Blood Transfusion
Somebody gave his/her blood so Derek could have the ability to fight. Thank you, somebody!
May 14, 2012
Last week, the day after celebrating Derek's birthday, we went to the clinic as expected. He had labs drawn, was sedated for a lumbar puncture (LP) and spinal chemo, and then got two more chemo meds, one of which took about six hours from start to finish. We were there 10 1/2 hours.
When we got his lab results back, I learned to my dismay that his ANC (his ability to fight infection) was only 200 (normal is 3000+), and we had just had friends and family over the day before! Thankfully he did not get sick, though I learned on Thursday that several members of one family came down with colds the next day and week. I had thought it would be higher, or I would not have planned it for then. Thursday it had been 1300. Anyway, we had a lovely birthday celebration.
Derek had chemo Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, though those visits were much shorter. Wednesday's visit only lasted 40 minutes from the time we walked in the door to when we walked out! Amazing! It was our shortest visit yet. On Thursday, he had labs drawn again. His ANC was ZERO. That's right! 0! His white count was 0.48, and hemoglobin 8.2. The doctor was sure he would need a blood transfusion by Monday, but she fully expected him to run a fever before then, which is a common side effect of the particular chemo he got all week. If that happened, he would be admitted to the hospital to make sure it wasn't an infection since his immunity was so low as well. When I got home, I packed his suitcase and mine for such an emergency and prayed that we would not need them.
We spent a very quiet weekend at home, not venturing out for anything lest we bring any germs back with us. By Sunday, he still had no fevers, though he was anemic -- pale and less than the normal amount of energy. I knew he would need blood as expected.
Today, we went to the clinic at 8:30 again. Already it was packed, and I knew we were in for a very long day. He had labs drawn within an hour, but had to wait until just after noon for his LP. He did not sedate as easily as usual. They said since he had just had an LP the previous week, his body may have gotten a bit used to the medications. They also had a hard time drawing enough spinal fluid, but at last it was over. Derek's ANC was 300, white count was .7, and hemoglobin was 7.3. We had to wait until 2:30 p.m. for the blood to arrive. Derek slept during most of the three hours it took to transfuse him. Finally, just before 6:00 p.m., we were done. Another long clinic day completed.
This is the last week of chemo in this phase. The next two weeks he will have cranial radiation. I am not thrilled about it, but the options are not good. Then he will have completed this fourth and dreaded phase of Delayed Intensification. I cannot wait for it to be over! I am thankful, though, that he has done so well. So far, he has done much better than I expected and feared. Thank you to all those who have prayed for Derek, especially during these last few weeks. Your prayers have been answered.
When we got his lab results back, I learned to my dismay that his ANC (his ability to fight infection) was only 200 (normal is 3000+), and we had just had friends and family over the day before! Thankfully he did not get sick, though I learned on Thursday that several members of one family came down with colds the next day and week. I had thought it would be higher, or I would not have planned it for then. Thursday it had been 1300. Anyway, we had a lovely birthday celebration.
Derek had chemo Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, though those visits were much shorter. Wednesday's visit only lasted 40 minutes from the time we walked in the door to when we walked out! Amazing! It was our shortest visit yet. On Thursday, he had labs drawn again. His ANC was ZERO. That's right! 0! His white count was 0.48, and hemoglobin 8.2. The doctor was sure he would need a blood transfusion by Monday, but she fully expected him to run a fever before then, which is a common side effect of the particular chemo he got all week. If that happened, he would be admitted to the hospital to make sure it wasn't an infection since his immunity was so low as well. When I got home, I packed his suitcase and mine for such an emergency and prayed that we would not need them.
We spent a very quiet weekend at home, not venturing out for anything lest we bring any germs back with us. By Sunday, he still had no fevers, though he was anemic -- pale and less than the normal amount of energy. I knew he would need blood as expected.
