today is an exciting day.
we got the call from children's hospital that there are enough stem cells present, and at the precisely right stage, for harvesting to happen, so brian and logan were off for boston within moments. this is a rather delicate and ephemeral window of opportunity: the stem cells, produced by stimulating the bone marrow with daily shots of the incredibly expensive and short-supply leukine, must be in plentiful density and just the right stage of development. harvest a day too soon, there are not enough, harvest a day too late, and they are past their prime for the later purpose of regenerating bone marrow after super chemo. before our last cycle of chemo, a series of leukine shots yielded nothing, as a blood infection precluded the possibility of any harvesting. yep, it's a good day.
at the same time, logan's hematocrit (red blood count) is low, so he will also be getting a transfusion. this time, it will be his mum's blood, as we have the same blood type and i was able to direct my most recent donation at children's for his use. medical technology is truly amazing.
yesterday logan and i stopped by his alma mater, CCLCS, to pick up four 7th row (talk about amazing) celtics tickets for sunday's game. these were so kindly earned by the seminar students of tony williams at charter, and we had the double treat of walking into a faculty/staff meeting, and getting to see so many of the supportive crew who keep showing up to help us in so many ways through this journey. the game should present some awesome photo opps, so i'll be posting more soon...
and a reminder: logan's high school, nauset regional in eastham, is holding a blood drive on march 5. three history teachers have created a challenge: if more than 125 pints of blood are donated, they will shave their heads. this is one way in which those with good health can help many who are in need of help, like logan. call nauset at 508 255-1505 for more info and to sign up. please come donate if you can!
~kim
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
8 weeks out
a quick look at my 2008 monthly planning guide, which is now exclusively dedicated to logan's treatment and activities, indicates tonight as the 8 week 'anniversary' of logan's first day at children's hospital. logan is currently in the middle of round three of chemo. what they told us is true: this rollercoaster of treatment and recovery is becoming almost routine. he is due to come home tomorrow, and seems to be handling this 5 day session of I.V. chemo well.
the week prior to this round logan was seeing a tutor from school nearly every day, and starting to catch up with midterm exams. friends have visited us in truro, and we love that. we have learned to change the huge vials of vancomycin, which with the portable pump provided infusions of antibiotics to combat the gram positive staph infection in his blood. these ended with the start of this round of chemo, and we are hoping that infections will be kept at bay. this is why it is important to be well, and have clean hands, whenever anyone comes to visit.
oh and BIG news: logan's braces have finally come off! after 4 years, he can give big broad smiles without fear of blinding people with the reflective glare off of the shiny wires. logan is doing an exemplary job brushing and flossing his new look. now that's progress...
on the top of the right column i've posted a simple but much appreciated way people can help us out. please read and consider giving whatever you can. thanks so much~
kim
the week prior to this round logan was seeing a tutor from school nearly every day, and starting to catch up with midterm exams. friends have visited us in truro, and we love that. we have learned to change the huge vials of vancomycin, which with the portable pump provided infusions of antibiotics to combat the gram positive staph infection in his blood. these ended with the start of this round of chemo, and we are hoping that infections will be kept at bay. this is why it is important to be well, and have clean hands, whenever anyone comes to visit.
oh and BIG news: logan's braces have finally come off! after 4 years, he can give big broad smiles without fear of blinding people with the reflective glare off of the shiny wires. logan is doing an exemplary job brushing and flossing his new look. now that's progress...
on the top of the right column i've posted a simple but much appreciated way people can help us out. please read and consider giving whatever you can. thanks so much~
kim
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
round two: and today is a good day
in the last few weeks, the relative routine of chemo treatments has fallen into place: every three weeks there is a different combination of chemicals designed to kill the fast growing cancer cells, which in their virulence take out other fast growing cells, like hair, red and white blood cells, and gut lining cells as well. then there is the fatigue, the nausea, and gradually the swing back up to feeling better again. i had given logan a buzz cut in mid january, before his hair began to come out. since the second chemo on january 24, the remaining short hair started to rub onto the pillow, so we have shaved off the rest. logan has gained a little, lost a little, a gentle see-saw reflecting his waxing or waning appetite, or more accurately, his simple tolerance for food.
the last week has been different in that we experienced some new events: visiting nurses, who make daily visits to monitor vital signs and administer shots to stimulate stem cell production, also draw blood to follow the blood counts. last thursday night his oncologist called for me to bring logan in for a blood transfusion in boston the next day, the first such call. two days later, he had a fever and brian took him to cape cod hospital; patients on chemo are sent back to children's hospital to receive IV antibiotics, and so it was an ambulance ride for logan.
i flew over so that we could watch the superbowl together, my one birthday wish. his roommate this time was a 14 year old inner city boy whose mother and 2 aunts did not know the rules of football. so while carl calmly explained, we mom types were hootin' and hollerin' and having a fun time. well we all know the patriots lost, but logan and i were really happy to have seen it with such animated neighbors.
today is day 4 of his current impromptu hospital stay, and a CT scan was done to measure the progress of the tumors' shrinking. the larger one near his kidneys has decreased by 20-25% of its original size, and the smaller one on the lymph node has been nearly halved. he no longer needs drastic blood pressure meds because the kidneys and blood vessels are no longer being compressed by the giant bully tumor. we feel badly for the patriots, but these numbers dwarf the superbowl score dramatically... and we have done only 2 of the 5 chemo rounds so far. (did you catch my reference to the tumor as being a 'giant'? the patriots will be avenged.)
out of the kindness of a cclcs family, 2 celtic tickets for tonight's game were made available for logan. he has done well enough with his recovery from this week's blood infection that children's hospital is letting brian take logan to the game tonight. they will return to the hospital for another day, but it feels like a beautifully timed celebration for this wondrous news. that the tumors are on the retreat, and though there are still unexpected difficulties day to day, in the long run we are making palpable, measurable progress.
the last week has been different in that we experienced some new events: visiting nurses, who make daily visits to monitor vital signs and administer shots to stimulate stem cell production, also draw blood to follow the blood counts. last thursday night his oncologist called for me to bring logan in for a blood transfusion in boston the next day, the first such call. two days later, he had a fever and brian took him to cape cod hospital; patients on chemo are sent back to children's hospital to receive IV antibiotics, and so it was an ambulance ride for logan.
i flew over so that we could watch the superbowl together, my one birthday wish. his roommate this time was a 14 year old inner city boy whose mother and 2 aunts did not know the rules of football. so while carl calmly explained, we mom types were hootin' and hollerin' and having a fun time. well we all know the patriots lost, but logan and i were really happy to have seen it with such animated neighbors.
today is day 4 of his current impromptu hospital stay, and a CT scan was done to measure the progress of the tumors' shrinking. the larger one near his kidneys has decreased by 20-25% of its original size, and the smaller one on the lymph node has been nearly halved. he no longer needs drastic blood pressure meds because the kidneys and blood vessels are no longer being compressed by the giant bully tumor. we feel badly for the patriots, but these numbers dwarf the superbowl score dramatically... and we have done only 2 of the 5 chemo rounds so far. (did you catch my reference to the tumor as being a 'giant'? the patriots will be avenged.)
out of the kindness of a cclcs family, 2 celtic tickets for tonight's game were made available for logan. he has done well enough with his recovery from this week's blood infection that children's hospital is letting brian take logan to the game tonight. they will return to the hospital for another day, but it feels like a beautifully timed celebration for this wondrous news. that the tumors are on the retreat, and though there are still unexpected difficulties day to day, in the long run we are making palpable, measurable progress.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
