesterday (you'll see in one of these pics) and quite enjoyed them, certainly enough to tuck into some about a half an hour later that had dropped in his pants earlier. YUM!! LOL

Brett leaves tomorrow : ( time has never gone so quickly as his visits here. At least we all got to spend all our time together in the apartment, it has been great! : ) Peter and Priscilla have arrived and leave in a week. The weather is beautiful so we are trying to make the most of getting some sun before we head home to the Melbourne winter brrrrrrrrrr!

The Exer-Saucer

Rocky's new toy....

The Afterbath...

Trying to clean Rocky these days takes two of us....clearly, he feels good after a bit of sprucing.

The Outpatient Gets Out...and About

Today we ventured out to one of the state forests right near our house. Ít's beautiful and peaceful. We'll be going back for a picnic for sure. Other than the obvious beauty, the highlight was the squirrel getting his lunch from the trash can. We came home for lunch. LOL

Rocky had his appointment with Dr Markert yesterday. All is going well. His white cell count is a bit high so we are just being careful for signs of infection but really, he is great. We are back in on Friday for more labs and IVIG. Hope yáll having a nice day!

Rocky's Day Out.....

We went for a big walk this afternoon, weather here is great!! Here are a couple of pics and also a pic of the Beast we are driving around in.

The Apartment....

We moved to our apartment this week. It is perfect for what we need. A one bedroom place in Brier Creek (about 20 mins from hospital, on the fringe of Raleigh). Í'll do pics of inside later, at the moment it's a bombsite. We have been catching up on sleep, what can I say lol?? Hence the no update on the webpage and no recent pics. Oops.

There is a big shopping centre across the road, it has everything we need. It is GREAT to have Brett here, we are all together again, that is one of the best bits of being in the apartment. The other bit is we can cook! After a while eating at a cafeteria, you don't know what a luxury it is to have freshly prepared food and real utensils.

Rocky is very much enjoying the space. It's good for his development too. He has been really well. All the test results are looking good so far. Duke Home Health comes out once a week to do the dressing change on his central line (and help me do it). Except for a couple of outpatient appts every week, we are free agents. Rocky loves looking around at everything, I guess like most kids his age, but it's very special that he can - no longer couped up in the hospital room.

Brett & I will be speaking at the Duke Mini Grand Prix fundraiser this coming Friday night. We have done a bit of stuff like that for RMH as well since we've been here. We try to contribute as much as we can to help with the promotion of these places, as without Duke, Rocky would not be alive. And without RMH, neither would we LOL, ok, we would be but RMH was great.

We have a date of 22nd May for his biopsy. It's likely we'll have to stay a couple of weeks following the biopsy and then home, if it all goes well (which it will!). Hope yáll having a great time, whatever you are up too. Not long now!!

My Dad Is Here....!!

Brett arrived safe and sound at about 1.30am on Friday morning. We all slept alot yesterday exhausted from late nights/early morning and Rocky from playing with his Dad non stop since his arrival!

1 Day Til My Dad Arrives......

We are very excited by Brett's imminent arrival! It seems like forever since we saw him. He arrives at 11.30pm Thursday night.
Rocky get's weighed every day and here he is sitting on the machine, he always gives a little giggle when he has to get his gear off, he is very proud of himself when he is naked!
Last night I did the dressing change on the central line. My first time. I don't think Dr Markert will be very impressed with that 'loop'' of the cord. I could be in trouble and I don't think I'll be making nurse anytime soon! I thought of putting someone elses initials on the date patch but I know they will find out it was me in the end LOL! xox

We're Movin On Up....We're Movin On Out...

Monday we move out of Duke. I know Brett will be happy that he arrived just in time to lift all the heavy stuff. (My prayers have been answered!) It's amazing how much stuff you can accummulate in a small hospital room. Woops! We are moving to an apartment I'll let you know the address when we have all the info.
Dr Markert was in to see Rocky today and is very happy with everything. She always lights up when her kids do well and I know again how lucky we are to have her looking after our man.

This week I am learning how to flush and change the dressing (sterile technique woo hoo!) on his central line as we will have to do that every day and every week respectively. We really think we could be home early June. Let's hope so!! Take Care xoxoxo

A Current Affair

Anyone wanting to follow the Rocky Story it will air on Tuesday 3rd April , 2007 on Channel Nine A Current Affair (in Australia).

Sorry about the short notice and the promo will start tonight.

I will Tape it and bring it with me for all the USA correspondents. (I may have to try and get it transferred to DVD also) Brett.

Operation Thymus Runs AGround....

In a surprising twist, we were allowed to go outside today (yes, me AND the man!). I forgot my camera so no pic, but he was mesmerized by the squirrels and birds and cars. It was wonderful! It's quieter here on the weekends so they said it should be okay. Still had to cover him up to get him outside though, but what a nice treat!!