A lot of stuff happens in a few days but we still don't know as much as we'd like. Friday we went into the clinic for platelets and leg needles and Nathan did wonderfully well. He has started to put on his own Emla cream, and take it off when we get there. He breezed through the leg needles again Friday so at least there is a positive there. They informed us that we'd have a video conference with Dr Lewis on the 21st of July. That was still two weeks away! We wanted, and still want, more information before then as we are being asked to make major decisions based on little to no information and that is not sitting well with us. Hopefully they'll get something else arranged before we end up just driving down there and demanding to meet.
On Saturday I ventured back up to Carrot River where friends and family put on a benefit for Nathan and our family. They had wonderful weather, a great golf course with 112 golfers participating, a delicious supper with awesome entertainment. All those superlatives aren't enough to describe the people though -everyone there was just simply beyond words. From my family and friends who set up both the farm yard and various golfing events, to all the people that donated items or their time, to the people who worked the benefit and finally to the people stepping up at the auction - the response was overwhelming. The band was great and the party was in full swing when I left. You all know that you played a big part and please know the heartfelt gratitude going from our family to all of yours. Incredible!
While I was in Carrot River golfing Shelley tried to have a "normal day" with the boys. They did a kid project at Home Depot, some crafts from Michaels and picked up some food to have a picnic in the park. Nathan was feeling well so had to use the opportunity while it was present. A good afternoon was had and they had a movie night in the evening. Shelley said it was a great day. On Sunday we got home early in the afternoon and I set up the pool for the boys on the front lawn. They had a blast in it. Nathan tends to overdo it a bit, so it is a real balancing act for Shelley and I to get him to stop something while he is still good vs waiting for the lower energy and poor feeling he gets when he gets too far into an activity. This evening he had to have a rest but it wasn't very long before he was wondering what his brothers were doing and was back outside taking part in some badminton.
Tomorrow is a longer day at the clinic. Nathan will be getting his triple intrathecal therapy, leg needles, and vincristine. Oh did I mention we are onto drug number 13 now? He is now having Nyastatin to help with sores in his mouth once again. We continue to pray that Nathan's body will handle the treatments, that one of us is a match and that we will have a sense of direction soon.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Induction Day 10
If bad news comes in threes then we just got our third one out of the way.
The biopsy results on Nathan's testicle came back positive - there were leukemic cells present inside his testes. We were hoping that the torsion of the appendix epidydimus was the sole cause of his swelling and discomfort, but unfortunately that was not it. We are not completely sure how this affects everything yet, other than now we know that Nathan will require radiation therapy to his testes. Dr Ali was not certain if it would be after induction or sometime in the next few weeks. I know we have to keep rolling with it, but it sure would be nice if there were answers to all these questions - this is getting more and more frustrating.
Other than that we had a very interesting morning. Nathan decided that he was NOT going for more leg needles today and Shelley could not convince him to get moving and allow her to put the Emla cream on his legs. They phoned me, and though Nathan knew that he needed the treatments, and he agreed that he had to get them, he still wasn't going.... While we were talking this through with him, he took the Emla cream and put it on his own thighs and covered it up with an opsite covering. He then proceeded to put the cream over his port, bandaged that up and was ready to go. Kind of surprised Shelley and I, but Nathan is all about control. He wants to feel like he has some control over what is happening to his body and who can fault that. Shelley and Nathan met me at the Cancer center a little after our 8:30 appointment, as it was closer to 9 they were waiting for us, and we went right into the first room. We discussed how he was going to get the leg needles, and we assured him that nurse Andrea was way better than the ped nurses and he finally agreed to get going. We did his left leg first,(with him taking off the opsite covering and removing the cream) and it hurt a bit but he breathed through it and kept control. When we moved over to the right leg, he was busy making funny faces at his mother pretending that it hurt (or really pretending that it did not) and that one was a piece of cake. He was also very agreeable at getting his port accessed - even his counting was to a small number and darn quick. He even was helpful when Dr Ali did a checkup on him and did everything as asked when asked - which is a little unusual. Did we mention yet that his temperament seems to be a lot better on the Prednisone steroid than it was on the Dexamethasone.
He was given fresh frozen plasma that takes a couple hours so he and his mother had a pretty good morning, at least playing and behaving wise. Shelley and I did take this latest news hard at first, and it is still tough to understand why we keep getting more piled onto an overflowing plate but with the support and love from family and friends I'm sure we will get through this one too. (took awhile to get my positive attitude going on this one today but I think I've got it there.)