Today, we went to the clinic at 8:30 again. Already it was packed, and I knew we were in for a very long day. He had labs drawn within an hour, but had to wait until just after noon for his LP. He did not sedate as easily as usual. They said since he had just had an LP the previous week, his body may have gotten a bit used to the medications. They also had a hard time drawing enough spinal fluid, but at last it was over. Derek's ANC was 300, white count was .7, and hemoglobin was 7.3. We had to wait until 2:30 p.m. for the blood to arrive. Derek slept during most of the three hours it took to transfuse him. Finally, just before 6:00 p.m., we were done. Another long clinic day completed.
This is the last week of chemo in this phase. The next two weeks he will have cranial radiation. I am not thrilled about it, but the options are not good. Then he will have completed this fourth and dreaded phase of Delayed Intensification. I cannot wait for it to be over! I am thankful, though, that he has done so well. So far, he has done much better than I expected and feared. Thank you to all those who have prayed for Derek, especially during these last few weeks. Your prayers have been answered.
6th Birthday Celebration
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| Derek got a new little cage and net! What will be caught first? |
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| A lizard of course! Don't worry, Derek didn't catch it, and he didn't touch it either, though I'm sure he will do plenty of lizard catching and holding when he is allowed. |
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| The cake was made by volunteer Christie and coordinated by IcingSmiles.org. It was so creatively decorated... (Click the picture to see it up close.) |
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| ... and was just what Derek wanted. Everything on it was edible except the trees and candle. Very cute! |
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| Blowing out the candle. |
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| It tasted really good, too! |
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| Kristen's and Derek's cousins brought the orphaned kittens they had bottle-fed. All the kids loved playing with them. This little one followed Kristen everywhere and purred and purred when Kristen picked her up. |
May 5, 2012
Derek is now half way through Delayed Intensification. He lost most of his hair again, but not quite all of it. What is left is over an inch long and sticks straight out unless I wet it down. It looks like he touched a static electricity ball, but at least he has some hair left. He did not want to lose it again. This past week he was at the clinic five days in a row and received the study chemo. Now he has just four weeks to go before maintenance - two weeks of intense chemo (four days each week) and two weeks of cranial radiation (four days each week.) Monday will be another marathon at the clinic. He gets yet another lumbar puncture for spinal chemo (and he can't eat or drink past midnight.) He also gets a chemo for which he must be very well hydrated. So we will have to go early to get started with IV hydration (since he can't drink anything), get his LP, and get his other two chemo meds. After he gets his chemo, they will have to keep him hooked up to IV fluids for another four hours. So it will be another all day event. But we are almost there. We see the light at the end of the tunnel, and at this point anyway, it does not look like it is another train coming.
This weekend we are doing some celebrating of life. Today we celebrated Vince's mom's birthday with a special Sabbath dinner. Tomorrow we are going to celebrate Derek's 6th birthday a couple weeks early. We are doing it early because his counts are better now than they will be on his birthday. So we will celebrate with family and a few friends. A couple months ago, a friend told me about an organization called Icing Smiles. They organize bakers all over the country and around the world who donate cakes to children with life-threatening illnesses and to their siblings. I requested a birthday cake for Derek's birthday, and tomorrow we will pick it up for his celebration. Derek requested a beaver pond cake. For those who would like more information, their website is www.IcingSmiles.org.
This weekend we are doing some celebrating of life. Today we celebrated Vince's mom's birthday with a special Sabbath dinner. Tomorrow we are going to celebrate Derek's 6th birthday a couple weeks early. We are doing it early because his counts are better now than they will be on his birthday. So we will celebrate with family and a few friends. A couple months ago, a friend told me about an organization called Icing Smiles. They organize bakers all over the country and around the world who donate cakes to children with life-threatening illnesses and to their siblings. I requested a birthday cake for Derek's birthday, and tomorrow we will pick it up for his celebration. Derek requested a beaver pond cake. For those who would like more information, their website is www.IcingSmiles.org.
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