Anxiety

Anxiety is defined by Webster's as: distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune.

I am not sure that was the extent of what I felt on Wednesday afternoon, but it certainly was distress and uneasiness. Adam had his scans on Wednesday, and all went well. The day went without any issues and we got to see one of the newer doctors on his team. But then the phone call came.

"Mr. Wyatt, this is Doctor Johnson, and I wanted to call and let you know that there were two spots that were seen as active in the lymph nodes in his neck."

Yes, I felt fear, distress, uneasiness and just plain sick to my stomach. And I had to call Adam and his mother. As the doctor went on, he assured us that we are not talking relapse yet, and it could be any number of reasons why this showed up on the scan. So after more tests and blood work they determined that they are going to watch this for a couple of weeks, put him on some anitibiotics, as it may be nothing more than a virus causing a false positive reading on the PET Scan.

We go back again on October 28 and we will know more then. Until then we are trying to let the anxiety not control us. And Adam you ask? Well he is strongly in the opinion that this is a virus and he is fine. We pray that is the case.

Amazing Day!

Today was another long and tiring day at Children's Medical Center. Scans, X-rays, Blood work, more scans, and clinic. But it ended with news that we have been praying for since November when Adam was first diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkins. Let me see if I can get the exact words of his oncologist...

"From the preliminary reports of the scans today we see no live spots, which means there is no active cancer cells currently in the areas that previously were active. So from these initial reports we can report that his cancer is currently in remission. This does not mean that there are not tumors, as the tumors in his neck are still there in the lymph nodes and have not shrunk from the last scans, but they are currently inactive. The tumors in his chest area are calcified. There are only two "live" spots showing any indication of activity and these we think are from the infection he had three weeks ago and is not cancer activity."

Adam showed little emotion, but then he has showed little emotion from the onset, that is just his personality. He will still have to undergo the radiation which our first "simulation" is set for April 23rd, but this is just an added deterrent to the cancer and hopefully it will remain in remission. Once radiation is complete, then the scans and tests will be completed again and then the doctors will then determine the next course of action, if any.

Today was an amazing day, and an amazing relief, and proof of our Amazing God.

Continue to pray for continued good news!!

Histo What?

The preliminary results are in from all of Adam's scans last monday, and overall it was good news. The masses and tumors have shrunk somewhat, as to the amount they are unable to give us an estimate due to some other things and infections going on in his lungs. Apparently he has early stages of pneumonia and are treating him with some pretty strong antibiotic (Zetromiacin), and hopefully this will clear up within a couple more days or at least by the time he is dismissed from the hospital on Saturday evening.

The other situation "clouding" his scans is something called Histoplasmosis, which we have heard reference to early on in his diagnosis. Histoplasmosis is very common in our area of the country and probably 80% of the population have some form of it, however it is not commonly active. Apparently due to the chemotherapy and due to Adam's decreased immune system, the histoplasmosis has become active. Unfortunately they can not treat this while he is undergoing chemo as one of the chemo drugs and the medicine used to treat the Histo react "volatile" together, so once he is finished with this round of chemo they will treat the histo.

Overall he is doing well, just really sleepy again this time with the chemo. I think it is due to the drugs of course. He has also stated for one of the very few times since his fight with Hodgkin's, that he doesn't feel very good. This is to be expected, but he very rarely will say anything if he is feeling bad. But if all these things are going on inside of him, it is very understandable as to why he is not feeling very well.

He has one more scheduled chemo session at the end of March and then he will be scanned and tested again prior to his radiation. He has a preliminary schedule set for his "markings" for the radiation in April. So the next step in his fight will be soon upon him.

Roller Coaster

Adam's journey to becoming cancer free has certainly been a roller coaster ride. Even more so the past week and a half. And what is so bad about all of it, is that he actually says he feels fine. Not sure if his mother and I believe that all the time. We think sometimes he tells us that so we don't worry more than what we already do. The roller coaster the past few days has been his blood counts.

He had to go and get blood last week as his hemoglobin was down. After getting the blood he began to really feel good. He had more energy, had better color and just felt good over all. Then on Tuesday this week his blood counts came back and his platelets were low. It is called Thrombocytopenia, which is the big word for a decrease in the number of platelets (PLT), which may lead to low blood platlet count. So he may need to have platelets. Other than that he seems to be doing really well this week. All his other counts were good and he has even started in home bound studies to allow him to stay on track with school.

Next week it is back onto the roller coaster and more tests. We are looking forward to the results of the tests he has next Monday as this will tell us how the chemo is working. Then three days of chemotherapy.