Nathan has nothing on Thursday but he will get platelets before his leg needles on Friday morning. We are still hopeful that we will finally get to talk to Dr Lewis from Calgary before too long. It is starting to feel like Nathan's treatment isn't as urgent/important as it once was to the medical staff and that is starting to get to us.
The biopsy results on Nathan's testicle came back positive - there were leukemic cells present inside his testes. We were hoping that the torsion of the appendix epidydimus was the sole cause of his swelling and discomfort, but unfortunately that was not it. We are not completely sure how this affects everything yet, other than now we know that Nathan will require radiation therapy to his testes. Dr Ali was not certain if it would be after induction or sometime in the next few weeks. I know we have to keep rolling with it, but it sure would be nice if there were answers to all these questions - this is getting more and more frustrating.
Other than that we had a very interesting morning. Nathan decided that he was NOT going for more leg needles today and Shelley could not convince him to get moving and allow her to put the Emla cream on his legs. They phoned me, and though Nathan knew that he needed the treatments, and he agreed that he had to get them, he still wasn't going.... While we were talking this through with him, he took the Emla cream and put it on his own thighs and covered it up with an opsite covering. He then proceeded to put the cream over his port, bandaged that up and was ready to go. Kind of surprised Shelley and I, but Nathan is all about control. He wants to feel like he has some control over what is happening to his body and who can fault that. Shelley and Nathan met me at the Cancer center a little after our 8:30 appointment, as it was closer to 9 they were waiting for us, and we went right into the first room. We discussed how he was going to get the leg needles, and we assured him that nurse Andrea was way better than the ped nurses and he finally agreed to get going. We did his left leg first,(with him taking off the opsite covering and removing the cream) and it hurt a bit but he breathed through it and kept control. When we moved over to the right leg, he was busy making funny faces at his mother pretending that it hurt (or really pretending that it did not) and that one was a piece of cake. He was also very agreeable at getting his port accessed - even his counting was to a small number and darn quick. He even was helpful when Dr Ali did a checkup on him and did everything as asked when asked - which is a little unusual. Did we mention yet that his temperament seems to be a lot better on the Prednisone steroid than it was on the Dexamethasone.
He was given fresh frozen plasma that takes a couple hours so he and his mother had a pretty good morning, at least playing and behaving wise. Shelley and I did take this latest news hard at first, and it is still tough to understand why we keep getting more piled onto an overflowing plate but with the support and love from family and friends I'm sure we will get through this one too. (took awhile to get my positive attitude going on this one today but I think I've got it there.)
Nathan has nothing on Thursday but he will get platelets before his leg needles on Friday morning. We are still hopeful that we will finally get to talk to Dr Lewis from Calgary before too long. It is starting to feel like Nathan's treatment isn't as urgent/important as it once was to the medical staff and that is starting to get to us.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Induction Day 8
Today has been a long day... the entire family was at the clinic for 9am as Nathan was scheduled to have a spinal treatment today. With his platelets all over the board, we asked whether they would proceed or wait for blood work to come back. His platelets were 43 on Saturday and the magic number we were told is 50. So on the assumption that they would reduce further, we waited for blood work to come back switching Nathan's treatment time with another child's. It was a good thing we waited as his platelets came in at 19! Needless to say Nathan received another platelet transfusion today. He received extra sleepy medication today in order to have the leg needles given to him while he was sleeping. He felt horrible today and had a headache right after the treatment, an indication he sat up too soon after having it. Although nauseated and tired, he managed to sleep this afternoon putting him in a really good mood for the evening. Nathan will have a triple intrathecal treatment every Monday during this phase.
The boys were great at the clinic today. Nathan walked in talking over his shoulder to his brothers: "follow me boys", since this was his domain. They enjoyed the Starlite system together and then when asked to go in to get the topical cream on their arms for the HLA testing they did great. Carter was anxious as he was thinking more about the needle and Justin was relaxed as he didn't understand. Arron went first followed by Carter and Justin putting me last. The needles the clinic uses to draw blood are a lot shorter than when you go for blood work. The nurses had to fill 2 tubes - somewhere between 8-10mls- each. Carter seemed to flow slowly so actually needed two pokes to complete his blood work but he did really well and the nurses were great at providing distractions for them. Justin was great, and teased Carter at the end that he did better than him but they both did wonderful. Since I was last the boys wanted to go out to play the Wii rather than wait and I was grateful as I hate needles :). It didn't hurt but by that point my anxiety levels were high and I was grateful for a few minutes to let the tears fall. Now we wait and pray that one of us is a match.
