We went to the clinic this morning to get Nate's blood work done to see if they could go ahead and collect his stem cells today. The first good news is that his ANC (immune system) has recovered from this round of chemo. It looks like we got out of a hospital stay due to fever this time! Can a get a woohoo?! The second number we were waiting on was his stem cell count. Thy need it to be close to 10 (million) cells to start stem cell collection.
We waited all morning. We arrived at the clinic at 8am and didn't hear about his stem cell count until noon. Nate was super ornery today! Running all over the clinic...and even sticking his tongue out at me when I told him to come back! Note to self...find a time out spot at the clinic. Finally we got the number back. The wanted 10...Nate gave them 460! Everyone said this was the highest number any of them had seen. That's my boy! He's going to blow us away at every turn! We were happy his number was so high mostly
because that meant he would only have to spend one day hooked up to the machine and it would be an easy collection.
It was 2:30pm by the time they started the 4-6 hour collection process. Nate slept for the first couple hours, then woke to have a snack and watch some movies. Lou Lou came to relieve me to go to work at 5pm, then Daddy came after work to take him home. He didn't end up needing platelets or electrolytes after the procedure (which sometimes happens) and they headed home about 7:30pm.
It was a super long day, but overall pretty painless for everyone. We waited tonight to hear from the nurse about what his final count was. If it wasn't high enough, we would have to go back tomorrow. He needed 10 and it came back 52! The nurse said it was the highest number she remembers and she thinks he may have broken a hospital record. We think we should get him a trophy. Nate even has Super Stem Cells!!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Round 2
Round 2 of chemo has been awesome! Did I just actually say that? I guess my definition of awesome has changed a bit, but it has been really great. Nate started Round 2 on Monday, August 15th and was able to receive the medications outpatient because they were the same drugs as Round 1 and he handled those pretty well. We went to the clinic every morning, at about 9am (after dropping off Wes and Ellie), for 5 days straight. They would hook Nate's lines up and give him some antinausea medication, then 2 hours of fluids, 1 hour of chemo, 2 more hours of fluids, then a 1/2 hour of a different chemo med. Then we could go home. We would spend anywhere from 6 to 8 hours at the clinic because sometimes they had to draw blood, one day we saw the doctor first, sometimes they were busy and didn't get Nate hooked up right away, and one day we got sent on a 2 hour wild goose chase around the hospital trying to get a chest x-ray and EKG after already being at the clinic for 6 hours getting the chemo (growing pains of a new building, I hope). We were so grateful to be able to go home at the end of the day, though. I think it's just good for the soul to eat dinner at your kitchen table with your family, sleep in your own bed, play with your own toys and get to spend some time in the evening as a family of 5 in our own home. All of our spirits were lighter. It also helped that Nate was showing no signs that he had spent all day being poisoned at the clinic. He is happy and energetic. Nothing is keeping him down. He would run around the clinic with me chasing him with his IV pole, hollering, "Slow down! Wait for Mommy! Don't pull on your lines!". He would take a nap, either in the morning, after the antinausea medication made him sleepy, or in the afternoon during his normal nap time. He would snack all day, watch DVDs and play with toys. Thank you to Jen Laird and Bethannah for coming to hang out with us and bring me food, it made our long day a little shorter and a lot brighter!
We decided to not give Nate any antinausea medications by mouth at home (just the IV meds given at the clinic) and see how he did. He did great! He only threw up one time (compared to several times a day for 9 days straight). Unfortunately, the one time he threw up was in my mom's car on the way to the clinic on Wednesday morning. Sorry Grandma! Grandma was nice enough to take him to clinic on Wednesday and sit with him all day while I worked my normal 12 hour shift. I thanked her by loading his queasy belly up with milk and bacon and sending him on his way. They made it to Lincoln and had to pull over to clean up the mess. He had been doing so well, I didn't even think about it. We then decided to not feed him any breakfast until we got to the clinic and he got the IV antinausea meds, which worked like a charm. Too bad for my mom, we learned that lesson the hard way.
