Round 2 has begun!

Monday was the start day for round two. "Consolidation" is what they call it. We were at the clinic all day long. 11 hours. They first did a CBC (complete blood count) and his counts are looking awesome right now. White blood cell count was 7200 with an ANC of 3400! Hemoglobin was 9.4 and platelets were 389,000. Everything looks "normal". The doctor told me that Induction (the first round) went "perfectly" and he's in remission now!!! Unfortunately, that doesn't mean the end of treatment is any closer than 3 years. If they stop treating him now, the leukemia will just come back. After the CBC, they sedated him and did another lumbar puncture with more chemo in the spinal fluid. Then he had to be on IV fluids for a couple hours since the chemo he was getting can be harsh on the kidneys and bladder. He had to be well hydrated. Then he got the chemo, then had to be in IV fluids for another 3 hours. It was a really long day!

Luckily, Chelsea's Closet was there! This foundation was formed by the mother of Chelsea, who passed away from Cancer. Once a month they bring their cart full of brand new costumes and let the kids pick one out to keep. They all get dressed up and do a parade around the in-patient unit and then do a craft and have a snack. It was so fun! The KATU news crew was there, too, so watch for us :) I don't know when it will be on. Anyways, Carter was driving this police car around so he wanted a policeman costume but they didn't have one. A bumblebee was the next best thing, I guess. Then he chose a sword to go with it. Makes sense. Everybody got a good laugh from him.

My house is looking more and more like a pharmacy. This isn't even close to everything, just what I needed yesterday evening. He started oral medication as well as IV meds that I have been injecting into his port. Yikes. Since when am I qualified to administer chemotherapy to a 3 year old?! His port is "accessed" which means a needle is already in there with a tube coming out and a valve on the end. So I just have to clean it and hook up the syringe, push it in and then take it off. Not too difficult but I still get freaked out every time I do it.

I'd say he's feeling pretty good. Still has those chubby cheeks but they're slowing shrinking. He's been running around and playing with Jude. His new favorite game is "squirt chase". His daddy bought him a squirt gun and now he runs around chasing us and squirting us and everything else. He thinks it's the best thing ever. And why does he look so happy in the above picture?

Because he's chasing his little brother with his remote control car, of course. Also another favorite game. Jude is such a good sport because he can easily outrun the car or just pick it up but he plays along and does these huge dramatic falls when the car gets him. He's gonna be an actor. Or a stunt man. Maybe both.

Anyways, so far so good. Carter is amazing.