Last Day of School!

Dominic's Graduation

Dominic and Mrs Christensen

Chemo round 4

We started the last round of chemo! Yay! He's doing the 12 mg of idarubicin. He gets two treatments this week. Jose has tolerated it well. Not looking forward to the dropping of his numbers. I had strep last week so luckily, I got it when he had an immune system. It was neat to have Sam back as our nurse. She gave Jose his first chemo and hopefully his last. Once his numbers recover he will have a bone marrow biopsy and, if that comes back clean. Lots of pills for a year! We will take it! Hopefully, by July he will have his central line removed and, start feeling a little more like himself. It's a long road but, I hope the hardest part is behind us.

Round 3 Finished!

Jose stopped the Atra today. We are offically done with round 3. I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. As long as all goes well he should be able to start chemo on the 30th and 31st.
His numbers are still low. His skin is terribly dry and he's exhausted. I hope that he'll get through this quickly.

Real Salt Lake Game

Jose receiving a jersey with his name on it. 

Jose's Jersey

Me and my baby girl at the game!

Jersey for Alyssa!

Real Salt Lake Game

Real Salt Lake and American Express are proud to recognize Utah Valley University students Trent Ewing and Jon Goudy as the recipients of the “Heroes Among Us” honor for RSL’s contest on Saturday, May 5 against the New England Revolution, presented by OhMyCrafts.com. Ewing and Goudy will be honored for a unique class project at UVU to benefit Jose Padilla, a classmate who was diagnosed with Leukemia towards the start of the current semester.

Known among his Utah Valley University classmates as friendly, creative and full of ideas worth sharing, Padilla was set to excel this spring in an entrepreneurial class which teaches students how to achieve their dreams and ideas by creating their own business. However, those plans were put on hold  when Padilla – a full-time worker in the insurance industry, husband and father of three – was suddenly diagnosed with Leukemia.

As part of the course curriculum, each entrepreneurial class is assigned a final project, and in an effort to help and put their skills to use in a real-world setting, Ewing and Goudy joined with their fellow classmates to spearhead the “Giving-A-Dime: A Charity Fundraiser for Jose” project. The charitable endeavor is designed to assist the needs of Padilla and his family, and includes an online donation drive and a 5K Charity Run/Walk that was held in Canyon View Park in April. To find out ways in which you can help Padilla’s recovery efforts and cause, visit the Giving-A-Dime website.

Blue Devil! 2 down 1 to go.

They call it the blue devil for a reason. Thank goodness for zofran that helped Jose not be so sick. This round of chemo knocked him on his butt. He's tolerated it ok but been super tired.
3 rounds down. 1 to go. Then hopefully he can start feeling better!

Jose Update!

Jose went and had labs done today. His platelets were 161,000, his neutrophils were at 1800, and his hematocrit was 30.1. Which means at clinic tomorrow we should be starting our 3rd round of chemotherapy. I'm excited to get this over with. Yet, not excited to start all over again.

Happy 10th Birthday Alyssa

Happy Birthday Alyssa!

I can't believe my blue eyed baby girl is 10!

We did a movie theme this year. It was insane we couldn't get the sound working on the movie. Shelby entertained the kids by having them dance and playing games. 

We finally got it working and they all snuggled up in the theater room to watch a movie. 

Her invite

Some fun decorations

Alyssa with Ashley and Maleah! Two of her best friends. 

presents!

Charity

What an amazing group of people! No words can say anything more than thank you!
UVU students raising money for cancer stricken classmate
Daily Herald

Giving a Dime
OREM -- Two months ago Jose Padilla was a model student at UVU. He rarely missed class and was always involved in classroom discussions and projects.
Two months ago Padilla got a phone call that changed his life forever.
After several days of nose bleeds Padilla went to the health clinic where they ran several tests and sent him home. That evening he got a call saying he needed to go to the ER immediately.
"I had just come home from work and I was tired and thought I will just go tomorrow, but my wife and I decided to go the ER where they did more tests," Padilla said. "Around 1 a.m. the doctors said, 'we think you might have leukemia,' and sent me to LDS Hospital to get a firm diagnosis."
On Feb. 20, Padilla was diagnosed with leukemia.
"My life changed," he said. Padilla has been unable to work since he started getting chemotherapy and is confined to his home in Pleasant Grove to lower his chances of getting sick.
Padilla dropped several classes but worked with his entrepreneurship professor to do his work at home. Now students from that class are using their final project to help Padilla and his family raise money to pay for medical expenses and bills.
"We realized the insurance isn't going to cover a lot of the expenses he has in his everyday life," junior Jonathan Goudy said. "It is one thing to have a life-threatening disease but then to realize it is going to tear you down financially. You shouldn't have to worry about finances if you are struggling with your health."
The students typically create real world business models as their final projects, but this time they put that model into actual use with a nonprofit known as Giving-A-Dime.
The class created a video sharing Padilla's story in the hopes that once people get to know him they will open their hearts a little more. Since Monday they've raised close to $1,000.
"We wanted to see if people knew Jose personally if they would open up their hearts and people have," Goudy said.
The students are hoping to make it viable on a larger scale.
"Jose is kind of the inspiration for the project but what we would like is to be a model for a future nonprofit organization that could be set up for students who are diagnosed with and illness or experience tragedy to help them get back on their feet," said Christopher Baily, senior at UVU.
Padilla recently finished his first round of chemotherapy and will start his second round in May. He hopes to return to school and work in the fall.
Padilla said he has been overwhelmed by the support from his fellow students.
"This can happen to anyone of us. I never expected something like this to happen to me, but I look at how good people have been to me," Padilla said. "When this is over I am going to be sure to pay it forward and help those I can help and especially those who are going through something similar as me."
The Giving-A-Dime campaign will be holding a 5K fun run and walk at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Canyon View Park in Provo Canyon. Registration can be done the day of the race starting at 7:30 a.m. or online at givingadime.org. All proceeds will benefit Padilla.
To see Padilla's story or donate to the cause visit www.givingadime.org.
Copyright 2012 Daily Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in Orem, College, Paige-fieldsted on Thursday, April 19, 2012 12:26 am Updated: 2:01 pm. | Tags: Orem, Jose Padilla, Utah Valley University, Giving A Dime, Jonathan Goudy, Christopher Baily, Entrepreneur Class, Fundraising



Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/central/orem/uvu-students-raising-money-for-cancer-stricken-classmate/article_b56eb135-863e-57b3-a79e-c890a0bac7ae.html#ixzz1sYCesum0

Cycle one of Consolidation is over!

Well it's offical the first cycle of consolidation is over! Jose stopped his Atra today. Now we need to wait for his numbers to recover. Then start over! It's insane how many pills he takes in a day.