Second Chemo Cycle Complete

Christopher finished his second cycle of chemo just in time to celebrate Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, after spending 6 days at Wolfson's, Chris was discharged with no complications and feeling pretty good considering the heavy doses of meds he is getting. This was the first Christmas he has spent in FL in many many years as this is usually his time to visit CA so we were happy to be home and able to take a short trip to his Nonni and Papa's!

On Monday (12/27), Christopher had his blood counts taken and I was surprised to learn on Tuesday morning that his counts had already dropped to 26 and he is now considered neutropenic! (Again he originally started with an "ANC" of over 4,000!) When he bottoms out like this it typically means a fever and trip to the hospital but so far he has not spiked a temperature. Though it is expected that this type of chemo will wipe out his blood counts (the absolute neutrophil count), it seems to be happening much quicker than it did the last time. He has been on antibiotics since he got out of the hospital and finally received his "Neulasta" which should help. For a mere $6,000/shot he can inject himself after each round of chemo to boost his body's ability to produce more neutrophils and prevent a long hospital stay after fevers waiting for his blood counts to come up. He may well have already hit 0 and be on the rebound. One can only hope!

Next week, January 4th he will have a follow up chest CT so see if his lungs are still clear. The following week he will begin the 3rd Chemo cycle. (If his counts are high enough that is)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday and many many wishes to you all for a very healthy and happy 2011!

Much love and peace to you all,

Patty

Fever Week

A day at Wolfson's Children's Hospital... a demonstration on liquid nitrogen from a museum of science employee... complete with ice cream sampling!

Unfortunately Christopher spent almost 5 days in this past week after developed a fever late Friday night. His blood counts had been progressively going down since his last round of chemo. When his ANC (absolute neutrophil count) fell to 30 on Thursday's blood check (from over 4,000 when he began chemo) his nurse called and told us to be careful and watch for fever.
Sure enough we were off to the ER early Saturday morning and he was admitted that afternoon. His counts were literally 0 and he had fevers on and off for the next few days. Just goes to show you how much one round of Chemo really attacked his system.
Christopher was given IV antibiotics and fluids as soon as we got to the ER. (One bonus of being an oncology patient is there is never a wait...he goes straight back to triage.) He continued to recieve them until he was with out fever and also could not be discharged until his counts were over 200. With the help of "Neupogen" via IV his last couple days there, the counts finally budged. He will be getting a similar injection after each chemo cycle called Neulasta which will not prevent his blood counts from dropping so drastically but it will help them come up faster. During the 5 days he was there he lost his hair which was very upsetting to him as he waited so long to get it back and had become quite attached to his new locks. I must say though he does sport a good looking bald head! He also lost his teenage appetite which is a big bummer for him as well! What he has not lost is his spirit...he is quite full of that and then some!
Next week will bring more blood work and a visit to the clinic for a physical. His counts will need to be at at least 1,000 before he can begin his next chemo cycle. (There are other aspects of his blood work that are looked at but the ANC is what they consider for overall immune system health.) He will begin his next round on Sunday December 19th and should finish by Christmas Eve. With any luck he will feel well enough to celebrate Christmas and enjoy some holiday cheer!

In the meantime Chris will get some school time in and enjoy his time at home.

Blessings to you all!

Patty

First Chemo Cycle Complete

Thanksgiving at Wolfson's...Aunt Kathy, Christopher, Nonni, Papa and Mom

I am already a bit behind and it is only the beginning of Christopher's new protocol! Here is the latest:
Christopher started his first week of Chemo on Monday, November 22nd and finished on Saturday November 27th. So yes, we spent the Thanksgiving Holiday in the hospital, but honestly it was not bad at all. For the amount of seriously ill children on the 5th floor there was more than enough good spirit to go around! There was also no shortage of good food for all and as a special bonus, Christopher's Aunt Kathy and Grandparents came to visit bearing plenty of treats as well.
It was not an easy week for Christopher. His Chemo lasts for 5 days with the 6th day being an 18 hour post hydration period. We both originally thought that the 2 Chemo drugs, mentioned in an earlier blog, would only run a total of 4hours with a half hour of an additional drug to prevent bladder bleeding. We were NOT aware that he would be given the drugs every day for five days. To me that seemed to be a lot to administer in one round...but then again...I am of a different mindset when it comes to all this. It is no wonder that he had several days of nausea and intense vomiting and was pretty worn out by the time he got home. Thankfully though, on Thanksgiving he was more than able to hold down a lion's share of the good stuff.
He did not have any of the more serious complications that come while the drug is being administered such as extremely low blood pressure and bladder bleeding. So all in all it was more of the same of what he went through last year. All too familiar for him in fact, which I believe has made this time around a little more difficult and a lot less tolerable. Yet he made it through like a champ and will do what it takes to beat this!
One Cycle down and 3 weeks off!
Much peace to all of you!
Patty