Every single one of us thought that today (Day 15) was the end of chemo cycle 1. IT'S NOT. Whoopsie. Rookies over here! Like I said yesterday, we are learning something new every day.
We learned today that each chemo cycle is actually a 21 day cycle, which makes SO much more sense than 15 day cycles, and going straight from day 15 in to a 5 day "on" block. I mean, we kept saying, man, that is just going to kill him to go 6 days straight. Well, apparently, he had day 15 "on" but now has another break to let this chemo do its job, and then we start the cycle again in full AFTER day 21. Makes way more sense. Unfortunately, it does extend out the time of this whole process and I know that Oliver is eager to just be done. Also unfortunately (and something we haven't really shared with Oliver for obvious reasons), is that what we have read in the support groups for testicular cancer, rounds 2 and 3 are often the most brutal. The chemo dosage are up'ed and apparently it just wreaks havoc on the patients. I suppose we are hoping that we are the anomaly here, or at least that what we have read is more dramatic than reality will be. I mean, the first cycle was brutal, even more brutal than our humble brains would have allowed us to imagine- how about someone- god, the universe, whatever- cut the poor kid a break for round 2 and 3? And after that, how about we be clear! Here's to hoping, which is what you kind of have to hold on to at this point.
First up today: getting the kids off to their respective places. I took Bennett to his last day of school, and Owen went to play at a friends house for the morning hours, and then Justin and I headed (separately) to Seattle. Sssssh…. don't tell, picture snap while driving.
We were thrilled to see the new room in the hospital, a MASSIVE upgrade from the ER shithole from the day before. We found out that it had been a so-so night. Not great sleep, probably consistent with any type of sleep in hospital given nurses come in and out every 3 seconds. Oliver's nausea had also returned a little bit so he was given Zofran (the drug we had decided was better for him in terms of knocking him out/anxiety) as opposed to the other anti-nausea drugs he'd been taking the first couple of weeks. It sounded like it did the trick! Part of his nausea may have been the chemo still in his system or the massive amounts of antibiotics he was being pumped with.
He still had a slight fever (100), but nothing they were too worried about, and it seemed to be vacillating between 98-100, which is a good sign. They have to hold any one with this type of fever for at least 48 hours so at this point, we were told he wouldn't be released from the hospital until Saturday at the earliest. But, all signs were pointing to the fact that that would happen- fever staying low, no sign of infection. They consistently take blood cultures to ensure that nothing is growing- sometimes it takes 48 hours for them to find growth (bacteria) in the cultures.
It was still good to see that Oliver was in decent spirits (and more importantly- alert unlike the first 10 days), despite being held in "prison."
Nurse of the day checking vitals. They do this every 4 hours there.
Shortly after we got there, around 9:30am, there was rounds- which is basically all the doctors on the floor (4), the nurse, and the pharmacist updating us on the plan for the day and transitioning doctors. It was only slightly intimidating with everyone in the room. The plan for the day was: a) monitor vitals and fever b) chemo. And of course, discussed release and what that entailed, which I already mentioned above. Because we are at the UW hospital, which is associated with SCCA, they are able to administer the chemo there, which is good so that we don't get off schedule.
Shortly after the team left, it was a poppy/son shower effort! (Poppy assisting). Oliver is required to shower with some sort of soap that kills any bacteria on his body.
I left at around 11am to go pick up Owen, as he had an afternoon play date with his best bud, Nolan. He gave Nolan an #oliverstrong bracelet almost immediately upon arrival. These two are so cute. They were the two "big guys" in their kinder class, and on the same baseball team. They get along so well. It was a fun afternoon!
After Nolan went home, Owen and I ran some #oliverstrong bracelets to friends locally who wanted them.
We then picked up Bennett from his last day of school and came home to do the "normal" things we do after school, minus dad. Typically dad is the one picking up and playing with the kids after school. It's a nice change for me to be able to help, but feels weird. I am lucky that I have been able to scale back slightly from work and can juggle work demands with helping out here.
Here the boys are telling me that they are going camping in their "trailer."
The boys "parked" their "trailer" like poppy parks his (they told me). AKA: chalk blocks. Pretty cute.
And then they made a delicious camp dinner, which was basically a mix of rice krispie treats, granola bars, and fruit leather... yum...
Meanwhile back in Seattle, just the hospital waiting game...
However, big brother Bailey was able to come join the crew for a little while yesterday afternoon.
Look at these two twinks. Really see the resemblance in this picture.
Oliver took several snoozes yesterday afternoon, which was good.
As chemo was starting for Oliver team at 6pm, we were just sitting down for dinner at home after a bit of a crazy few hours with the little boys (as it goes with little kids, so nothing unusual there!)
After dinner the little guys, after asking no less than 60000 times, went outside to wait for dad to come home. Bennett was doing a "real" cross bike race, in which he carried his bike over the barriers.
Dad got home around 7:40pm and was able to spend some time with the little guys. Back in the hospital, Oliver had wrapped up chemo and was trying to get some food in him, and still looking at vitals, etc. So far, the fever had stayed under control which was good news. It was a pretty uneventful day, which was good for a change. I know we are all anxious to be out of the hospital.
I have started to get pictures of friends and family wearing their #oliverstrong bracelets. I love it! Anyone who wants a bracelet can have one, with the requirement that a picture needs to be sent so that we can show Oliver his tribe. We are going to light this whole world up in this name and fight for him!
In that vein, his team of doctors also had a great plan of attack for chemo, one that resonates with us as it has been our goal since day 1:
The fight continues, and we continue to take it by the horns. We've told Oliver several times, that his strength and determination to fight this is unparalleled. While we are all told WE are strong, really, HE is strong. Anyone that can endure what he has endured in even just the last two weeks is nothing short of a warrior in my book. #oliverstrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment