Consolidation

MOMMY:

Life continues to go on, business as usual, all around us. Luis had another round of chemo last week and got through a long day of meds and waiting. One of the drugs required him to be hydrated before he received it, and they had to flush his system with IV fluids for 6 hours after. We were the first ones in the clinic and last ones to leave. That was the start of the next phase of the treatment protocol, Consolidation. Don’t ask me why they call it that, but I’m sure there’s a good reason. I should probably find out.

Consolidation started with two new chemo drugs and another one that Luis already had during the first phase, Induction. Fortunately, he did not have any visible side effects from the drugs. I’m sure the secondary drugs for anti-nausea helped. One of the chemo drugs has to be given at home daily for two weeks. That means suiting up in gloves (they told me to use double gloves since I’m still nursing the baby), disposing of the syringe and medicine cup used for dosing, and carefully bagging all the waste.  Anything that could have the chemo drugs in it is considered hazardous. 

Luis just being a kid

Luis has also been tormented with daily needles by a nurse that comes to the house. He needs it 3 days of the week for four of the next 8 weeks. I started my own ‘treasure chest’ to give him something to look forward to, a.k.a. a bribe. But it doesn’t really help. The nurse is met with desperate screams…”No, no, nooooo!” All I can ask is that she does it quickly so the torment can be over.

The next month or so includes weekly injections of methotrexate into the spine. Luis has to be under general anesthesia for this procedure. The worst part of it is that he has to be “NPO” for it. That is Latin for something that means “nothing by mouth”, i.e. he can’t have any food or water that morning until the procedure is done, usually around lunch time. Every time he has been NPO in the past, he was so upset that I would give him anything to eat or drink. It’s upsetting for me too because there was nothing I could do to make him feel better.

Last week, his blood counts were starting to drop from the chemo. They will probably be even lower this week. At some point, he may even become neutropenic, where his body is not able to fight off infection. It will be scary the first time we go through this. It would involve more time in the hospital if he gets sick while his neutrophils are so low. That is why it is so important to only visit us when you're healthy and to always use good washing practices.

Here's hoping for a good week.