Well two more days have come and gone. Nathan finished the steroids on Monday and although not as ravenous as what he was, his appetite is still large and thinks about food on a regular basis. Nathan has gained roughly 6 pounds in the last week and his stomach and face have become rounder.
Yesterday went well. Nathan is feeling well. His blood counts were a pleasant surprise as his white cell counts were 6.66 with his Neutrophils at 4.78, lymphocytes at 1.4 and his monocytes at 0.4. With the stronger chemo drugs received last week we thought his counts would be low. The steroids are causing his counts to be higher than anticipated. Dr Ali's indicated he was pleased with how well Nathan looked and seemed when he examined him so that was nice to hear. Nathan had the usual wait to receive his treatment of Vincristine and Doxorubicin but had a full house at the clinic to keep him occupied. Esther is back from taking a break from the clinic so played games with Nathan and Michael, the brother of another little girl, Cathy, who had the same prognosis as Nathan. Nathan's other friend Michael was also there so the two connected on their DS's for a little while.
Today Nathan had another round of leg needles. All was good until we parked and were getting out of the vehicle when Nathan declared he wasn't ready to go in and wouldn't be - ever. A short discussion with Nathan determining he wanted to go to the Dollar Store after the visit to the clinic today, prompted his leaving the vehicle and entering the clinic. All was good until the nurse let Nathan know that the medication had arrived then again declared there was no way he was going to get the leg needles. He tucked his arms through the loops in the chair when I indicated I could/would carry him in and he said "not going to happen". When I asked him to come to my chair so that we could call Arron he figured I was trying to get him closer to the nurses room. I need some new tricks as the convincing him that he needs to get the needles done don't seem to be working as well. After a short discussion with Arron, Nathan determined it was okay to go in. I asked Arron what he said to Nathan to convince him to go in and it was all the same things I had said earlier. Nathan then declared that today he just had to listen to Dad and not Mom. I laughed and assured him he needed to listen to both Dad and Mom. Once in the room Nathan did really well getting the needles. While we waited out our time, Nathan again played games with Esther. She commented that Nathan had an abundance of energy for a child receiving chemo.
Since Nathan's counts had been good and was feeling well today, he was able to attend school in the afternoon. He was excited to show his classmates a new pair of fun glasses he had gotten from the Dollar Store. They are the ones with the big eye brows and nose. The kids thought they were great and Nathan loved making them laugh.
Tonight was a nice evening. After a later supper we bundled the kids up to go for a walk. Carter biked and Nathan and Justin rode in the wagon under blankets. We walked to the area where the lake is being developed and the kids were able to see the geese fly in and land. They thought it was pretty neat.
Tomorrow is another day at work and then the last set of leg needles for this round is Friday. If all stays on schedule Nathan (and his parents) will have a break from the leg needles till June 22! Hurray!
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