I want to thank all the lovely people who helped us get through that week of long clinic days. My mom took Nate for his chemo treatment on Wednesday and picked up Wes from school the other days. Liz and Tracy each took a couple days to take care of Ellie. I forgot to mention in my last post that one of the people that has been taking a huge burden off of us by providing child care (besides our family) is my dear friend and our long time babysitter, Tracy. From the moment she found out about Nate she offered her free time to watch Wes and Ellie, pick Wes up from school...whatever I needed. Of course she said she would do this not expecting any additional pay. She is truly an extraordinary person, sometimes I feel like I am not worthy to have these wonderful people in my life. So, Tuesday night Ellie spiked a fever. What was I supposed to do? I had to work Wednesday, Chris had to work and my mom was taking Nate to the clinic. Tracy to the rescue! Not only did she take Ellie to the doctor, but she waited around for Ellie to pee in a bag (to check for a bladder infection). When Ellie didn't pee, she went home to pick her son and Wes up from school (2 different schools, of course) then drove the pee back to the doctor in the afternoon! Tracy is so awesome, I really don't know what I would do without her. Ellie's fever stopped on it's own and a full body rash showed up the next day...a virus. We really have to worry about Nate if Wes or Ellie gets sick, but this turned out to be no big deal, luckily. I also want to thank the people who took time out of their busy days to bring us a meal, the Batoaoels, Mary & Dave Petroff, Papa and Lou Lou, the Thompsons and the Mobilias. It was so nice to come home after a long day at the clinic and have a meal that we didn't have to pick up at a drive through on the way home. Forgive me if I forgot anyone. Every little thing every one does to make this burden lighter on us, is so greatly appreciated you will never know.
We had a nice weekend at home and returned to the clinic on Monday for blood work. Nate had to get a blood transfusion, which is pretty normal, I just didn't know that it would take ALL DAY. It took 3 hours to get the blood from the bank and 2 hours to infuse. So, we didn't leave there until 5pm again. I was pretty frustrated, because I thought I was going to have some time to catch up on housework. Plus, I had Ellie with me because I expected a quick visit. It was challenging to entertain both of them in the infusion room, but I made it work. Tuesday we got to stay home, but had a scary moment when Nate had a nose bleed that wouldn't stop. Chemo wipes out his platelets which puts him at a higher risk of bleeding. Luckily, Wes had a half day at school and was home to grab things for me and call Daddy because I was holding Nate with one arm and trying to hold his nose with the other. I sort of remembered reading that I should sit him up and apply pressure to his nose for a long time...I decided on 5 minutes. He hated it and screamed and struggled the whole time, but it worked. Wednesday, my mom took Nate in for a blood check and they were able to come home in a couple hours. Thursday we were home. Friday I took Nate in again for a blood check, anticipating that he may be able to begin his stem cell collection procedure after the blood check, so I left Ellie with Tracy. I was able to pick her up after a couple hours though, because Nate's counts weren't high enough. We are giving his body the weekend to build up his stem cell population and hope to begin collection on Monday. We will go to the clinic first thing in the morning again and wait for the blood test results. If they are high enough, we will check in to the hospital and Nate will be hooked up to a machine for 4 to 6 hours. The machine will take his blood out, separate the stem cells, then put the blood back in. We will be in the hospital until late into the evening, but will get to go home when it is done. Hopefully they will get enough stem cells with the one collection, otherwise we come back Tuesday and do it all over again. If his numbers aren't high enough on Monday, then we go home and come back Tuesday to try again. One day at a time.
Nate will have periodic clinic visits for blood tests, but we are hoping to get the collection over with on Monday and will be able to be mostly at home through Labor Day. After Labor Day, Nate will have a week filled with visits for a CT scan, an MIBG scan and a bone marrow biopsy. He will be put under anesthesia for these procedures, but will be able to come home at night. The bone marrow biopsy is scheduled for September 9th, then he will check in to the hospital to start chemo round 3 that evening. Round 3 is starting a few days later than it should because of scheduling with the MIBG scan (the scan that looks specifically for neuroblastoma). We will need lots of prayer as we hear back results of his tests. While we expect nothing but great results, the anxiety of general anesthesia and waiting for test results is sometimes too much to handle. We will hand it over to God. Round 3 is also supposed to be one of the hardest of the 6 rounds of chemo, so we are bracing ourselves and remaining optimistic at the same time...if that's possible.
When Nate started Round 1 he weighed 15.8kg. We were told that if he lost 0.8kg they would start talking about giving him a feeding tube, a nasogastric tube that goes up his nose and into his stomach. We are trying to avoid this if at all possible because I know it will irritate him and he will probably pull it out. After spending 9 days vomiting during Round 1, Nate had dropped one full kg down to 14.8kg. This may not seem like a lot, but was very noticeable on his little body. As of Friday, when he was weighed at the clinic, his weight was all the way up to 16kg! Way to go, Super Nate!
Sometimes I still get sad and mad that this is our life now, but for the most part, it is what it is. It is our life now, and we're doing what we have to do to get Nate through this and on to living the rest of our lives.
We decided to not give Nate any antinausea medications by mouth at home (just the IV meds given at the clinic) and see how he did. He did great! He only threw up one time (compared to several times a day for 9 days straight). Unfortunately, the one time he threw up was in my mom's car on the way to the clinic on Wednesday morning. Sorry Grandma! Grandma was nice enough to take him to clinic on Wednesday and sit with him all day while I worked my normal 12 hour shift. I thanked her by loading his queasy belly up with milk and bacon and sending him on his way. They made it to Lincoln and had to pull over to clean up the mess. He had been doing so well, I didn't even think about it. We then decided to not feed him any breakfast until we got to the clinic and he got the IV antinausea meds, which worked like a charm. Too bad for my mom, we learned that lesson the hard way.
I want to thank all the lovely people who helped us get through that week of long clinic days. My mom took Nate for his chemo treatment on Wednesday and picked up Wes from school the other days. Liz and Tracy each took a couple days to take care of Ellie. I forgot to mention in my last post that one of the people that has been taking a huge burden off of us by providing child care (besides our family) is my dear friend and our long time babysitter, Tracy. From the moment she found out about Nate she offered her free time to watch Wes and Ellie, pick Wes up from school...whatever I needed. Of course she said she would do this not expecting any additional pay. She is truly an extraordinary person, sometimes I feel like I am not worthy to have these wonderful people in my life. So, Tuesday night Ellie spiked a fever. What was I supposed to do? I had to work Wednesday, Chris had to work and my mom was taking Nate to the clinic. Tracy to the rescue! Not only did she take Ellie to the doctor, but she waited around for Ellie to pee in a bag (to check for a bladder infection). When Ellie didn't pee, she went home to pick her son and Wes up from school (2 different schools, of course) then drove the pee back to the doctor in the afternoon! Tracy is so awesome, I really don't know what I would do without her. Ellie's fever stopped on it's own and a full body rash showed up the next day...a virus. We really have to worry about Nate if Wes or Ellie gets sick, but this turned out to be no big deal, luckily. I also want to thank the people who took time out of their busy days to bring us a meal, the Batoaoels, Mary & Dave Petroff, Papa and Lou Lou, the Thompsons and the Mobilias. It was so nice to come home after a long day at the clinic and have a meal that we didn't have to pick up at a drive through on the way home. Forgive me if I forgot anyone. Every little thing every one does to make this burden lighter on us, is so greatly appreciated you will never know.
We had a nice weekend at home and returned to the clinic on Monday for blood work. Nate had to get a blood transfusion, which is pretty normal, I just didn't know that it would take ALL DAY. It took 3 hours to get the blood from the bank and 2 hours to infuse. So, we didn't leave there until 5pm again. I was pretty frustrated, because I thought I was going to have some time to catch up on housework. Plus, I had Ellie with me because I expected a quick visit. It was challenging to entertain both of them in the infusion room, but I made it work. Tuesday we got to stay home, but had a scary moment when Nate had a nose bleed that wouldn't stop. Chemo wipes out his platelets which puts him at a higher risk of bleeding. Luckily, Wes had a half day at school and was home to grab things for me and call Daddy because I was holding Nate with one arm and trying to hold his nose with the other. I sort of remembered reading that I should sit him up and apply pressure to his nose for a long time...I decided on 5 minutes. He hated it and screamed and struggled the whole time, but it worked. Wednesday, my mom took Nate in for a blood check and they were able to come home in a couple hours. Thursday we were home. Friday I took Nate in again for a blood check, anticipating that he may be able to begin his stem cell collection procedure after the blood check, so I left Ellie with Tracy. I was able to pick her up after a couple hours though, because Nate's counts weren't high enough. We are giving his body the weekend to build up his stem cell population and hope to begin collection on Monday. We will go to the clinic first thing in the morning again and wait for the blood test results. If they are high enough, we will check in to the hospital and Nate will be hooked up to a machine for 4 to 6 hours. The machine will take his blood out, separate the stem cells, then put the blood back in. We will be in the hospital until late into the evening, but will get to go home when it is done. Hopefully they will get enough stem cells with the one collection, otherwise we come back Tuesday and do it all over again. If his numbers aren't high enough on Monday, then we go home and come back Tuesday to try again. One day at a time.
Nate will have periodic clinic visits for blood tests, but we are hoping to get the collection over with on Monday and will be able to be mostly at home through Labor Day. After Labor Day, Nate will have a week filled with visits for a CT scan, an MIBG scan and a bone marrow biopsy. He will be put under anesthesia for these procedures, but will be able to come home at night. The bone marrow biopsy is scheduled for September 9th, then he will check in to the hospital to start chemo round 3 that evening. Round 3 is starting a few days later than it should because of scheduling with the MIBG scan (the scan that looks specifically for neuroblastoma). We will need lots of prayer as we hear back results of his tests. While we expect nothing but great results, the anxiety of general anesthesia and waiting for test results is sometimes too much to handle. We will hand it over to God. Round 3 is also supposed to be one of the hardest of the 6 rounds of chemo, so we are bracing ourselves and remaining optimistic at the same time...if that's possible.
When Nate started Round 1 he weighed 15.8kg. We were told that if he lost 0.8kg they would start talking about giving him a feeding tube, a nasogastric tube that goes up his nose and into his stomach. We are trying to avoid this if at all possible because I know it will irritate him and he will probably pull it out. After spending 9 days vomiting during Round 1, Nate had dropped one full kg down to 14.8kg. This may not seem like a lot, but was very noticeable on his little body. As of Friday, when he was weighed at the clinic, his weight was all the way up to 16kg! Way to go, Super Nate!
Sometimes I still get sad and mad that this is our life now, but for the most part, it is what it is. It is our life now, and we're doing what we have to do to get Nate through this and on to living the rest of our lives.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Avon Fundraiser
My sweet friend, Debbie, is donating all the proceeds of the Avon sales she makes until September 8th, to Nate!! If you, or anyone you know needs some Avon, please call Debbie or order from her website. Thank you!
Here is the link to her site where you can find her phone # or order directly.
Here is the link to her site where you can find her phone # or order directly.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Chemo
Well, we've moved past the 1st round of chemo and we're on to the 2nd. The 1st round was both awful and not so bad all at the same time. I am constantly being reminded that we must take this journey one day at a time and sometimes one moment at a time. Cherish the good ones and get through the bad. Planning ahead is the enemy, because you'll usually be disappointed. I'm learning, but it's still pretty hard...I like to plan.
The first round of chemo was given in the hospital because the drugs Nate has to get are pretty harsh and they have to monitor him to make sure he handles them ok. He had a central line surgically placed in his chest when he was hospitalized the first time. It is a single tube that comes out if the center if his chest and splits in to 2 tubes. The hole in his chest has to be covered with a dressing that has to be changed once a week and the tubes have to be flushed daily. It's a little bit if a pain because he can't swim and has to bathe very carefully and because of the maintenance and annoyance it causes. Really though, it is a blessing because it means that he doesn't have to be poked very often. They are able to deliver his chemo and other meds through this line and also draw blood.
He handled the first round of chemo like a champ. We spent the days in the hospital playing in the playroom, eating meals in front of the TV and having lots of visitors. The hardest part of being in the hospital is juggling all 3 kids and our jobs. We are only able to do any of this with the love and help of our family and friends. My mom, Linde, MaryLou, David and Liz have taken a huge burden from us in many ways but mostly by helping to care for Wes, Nate and Ellie. As well as our other friends, family and sometimes strangers who have taken the time to cook us a meal, send a gift, write a note, give a hug and say a prayer. We will only be able to begin repaying everyone one day by, of course, being there whenever you need us but also by extending the same hand to families in need, in the future. We really can never thank you all enough.
The first round of chemo caused Nate a lot of nausea and vomiting, which started a few hours after the end of the first infusion and continued for 9 days (4 days after the end of chemo). In between the vomiting Nate was his normal, happy, playful self. Really, I think, it was hardest on the rest of us. He started getting skinny. He had lost enough weight that his ribs and backbone were protruding. We tried everything we could to get the antinausea medication down him without it making him gag and throw up. Not to mention the fact that we had completely abandoned "mouth care" (which is the mouth ritual we are supposed to do with him three times a day to prevent and teat mouth sores) because he would throw up the second we even got close to him with
the mouth wash. Eventually, we decided to stop giving him the antinausea medication at all because we thought it would be better for him to throw up 1 time a day with no medicine than to throw up 3 times a day because we were gagging him with the medicine. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but it worked! The first day of no medicine and he didn't throw up at all! We felt like we were finally at the top of a tall, frustrating hill.
Then, the next day, I was getting Nate dressed to go to clinic and get his blood checked when I felt a fever. My fear was confirmed at the clinic. After only being home for 4 days (and vomiting for 3 of those), Nate had to check back in to the hospital for IV antibiotics because his immune system was zero and he had a fever (we also learned that this is something that will probably happen with every round of chemo). The fever only took one day to disappear and all his cultures came back negative. Now we had to wait...and wait for his ANC (measure of immune system) to get above 250. He was totally fine, but it was too dangerous to take him off of IV antibiotics and take him home...just in case. So, Nate spent 6 long days in isolation in his room. He could have visitors as long as they were well, but he couldn't even wander the halls or go to the playroom (his favorite thing to do).
While in the hospital, he started to lose his hair. This was way harder on me than I thought it would be. While I loved his sweet, red hair that EVERYBODY complimented, I don't consider myself a vain person at all and didn't think it would bother me too much when it fell out. I think it was the quickness that really took me by surprise. That and the fact that he went from a completely healthy little boy to now a boy who "looked" sick, and only because we were giving him poison. It went from a couple hairs on his pillow to only a few wisps left in 2 DAYS!! I guess I thought it would take weeks and we would have time to plan a shaving party at our leisure. Instead, I planned an impromptu shaving party at the hospital. Wes helped me find a few fun hats and we picked up a Thomas cupcake cake at the store. Wes even came up with the idea to play "pin the hat on Caillou". Daddy, Adam and Wes shaved their heads first so that Nate wouldn't be scared of us shaving his last few wispy hairs. It was a fun night that I think lifted all of our spirits a bit.
That previous morning, Nate's ANC had gone from 0 to 70 and the Dr said it would
take another 2 to 3 days for it to get above 250. Then, sure enough the next morning it jumped all the way to 255 and Nate could go home!!! We were all SO excited! There's no place like home! Once home, I realized that out of the last month, we had only been together at home for 1 week! No wonder we missed home so much.
We enjoyed being at home, fattening Nate up with his favorite foods and playing, playing, playing. Two days later (last Friday) we headed to clinic for a blood test and found out that Nate's ANC was 11,000!! I looked at the nurse and excitedly asked, "can we do fun things this weekend?". "Yes", she said, "have fun". Nate had not been anywhere other than the hospital or home for 3 weeks. He had been asking to go to the children's museum, so that's where we headed Saturday morning. We had a SUPER fun weekend which means that none of us have clean clothes this week because we didn't do any laundry, but the laundry can wait, Nate's immune system will not. I refuse to waste these moments with my family, doing laundry.
Yesterday, Nate started chemo round 2, outpatient this time. He is getting the same exact drugs this round that he did the 1st round and since he did pretty well, he's allowed to do it outpatient. This is awesome!! We have to spend 6 to 8 hours in the clinic Monday through Friday this week, but we get to go home and eat dinner together and sleep in out beds and I can even go run some errands after the kids go to sleep. This all seems like such a luxury now. We won't be able to do outpatient for rounds 3 or 4 but possibly we could do it again for 5 and/or 6. Nate's doing really well. We play and play and play at the clinic all day, while the medicine is infused. He hasn't really thrown up yet...just a little tiny bit this morning when we tried to give him his antifungal medicine. So, we aren't going to give him any antinausea medicine by mouth at home (he gets some IV at the clinic) and see how he does. So far, so good!
The only reason I have time to write this right now is because he conked out for a little nap. Otherwise, he is still his lively 2 year old, red headed temper (even without the hair) self and he's keeping everyone on our toes. Oh yeah...he ate like a hog this weekend and put back on all his weight! He really is incredible! I was changing his diaper and marveling at the fact that he had put some meat back on his bones in the matter of only a couple days. I looked at him and said, "Nate, you're amazing". He said, "yes, I'm are...I'm super Nate."
The first round of chemo was given in the hospital because the drugs Nate has to get are pretty harsh and they have to monitor him to make sure he handles them ok. He had a central line surgically placed in his chest when he was hospitalized the first time. It is a single tube that comes out if the center if his chest and splits in to 2 tubes. The hole in his chest has to be covered with a dressing that has to be changed once a week and the tubes have to be flushed daily. It's a little bit if a pain because he can't swim and has to bathe very carefully and because of the maintenance and annoyance it causes. Really though, it is a blessing because it means that he doesn't have to be poked very often. They are able to deliver his chemo and other meds through this line and also draw blood.
He handled the first round of chemo like a champ. We spent the days in the hospital playing in the playroom, eating meals in front of the TV and having lots of visitors. The hardest part of being in the hospital is juggling all 3 kids and our jobs. We are only able to do any of this with the love and help of our family and friends. My mom, Linde, MaryLou, David and Liz have taken a huge burden from us in many ways but mostly by helping to care for Wes, Nate and Ellie. As well as our other friends, family and sometimes strangers who have taken the time to cook us a meal, send a gift, write a note, give a hug and say a prayer. We will only be able to begin repaying everyone one day by, of course, being there whenever you need us but also by extending the same hand to families in need, in the future. We really can never thank you all enough.
The first round of chemo caused Nate a lot of nausea and vomiting, which started a few hours after the end of the first infusion and continued for 9 days (4 days after the end of chemo). In between the vomiting Nate was his normal, happy, playful self. Really, I think, it was hardest on the rest of us. He started getting skinny. He had lost enough weight that his ribs and backbone were protruding. We tried everything we could to get the antinausea medication down him without it making him gag and throw up. Not to mention the fact that we had completely abandoned "mouth care" (which is the mouth ritual we are supposed to do with him three times a day to prevent and teat mouth sores) because he would throw up the second we even got close to him with
the mouth wash. Eventually, we decided to stop giving him the antinausea medication at all because we thought it would be better for him to throw up 1 time a day with no medicine than to throw up 3 times a day because we were gagging him with the medicine. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but it worked! The first day of no medicine and he didn't throw up at all! We felt like we were finally at the top of a tall, frustrating hill.
Then, the next day, I was getting Nate dressed to go to clinic and get his blood checked when I felt a fever. My fear was confirmed at the clinic. After only being home for 4 days (and vomiting for 3 of those), Nate had to check back in to the hospital for IV antibiotics because his immune system was zero and he had a fever (we also learned that this is something that will probably happen with every round of chemo). The fever only took one day to disappear and all his cultures came back negative. Now we had to wait...and wait for his ANC (measure of immune system) to get above 250. He was totally fine, but it was too dangerous to take him off of IV antibiotics and take him home...just in case. So, Nate spent 6 long days in isolation in his room. He could have visitors as long as they were well, but he couldn't even wander the halls or go to the playroom (his favorite thing to do).
