clinic 8/1

 

All last week, with the exception of the morning after the clinic visit when he vomited 5 times in a 2 hour period, Carter was doing great.  I was so impressed since last time he was on these medicines was when he was the sickest.  The Zofran (anti-nausea) really helps him a lot.  He refused to take it last time and since it wasn't a medically necessary medicine, I didn't force the issue.  This time though, with his now-mastered-skill of swallowing pills, he takes it 3 times a day no problem.  He's been full of energy and wanting to be in the pool all day everyday.  I knew his counts would be dropping because of all the chemo but I didn't that they had reached their low point yet since he seemed to be doing so well.  Well, Monday, the CBC revealed that they are, in fact, quite low.  White blood cell count 400, ANC 0, hemoglobin 7 (on the verge of needed another transfusion), and platelets 137,000.  He was not feeling well all day long.  He had a sedation at 2:00 in the afternoon so he couldn't eat for the majority of the day.  That doesn't help the nausea and makes it that much harder to actually get some food in his stomach after the sedation.  The threw up a few times while we were there, including right after waking up.  He wasn't interested in eating or drinking anything so they gave him some different nausea meds in addition to the Zofran he had already received.  I can't remember what it was called but it made him so silly and loopy!  It was hilarious.  The whole car ride home he was saying the craziest stuff that made absolutely no sense.  Once home, he couldn't walk in a straight line and kept bumping into the walls.  Luckily, it just made him laugh and say, "I keep crashing!"  Poor kid.

Last week and this week he's on the Cytarabine which is the one that I have to inject into his port at home for 3 days.  That means he has to stay accessed (have a tube coming out of the port in his chest) from Monday to Thursday.  He doesn't like it at all and walks like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  It's quite sad to see, really.  But man, he is just such a trooper.  He doesn't let it get him down.  And you should've seen him when he got accessed yesterday!  He didn't even cry a little bit!  It was amazing and I continue to be so impressed with my little man.