Nathan's white blood cells were at 0.58 today and neutrophils of 0.18. He will have leg needles and fresh frozen plasma on Wed and leg needles on Friday, so hopefully his counts will stabilize and only the good ones will come back. We also pray for no fever.
The boys were great at the clinic today. Nathan walked in talking over his shoulder to his brothers: "follow me boys", since this was his domain. They enjoyed the Starlite system together and then when asked to go in to get the topical cream on their arms for the HLA testing they did great. Carter was anxious as he was thinking more about the needle and Justin was relaxed as he didn't understand. Arron went first followed by Carter and Justin putting me last. The needles the clinic uses to draw blood are a lot shorter than when you go for blood work. The nurses had to fill 2 tubes - somewhere between 8-10mls- each. Carter seemed to flow slowly so actually needed two pokes to complete his blood work but he did really well and the nurses were great at providing distractions for them. Justin was great, and teased Carter at the end that he did better than him but they both did wonderful. Since I was last the boys wanted to go out to play the Wii rather than wait and I was grateful as I hate needles :). It didn't hurt but by that point my anxiety levels were high and I was grateful for a few minutes to let the tears fall. Now we wait and pray that one of us is a match.
Nathan's white blood cells were at 0.58 today and neutrophils of 0.18. He will have leg needles and fresh frozen plasma on Wed and leg needles on Friday, so hopefully his counts will stabilize and only the good ones will come back. We also pray for no fever.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Induction Day 4
We are amazed at Nathan's ability to handle his treatment physically. The last time Nathan went through these treatments, particularly with the ARA-C, it really beat him up. This time he is fighting back very hard! Other than a little black under the eyes, and occasionally acting tired, he has been handling it well. His counts are low, so his energy levels should be low as well, but he constantly has to be on the go. I think part of it is, that if he slows down, he crashes ... kind of like that movie Crank, where the guy has to keep his adrenaline flowing to stay alive.
The other side, of course, is that this is starting to take its toll on him mentally again. We had the first set of leg needles yesterday and that started to bring out the recalcitrant patient. The first one didn't get so well, but Nathan did very good on the second needle. He then explained it afterwards that his right leg is tougher than his left - and he might be correct as he always handles the right leg better than the left... hmmm. It is getting tougher to convince him once again that he needs the treatment.
Having been in the hospital all week, and leaving during the afternoons, we haven't had a chance to talk with Dr Ali about Nathan's treatment plan. When we were finally able to talk to Dr Mpofu yesterday, there is still some confusion as to how we are proceeding because of not starting everything on Monday. Dr Ali wanted to get treatment days back to Monday, Dr Mpofu wanted them to stay on Tuesday. I ended up talking to the people at the Cancer center four times yesterday to simply get back to, "come in on Monday morning". Sometimes I find it ironic that they keep on telling us to Expect the Unexpected and that we simply have to deal with it, but that same Unexpected seems to through them for a spin as well.
They are trying to move up Nathan's treatments today so that we can be released tonight and not have to spend another night in the hospital tonight. It would mean coming home very late but that would be a very good thing as it is tough to sleep in the hospital.
Lastly, Nathan really misses his brothers - I sure hope his actions show that when they return.
The other side, of course, is that this is starting to take its toll on him mentally again. We had the first set of leg needles yesterday and that started to bring out the recalcitrant patient. The first one didn't get so well, but Nathan did very good on the second needle. He then explained it afterwards that his right leg is tougher than his left - and he might be correct as he always handles the right leg better than the left... hmmm. It is getting tougher to convince him once again that he needs the treatment.
Having been in the hospital all week, and leaving during the afternoons, we haven't had a chance to talk with Dr Ali about Nathan's treatment plan. When we were finally able to talk to Dr Mpofu yesterday, there is still some confusion as to how we are proceeding because of not starting everything on Monday. Dr Ali wanted to get treatment days back to Monday, Dr Mpofu wanted them to stay on Tuesday. I ended up talking to the people at the Cancer center four times yesterday to simply get back to, "come in on Monday morning". Sometimes I find it ironic that they keep on telling us to Expect the Unexpected and that we simply have to deal with it, but that same Unexpected seems to through them for a spin as well.
They are trying to move up Nathan's treatments today so that we can be released tonight and not have to spend another night in the hospital tonight. It would mean coming home very late but that would be a very good thing as it is tough to sleep in the hospital.
Lastly, Nathan really misses his brothers - I sure hope his actions show that when they return.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Induction Day 3
It was really strange coming home to an empty house - Arron's at the hospital tongiht with Nathan, and Carter and Justin are camping with Grandpa and Grandma Miller. Usually its a welcomed break but not so much given the circumstances.
Last night was a sleepless night - Nathan up to pee every hour from the IV and me, well, I am kind of like the princess and the pea. Without the comfort of my bed combined with the nurses coming into the room often, I couldn't sleep. Nathan's blood work came back today showing no blast cells, so that was a good start to our day. To me this means the chemo is working on clearing the blasts out of the blood and Nathan is responding. Neutraphils dropped today and platelets slid a little further.
We were able to get another day pass so both Nathan and I napped at home. He wanted to fly a kite but there wasn't much wind so settled on trying to learn volleyball. We had supper with my brother and family, watched the Rider game and then went back to the hospital with Nathan.
Nathan starts the leg needles again tomorrow, so since platelets were low, they have decided to give him platelets around 1am. He has been handling the treatments well with no nausea so are grateful for that. He is really missing his brothers and is looking forward to being home when they come home. Just two more days of this treatment.
Last night was a sleepless night - Nathan up to pee every hour from the IV and me, well, I am kind of like the princess and the pea. Without the comfort of my bed combined with the nurses coming into the room often, I couldn't sleep. Nathan's blood work came back today showing no blast cells, so that was a good start to our day. To me this means the chemo is working on clearing the blasts out of the blood and Nathan is responding. Neutraphils dropped today and platelets slid a little further.
We were able to get another day pass so both Nathan and I napped at home. He wanted to fly a kite but there wasn't much wind so settled on trying to learn volleyball. We had supper with my brother and family, watched the Rider game and then went back to the hospital with Nathan.
Nathan starts the leg needles again tomorrow, so since platelets were low, they have decided to give him platelets around 1am. He has been handling the treatments well with no nausea so are grateful for that. He is really missing his brothers and is looking forward to being home when they come home. Just two more days of this treatment.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Induction Day 2
Well we have spent a couple of days and a night at RUH and things have been going fairly well. Nathan has handled the treatment well so far. His biopsy site is healing, his counts are really low (as to be expected) and we have been getting day passes to leave the hospital for the afternoon.
It has been nice getting out of the hospital about 1:30 each day and spending the day at our house. Back to his room, 3013 by 9pm, and finish up the evening there. We got a chair that folds out finally but it is darn uncomfortable. My funny story on this is that the first day we had only the one recliner in our room. On Tuesday when we headed back we said that we hoped we had a hide-a-bed back in our room, but when we got there the recliner was now gone - we had no chairs! Thankfully we had a nicer nurse who tracked down that fold out chair for us.
We hope to be out of the hospital the next two afternoons as well. It really helps with Nathan not going stir crazy. Heck, today, he and his cousins were flying kites in the backyard in the afternoon. Gets him so fresh air and outside time. One of the downsides of this hospital trek is that not seeing the Cancer center staff we really feel like we haven't learned any more about the upcoming treatments.
Please continue to pray for our family.
It has been nice getting out of the hospital about 1:30 each day and spending the day at our house. Back to his room, 3013 by 9pm, and finish up the evening there. We got a chair that folds out finally but it is darn uncomfortable. My funny story on this is that the first day we had only the one recliner in our room. On Tuesday when we headed back we said that we hoped we had a hide-a-bed back in our room, but when we got there the recliner was now gone - we had no chairs! Thankfully we had a nicer nurse who tracked down that fold out chair for us.
We hope to be out of the hospital the next two afternoons as well. It really helps with Nathan not going stir crazy. Heck, today, he and his cousins were flying kites in the backyard in the afternoon. Gets him so fresh air and outside time. One of the downsides of this hospital trek is that not seeing the Cancer center staff we really feel like we haven't learned any more about the upcoming treatments.
Please continue to pray for our family.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Induction Day 1 (almost)
We kind of sort of almost started the Induction phase today. After a hard night with Nathan, the day started off early but according to plan, we got the Cancer clinic at 7:45 and had blood drawn for testing. We then went off to RUH for an echo cardiogram with Bob. Nathan was full of spirit today but it was a good spirit. He was testing limits but in a smiling way and was making up stories all morning. After the echo we headed back to the clinic to await his intrathecal procedure. We had time to set up the Operation game we bought for the clinic and have a couple of games, played a game of UNO and just started playing Wii when the green men (anaesthesiologists) came. Then our day went sideways.
I mentioned to Dr Ali that Nathan was having trouble with one of his testicles. It felt a little larger than the other and was sore. After Dr Ali finished giving Nathan the three drugs intrathecally (methotrexate, cytarabine, and hydrocortisone) he checked Nathan out. He too thought one was a little larger and immediately wanted a biopsy. One of the issues with Leukemia is that the leukemic cells like to hide in both the central nervous system and testes as the drugs don't really get to those areas. So having any issue there is a cause for concern. Dr Ali phoned up to a specialist, Dr Miller, to arrange the biopsy. We were hurried up to the Pediatric ward, I rushed to get Nathan admitted, so that we were ready as there was an opening in the O.R.. We were to have the biopsy and then head back to the clinic to finish up Nathan's chemotherapy. However, there was a little miscommunication there about that opening and there actually wasn't one. We ended up in our room, 3013, and were told that we likely wouldn't have the biopsy until 4:30pm. This might not seem like a big inconvenience, however Nathan hadn't eaten anything since 8pm the night before and wouldn't be allowed to eat anything until after his procedure. First we told him he could eat after his LP, and then we said he had to quickly get something else done and he could eat at about noon, and now we were saying that he couldn't eat until 6pm. He wasn't happy about that. And then we had to go back and figure out with the Dr Ali when the rest of the chemotherapy would take place. After consulting with the doctors in Calgary it was decided that we would do the rest tomorrow, essentially start the Induction phase on Tuesday while waiting on this biopsy.
On the ward, the residents came through to talk to us, get the history, the usual stuff, and mentioned that Nathan's procedure would now be this evening. Not good. But then, not even two minutes later, the nurse came in and said "I heard a rumour that he's going now". Being confused I asked, who's going where? And she replied that Nathan was going for his biopsy... it was 2pm. Off we went a couple minutes later.
We get down to the pre-op room, hung out for a bit, and they came and asked the same questions again, and then indicated that the procedure will take about 20 minutes. Off I go to the waiting room. Almost an hour later, and getting anxious, Dr Miller comes to talk to us. What he found was a torsion of the appendix epididymis. He still took the biopsy but believes the swelling and pain came from this torsion (twisting) of a small appendix (sunflower seed sized piece) off the epididymis which is just above the testes - who knew?! I think this is good news as it looks like nothing is in the testes but the biopsy results will tell us in a few days for sure. One other thing on this... Dr Miller said that this is usually quite painful, and was surprised that Nathan was not complaining more than he was. He said that Nathan must be one tough kid - that is for sure.
We got back up to the ward about 5:30, just in time for supper. Nathan was so hungry we actually ate some of the hospital food! We decided to get a leave for this evening as we will likely be staying in the hospital for the next five nights. Oh, and on that topic, there were a few strange things today but this one took the cake. In the private room there is supposed to be a fold out bed for the parents. When we had gotten up to the room this afternoon, it was completely empty, not even a bed for Nathan! When we asked the nurse about the fold out bed, she said that we had to go scope out the other rooms and see if we could steal one. What the hell is that about?! We have to walk around the ped ward peering into rooms for foldout beds and take them if they aren't being used?? Ridiculous! This children's hospital cannot come fast enough. I know our RUH staff is busy, but the service today was less than stellar and the facilities are degrading fast. I think they are avoiding fixing anything until the new hospital comes. Someone should tell them they have five years. There are holes in the drywall in Nathan's room, all of the counters are chipped, the place is very grungy, the blinds don't work and this is our best hospital? Sorry for the rant, I got sidetracked there.
On one other note, remember me saying there were 11 drugs? Well there are now 12, Nathan will also be on Allopurinol. As the chemo kills the blood cells (mainly blasts) there can be a build up of dead cells causing uric acid in the blood plasma. This drug prevents that buildup.
