Kayne starts week two Monday!

Hello family and friends, We have completed one week of school and Monday is the start of week two for Kayne and our family as we share this journey with you. Kayne did great last Monday getting around campus for his first day. In fact, we did not see Kayne all day. He was able to get around campus with the scooter and Dementor (Moose) by his side. The day wasn’t without frustration. The kid with the scooter found it hard to get in the elevator over all the other students. This made Kayne late for his classes and of course when you pull in the classroom and you have a big beast of a dog and a scooter to get situated, it can draw attention. Kayne had a shorter day on Tuesday as he only had math class. He was able to recover some from the long day. Kayne went to class and ate on his own again Wednesday night. He was off on Thursday, but the day was a tiresome struggle. Kayne had clinic at 1:30 p.m. and he also had three hours of math lab to complete which he decided he would work on before clinic. He got in the shower to start this great day…… He made a decision to take Dementor out after the shower. Needless to say, there was a little clean-up to do in his room. We went to clinic and Kayne decided he wanted to try another drug, a chemo drug called Avastin to see if it will help with relief of his symptoms. This requires him to come to the hospital every two weeks for labs and a 1 ½ hour fusion. At this point, he feels it is worth a shot to see if he can lessen the symptoms caused by the DIPG tumor. Kayne finished Friday and Kirsten and I picked him up after his last class. He looked good coming towards us on his red scooter and the Big Moose beside him. We went to dinner at The Chime’s with our host family Chip and his daughter Angelle. Dinner was nice and everyone in the restaurant was stunned as we left and they then realized we had a big service dog with us. Dementor was tucked away in the corner beside Kayne, so when we left and he head was as high as their table people had some great expressions. Angelle says next time she is going to video the expressions and reactions. Saturday was truly a day of leisure for us. We stayed around the Simon’s house with them and hung out watching some football. We had a special guest stop by to visit Kayne. The president of LSU, King Alexander and wife visited with Kayne. They are great people to take time out to visit Kayne. Saturday night was also special. Chip and Aimee’s son caught tuna and we had fresh tuna steaks for dinner. It was spectacular! Sunday was a relaxed, down day. Kayne stayed at his room and I visited with him to help with Moose and stuff. I left Kayne and he was talking with his suitemate and getting ready for tomorrow. He plans to get up at six and eat breakfast at 7 so he can be early to class and get situated. Kayne is physically unable to walk without holding onto a wall or something to support himself. This makes it difficult to move about his room. He has long arms so it helps him move and hold onto the walls. Everything he does is slower and his energy level is not the same as a healthy person. So, the fact he is continuing to put one foot in front of the other and try so hard is astonishing. I am so proud of him. I hugged him when I was saying goodbye and I could have held him in my arms forever. At that moment, he didn’t seem like a 6’4” man, but just my little Kayne. Keagan made it to FSU this past week and he starts class tomorrow. We send love to the big guy as he starts his sophomore year. Until next time, keep praying for Kayne and our family. We thank everyone for all their love and support. www.cannonballsforkayne.org P.O. Box 1738, Ormond Beach, FL 32175 Curtis Finley Curtis.finley@gmail.com