While in the hospital, he started to lose his hair. This was way harder on me than I thought it would be. While I loved his sweet, red hair that EVERYBODY complimented, I don't consider myself a vain person at all and didn't think it would bother me too much when it fell out. I think it was the quickness that really took me by surprise. That and the fact that he went from a completely healthy little boy to now a boy who "looked" sick, and only because we were giving him poison. It went from a couple hairs on his pillow to only a few wisps left in 2 DAYS!! I guess I thought it would take weeks and we would have time to plan a shaving party at our leisure. Instead, I planned an impromptu shaving party at the hospital. Wes helped me find a few fun hats and we picked up a Thomas cupcake cake at the store. Wes even came up with the idea to play "pin the hat on Caillou". Daddy, Adam and Wes shaved their heads first so that Nate wouldn't be scared of us shaving his last few wispy hairs. It was a fun night that I think lifted all of our spirits a bit.
That previous morning, Nate's ANC had gone from 0 to 70 and the Dr said it would
take another 2 to 3 days for it to get above 250. Then, sure enough the next morning it jumped all the way to 255 and Nate could go home!!! We were all SO excited! There's no place like home! Once home, I realized that out of the last month, we had only been together at home for 1 week! No wonder we missed home so much.
We enjoyed being at home, fattening Nate up with his favorite foods and playing, playing, playing. Two days later (last Friday) we headed to clinic for a blood test and found out that Nate's ANC was 11,000!! I looked at the nurse and excitedly asked, "can we do fun things this weekend?". "Yes", she said, "have fun". Nate had not been anywhere other than the hospital or home for 3 weeks. He had been asking to go to the children's museum, so that's where we headed Saturday morning. We had a SUPER fun weekend which means that none of us have clean clothes this week because we didn't do any laundry, but the laundry can wait, Nate's immune system will not. I refuse to waste these moments with my family, doing laundry.
Yesterday, Nate started chemo round 2, outpatient this time. He is getting the same exact drugs this round that he did the 1st round and since he did pretty well, he's allowed to do it outpatient. This is awesome!! We have to spend 6 to 8 hours in the clinic Monday through Friday this week, but we get to go home and eat dinner together and sleep in out beds and I can even go run some errands after the kids go to sleep. This all seems like such a luxury now. We won't be able to do outpatient for rounds 3 or 4 but possibly we could do it again for 5 and/or 6. Nate's doing really well. We play and play and play at the clinic all day, while the medicine is infused. He hasn't really thrown up yet...just a little tiny bit this morning when we tried to give him his antifungal medicine. So, we aren't going to give him any antinausea medicine by mouth at home (he gets some IV at the clinic) and see how he does. So far, so good!
The only reason I have time to write this right now is because he conked out for a little nap. Otherwise, he is still his lively 2 year old, red headed temper (even without the hair) self and he's keeping everyone on our toes. Oh yeah...he ate like a hog this weekend and put back on all his weight! He really is incredible! I was changing his diaper and marveling at the fact that he had put some meat back on his bones in the matter of only a couple days. I looked at him and said, "Nate, you're amazing". He said, "yes, I'm are...I'm super Nate."
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Fever
Constantly being reminded of the ride we are on. Nate is being admitted to PCH because he has a fever and his ANC (measure of immunity) is zero. It's probably nothing, but we have to be better safe than sorry. They say this will probably happen every round. He will be in for at least a couple days. Please pray that he will recover quickly and can go home on Saturday.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
It's Working
No throw ups since 6pm last night!! The longest stretch since starting chemo a week and a half ago. Also, a came home from work to a great big hug around the neck and a "Mommy, I really missed you" from Nate. Great day!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Tomorrow's a new day
Another bad day of vomiting. We're trying a slightly different strategy tomorrow. Please pray Nate keeps ALL his food down starting now...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)