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.