Yes, yes, I know I should have posted this two days ago, but it's been pretty busy around here. So what is this good news?
Well, Thursday morning Chase had his appointment at the Aflac Outpatient Clinic for his bone marrow aspiration. What is an aspiration? It's where they take an actual sample of the bone's marrow. We knew this was the procedure that they would be doing since they're trying to determine if he has two leukemias (AML AND CML) or if the AML is actually driving the CML. Remember we're hoping that the Philadelphia chromosome will be gone. What we didn't expect was the news that they were also going to do a spinal tap and a chemo treatment to his spinal fluid. Granted, his last sampling of spinal fluid was clear of leukemia cells, but it is possible for leukemia cells to enter into the spinal fluid if they do not continue to administer preventative treatments.
Before they started the procedure, Dr.Keller, one of Chase's oncologists came in to speak with us for a moment. He reiterated that Chase's counts had come back up very rapidly, and that he had been surprised just how quickly they had rebounded. We were given his counts for Thursday within 10 minutes of them drawing his labs, and it was amazing to see Chase's blood counts within "normal ranges". Yes, we know that he'll start chemo again next week, which will wipe these counts out once again, but it is still very promising to see his counts at such positive levels. That means he is trying to go into remission, but without further chemo treatment the Leukemia will come back.
The best news that he could give us though was that William is a match for Chase!!!!! I can't begin to tell you what a weight that was lifted off of us! What an incredible miracle and blessing. I know that we've had thousands of people praying for this to happen, and I thank each and every one of you who did! William only had a 25% chance of matching Chase, but he did. What this means is that once they determine IF Chase actually NEEDS a bone marrow transplant, that William will be able to offer his brother his bone marrow. The process is not surgical in nature. Instead, it is much like giving blood.
We were also given MORE good news, which is that Chase doesn't have to go back into the hospital until Tuesday morning!! We were hoping that he could stay home long enough to go to his Boy Scout Court of Honor Monday night,and he will be able to do that! This will be the first Boy Scout function that he has attended in over a month!
Back to Chase's procedure on Thursday...
The same doctor who administered the anesthesia to him in the PICU when he got his femoral artery line (in his leg) came in to administer the anesthesia for this procedure as well. Chase recognized him, too which surprised me since that was so many weeks ago. Chase was given a milky substance in his IV line that quickly knocked him out. It's a short-term anesthesia that quickly wears off. I was worried that he would be really groggy afterward, but he was up and walking around within 30 minutes.
Before we left the hospital, Chase got a craving for a strawberry-banana smoothie. I have been telling him for the longest time that there is this little stand in the hospital that makes the best smoothies, teas, and coffees. So, when we was released, we went downstairs and got him his smoothie. While the woman was working on it, Chase felt a little tickle on his ear and turned to see Rebecca!! It took him a second to realize that it was her because he never sees her face-to-face up close. Typically, he is in bed, so she looks much taller to him. In fact, they were the same height which surprised us both. He lit up when he saw her and didn't hesitate to tell her that he was going to "get" her when he got back. I thought it was very nice of her to stop and say hello to him and ask him how he was doing. Given that she was on her way out (to lunch I assume) she could have easily kept walking. To me, it's just a sign of the exceptional people this hospital has and a hallmark of the culture of the hospital, as well.
Jumping back to his procedure, it turns out that the anesthesia and any aftereffects of that shouldn't have been our concern. Instead the actual chemo treatment to his spinal fluid was the "kicker". Chase's personality was temporarily altered and it was as if NOTHING pleased him. If he could complain about anything or make a comment about it - he did! Oh boy! Needless to say the ride home was very interesting. He complained about the air in the car, the traffic, the fact that we went through the drive-thru for food, etc. It became a bit comical to see if he would actually make some kind of negative comment about anything we might say. I warned William about him and in typical brother fashion, he went straight to Chase and started to bother him, just to see if he could get a reaction out of him, too.
Other than the procedure this week, everything has been calm. Chase and William are really enjoying their time together. Chase realized last night that he's going back into the hospital in a few days. I'm hoping that might prompt him to ask to leave the house more. He's been a big homebody this week other than going out a few times, but I can understand him wanting to stay in the house since he's been away from it (and his things) for so long.
Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who has been keeping up with Chase's story and praying for him. We're so very thankful for all of the support. We're hoping that we'll get the results of this bone marrow aspiration back in 7 to 14 days. This should tell us more about his Leukemia and allow the doctors to nail down a specific treatment path for Chase, which we are all anxious to hear.
Thank you so much and God Bless!
Caroline
No comments:
Post a Comment