What did we learn today? Seems like a lot but not much. We will try to have a conference call with the transplant center in Calgary next week to discuss Nathan's further treatment. We are still focusing on the next four weeks, and the changes that today caused in that protocol. Back to the hospital and that beautiful room by 9am.... hopefully we'll find a bed to steal tomorrow.
I mentioned to Dr Ali that Nathan was having trouble with one of his testicles. It felt a little larger than the other and was sore. After Dr Ali finished giving Nathan the three drugs intrathecally (methotrexate, cytarabine, and hydrocortisone) he checked Nathan out. He too thought one was a little larger and immediately wanted a biopsy. One of the issues with Leukemia is that the leukemic cells like to hide in both the central nervous system and testes as the drugs don't really get to those areas. So having any issue there is a cause for concern. Dr Ali phoned up to a specialist, Dr Miller, to arrange the biopsy. We were hurried up to the Pediatric ward, I rushed to get Nathan admitted, so that we were ready as there was an opening in the O.R.. We were to have the biopsy and then head back to the clinic to finish up Nathan's chemotherapy. However, there was a little miscommunication there about that opening and there actually wasn't one. We ended up in our room, 3013, and were told that we likely wouldn't have the biopsy until 4:30pm. This might not seem like a big inconvenience, however Nathan hadn't eaten anything since 8pm the night before and wouldn't be allowed to eat anything until after his procedure. First we told him he could eat after his LP, and then we said he had to quickly get something else done and he could eat at about noon, and now we were saying that he couldn't eat until 6pm. He wasn't happy about that. And then we had to go back and figure out with the Dr Ali when the rest of the chemotherapy would take place. After consulting with the doctors in Calgary it was decided that we would do the rest tomorrow, essentially start the Induction phase on Tuesday while waiting on this biopsy.
On the ward, the residents came through to talk to us, get the history, the usual stuff, and mentioned that Nathan's procedure would now be this evening. Not good. But then, not even two minutes later, the nurse came in and said "I heard a rumour that he's going now". Being confused I asked, who's going where? And she replied that Nathan was going for his biopsy... it was 2pm. Off we went a couple minutes later.
We get down to the pre-op room, hung out for a bit, and they came and asked the same questions again, and then indicated that the procedure will take about 20 minutes. Off I go to the waiting room. Almost an hour later, and getting anxious, Dr Miller comes to talk to us. What he found was a torsion of the appendix epididymis. He still took the biopsy but believes the swelling and pain came from this torsion (twisting) of a small appendix (sunflower seed sized piece) off the epididymis which is just above the testes - who knew?! I think this is good news as it looks like nothing is in the testes but the biopsy results will tell us in a few days for sure. One other thing on this... Dr Miller said that this is usually quite painful, and was surprised that Nathan was not complaining more than he was. He said that Nathan must be one tough kid - that is for sure.
We got back up to the ward about 5:30, just in time for supper. Nathan was so hungry we actually ate some of the hospital food! We decided to get a leave for this evening as we will likely be staying in the hospital for the next five nights. Oh, and on that topic, there were a few strange things today but this one took the cake. In the private room there is supposed to be a fold out bed for the parents. When we had gotten up to the room this afternoon, it was completely empty, not even a bed for Nathan! When we asked the nurse about the fold out bed, she said that we had to go scope out the other rooms and see if we could steal one. What the hell is that about?! We have to walk around the ped ward peering into rooms for foldout beds and take them if they aren't being used?? Ridiculous! This children's hospital cannot come fast enough. I know our RUH staff is busy, but the service today was less than stellar and the facilities are degrading fast. I think they are avoiding fixing anything until the new hospital comes. Someone should tell them they have five years. There are holes in the drywall in Nathan's room, all of the counters are chipped, the place is very grungy, the blinds don't work and this is our best hospital? Sorry for the rant, I got sidetracked there.
On one other note, remember me saying there were 11 drugs? Well there are now 12, Nathan will also be on Allopurinol. As the chemo kills the blood cells (mainly blasts) there can be a build up of dead cells causing uric acid in the blood plasma. This drug prevents that buildup.
What did we learn today? Seems like a lot but not much. We will try to have a conference call with the transplant center in Calgary next week to discuss Nathan's further treatment. We are still focusing on the next four weeks, and the changes that today caused in that protocol. Back to the hospital and that beautiful room by 9am.... hopefully we'll find a bed to steal tomorrow.
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