Another Clinic, Another Drug, Another Transfusion

Today Adam had clinic and everything went well. His blood work looked good, however the ANC was still somewhat elevated, which means that the Histoplasmosis is active and working his system, so they prescribed another drug today to start attacking this virus.

His hemoglobin is also slowly dropping from 13 down to 9 today , so to counteract that they are going to schedule him to come back in tomorrow for another transfusion. The chemo is taking its toll on him, and his blood counts are showing it, even if he is not.

Adam knows that he is at the end of his chemo to say that he is happy about it is an understatement. Soon the constant weakness and nausea may soon be over, or replaced by other symptoms as the radiation begins shortly after his last chemo session. But at least the light at the end of the tunnel is now much closer than it was in November.

The ABC's of HL

Another clinic has come and gone. This one was much more tolerable than the last one when we spent hours waiting for room, doing nothing else, but waiting.

Today we had a GFR. GFR - glomerular filtration rate is the best test to measure your level of kidney function. We arrived at the hospital at 8:00 and went to nuclear medicine and they injected Adam with some kind of nuclear dye. After taking a blood for a CBC. Then an hour later they brought us back and they took scans of his kidneys and drew more blood. An hour later this was done all over again, and this was completed three more times. What the test indicate are how the kidneys are functioning. Due to the extreme dose of drugs used in this DECA chemo sessions, this needs to be monitored before each chemo session. In between the blood work and scans we met with an Audiologist to have a AMT completed. This test is done to check the ear drum and the nerves in the ear. Again, due to the high doses of chem0, these tests must be completed to monitor hearing and/or any potential hearing loss.

Adam has been experiencing some hearing loss, so we were kind of anxious to see the results of the AMT. The news was somewhat good, as it indicated that there was a small amount of hearing loss, however they felt it was due to the congestion and fluid build up behind his ear drum. He has had a cold and a chronic cough for a few days and they felt that this needed to be treated and another AMT run to make sure that the hearing loss was due to the congestion and fluids and not the chemo.

Then after the GFR, and the AMT we had to visit the clinic for our bi-monthly chat with the oncologist. Then went over all the same things that they go over with each visit, discussing the medications, such as the GCSF, and the BAC, and all the other types of medications he takes PO (by mouth).

Overall the Dr's are pleased with Adam's progress, his blood counts were down, but up from the previous draws on Monday. He continues to move along, doing what needs to be done and hopefully the tumors and masses are continuing to shrink. His next chemos session begins the 11th, a day after his 16th birthday and then of course more tests will be completed then to see what progress has been made on the cancer.

Hurry Up and Wait

We are currently at the hospital, in clinic waiting for our room. Adam was a scheduled admit for Chemo today, but we still have not been put in a room. We have been here since 8:15 this morning and it is now 12:30. Oh well, that is hospitals for you, hurry up and wait.

The news today is that, Adam will definitely be doing radiation, but when is up in the air at this point. It will be after his chemo sessions. right now they are say that if everything goes well, and the tumors continue to respond as well as they have, we will have this chemo session and then 3 (maybe 4) after this, then the radiation 3-4 weeks after that for a period of 3-4 weeks. So if everything goes well, he should be out of the treatment phase by October 1, 2009. Not bad. And hopefully cancer free!

Adam did receive some good news today. He is eligible for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. He wished for a car, but they could not provide that of course, but they did say a family trip to Hawaii could be granted!! YEAH. But it is his wish, and they are going to bringing by some literature later during his stay this time regarding what he can wish for. I think honestly, his wish would be for the cancer to be gone...

With Dad at Clinic

Today we went to clinic. Adam has to visit the Hematology/Oncology clinic once a week, at least for now. The clinic is to go over his progress with the doctor's and nurses , due testing if needed, take labs if necessary and any collection of things that may be required for his treatment prior and after chemo.

This week was my first clinic with Adam. He and his mother went last week and I popped in for a little while during my lunch. Today, we spent the entire day together running from one area of the hospital to the other. A Bone scan was scheduled. This was to determine and to make sure the cancer has not metastasized into the bone. They injected some nuclear fluid into Adam and then had to wait 90 minutes and then would scan his entire body. So while we waited we had a chest x-ray, and I also was taught how to "flush" his picc line. We also had lunch.

Then the bone scan was completed which took about an hour. Then back up to clinic for weigh in, height check and a visit with the Doctor.

The preliminary results of the bone scan were positive. No cancer in the bone! This is great news. We expected this, but it is always good to have it confirmed. The other news is that the chest x-ray showed "remarkable" (the doctor's words) shrinking in the diseased areas of the neck, clavicle and sternum. Of course we were unable to tell the masses in lungs, but tests will be performed soon to give us an idea of how those are being wiped out.

This was all good news, but unfortunately Adam's blood counts were way down. This is not good, as this makes him vulnerable to any type of virus or infection that may be flying around in the air. Which during this time of year, there are all kinds of those bugs around. So we must be very careful not to expose him to any type of infection.

Over-all clinic was a good experience and we received very favorable news. The next clinic will be on the 22nd, and then he will be admitted on Dec. 30th for his second round of chemo.