It does seem like a roller coaster, but just like the roller coasters in the amusement parks, sooner or later you have to get off, and just down the road, he will be cancer free and this ride will be over and he can get on with his life.

Another Turn in the Road

After what seemed like a very short weekend, Adam went back home. He seemed distant and quiet, but then he is always distant and quiet. It shouldn't alarm me, but it does. Sometimes I wish he would talk, but when asked how he feels his reply is always the same "I'm fine." Nothing more and nothing less.

Except for Sunday. When I asked how he was he stated that he was "sore all over and my lymph nodes hurt" He complained of being dizzy the night before, but then he told me that he fainted or as he called it, "kinda passed out" early in the morning when he got up to go to the bathroom. We found out this morning the reason.

His nurse called me at work and left a message to call her, it sounded urgent so I immediately called her back. She wanted an update on Adam and wanted the information about the fainting spell. She then proceeded to tell me that Adam's hemoglobin was under 10, which normally calls for a blood transfusion, and that they want him at the hospital in the morning at 8:30 to do a blood workup and very likely give him blood.

This was something that they had told us was a possibility, but it still was somewhat alarming, as the day before we were told his counts were good. However, Adam was even more perturbed.

But the bottom line is that this last round of chemo, kicked his butt in a sense and in order for us to continue to fight this thing with all the energy he has, he will possibly need this blood transfusion. So it's off on another turn in this journey.

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.

Good News

We received some good news on Wednesday regarding all the tests Adam underwent on Monday. It looks as though the chemo is doing what it needs to do to get Adam back to being 100% cancer free. On the majority the doctor has said that the tumors and the masses have shrunk in size from 45-55%. This is outstanding news, and we are all excited to know that all this work is accomplishing the goal.

However, today we received another call from his doctor and he stated that after looking at all the tests and the effect that the chemo has had on the cancer Adam is still going to have to undergo radiation. He said even though the disease has shrunk considerably, it has not shrunk enough for Adam to be considered a fast responder. So the chemo will continue with a couple new drugs, and then in about 3-4 months he will undergo radiation. The good news is also that no one has said anything about surgery as they had discussed before, so this is great news.

The pesky mass in and around the neck and clavicle area are the ones that have not responded as quickly as they have hoped, so even though the news is good, we need to continue to battle this as aggressively as possible. The doctors have indicated that our goal is to eradicate this disease completely and to do that we need to fight it as hard and as aggressive as possible.

So as Adam looks ahead he can be excited that what he and the doctors are doing is working. We just need to continue to work hard and fight with all we have. So to say we have good news and bad news is not really the case, because we knew going into this that radiation was probably inevitable. We do say though that this is definitely good news and as long as we see these tumors decreasing it is good news!

An All Day Extravaganza!

Today is actually a day that we have been looking forward to. Even though it means spending the entire day in the hospital going from one department to another, getting poked and prodded and having to ingest nasty liquids and then have radioactive die put into your veins. Yes, I said we were looking forward to this. Well at least Adam's mother and I are looking forward to this day. Adam on the other hand may not find it as stimulating.

But, the tests are being done for a very important reason. It will tell us just how much the tumors have shrunk and if the chemotherapy Adam has been undergoing is doing what it needs to be doing. it will also initiate the next few months of treatment and how we will go forward from this point. Of course, both the doctors, Lisa, Adam and myself are sure that the treatments are working. Now to find out just how much. We will receive some initial results later this afternoon, but the big day will be the 22nd when we meet with the radiologists and the team of oncologists.

Adam has been doing fairly well, his counts are up, which is a good thing, however it is causing him a little back pain. This is a normal reaction to the Neupogen, but other than that he seems to be doing well. Adam is such a quiet subdued personality it it sometimes hard for us to determine just how he is doing. But, I am sure if he was not doing well, he would let us know.

Well we are on our way to the all day extravaganza, we will let you know our results as soon as we know, keep your fingers crossed!

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.

6 Days...Answers and More Questions

Today Adam had the PET Scan. This test is done by putting radiated glucose into his system intravenously and then take pictures with the CT-Scan. Apparently the cancer feeds off glucose, so it will glow wherever the cancer is located. The scan showed that at least two nodules in his lung was Hodgkin's. Now the next step is to determine how to treat, and in order to determine this they will either have to do a surgical biopsy of the lung, or a bronchioscope to determine how to treat.

We did receive the results from the bone morrow and they came back negative, so no cancer in the bone!!

So now we wait for an answer as to what is next. Once a determination is made as to how to go into and check out the nodules on the lung, then they will decide when and how to start the chemotherapy.