Saturday, May 23, 2009

5/22/09 - And he's home!! (Again)

Posted May 23, 2009 12:02am

Last month Chase's counts rebounded quickly and he was able to come home by Day 24 after he was admitted. We were hoping he would be able to keep to that schedule this month as well, but it's all a matter of how his body responds to the "attack" of the chemo.

We were told earlier in the week that he was looking good to come home Memorial weekend, which is exactly what we were hoping for. However, Chase shocked us all when we learned that Thursday morning they were talking of sending him home THAT day!!

But let me backtrack a bit...
Unfortunately, Wednesday night when I arrived at the hospital I was completely wiped out. I dropped my bags and asked Chase if he would be okay if I took a nap. Almost two hours later, he came and woke me up. I've been tired before upon arriving at the hospital, but this was different, and I was a bit afraid that I was catching something. At 6:30 the next morning, I woke up feeling queasy and unfortunately, got sick!!

Getting sick and exposing your children to an illness is a fact of life. However, in this case, I was pretty terrified. I don't know what made me feel worse - the fact that I was sick or the fact that I was potentially exposing Chase to an illness that could keep him in the hospital when he was so close to going home. He was ONE day from going home!! One day and I had not only had to get sick, but get sick AT the hospital. I immediately went to the nurse's station to get some antiseptic wipes for the bathroom so I could clean up the bathroom. Rebecca was his nurse for the night and was nice enough to bring me a gingerale, which I slowly nursed.

I was able to get back into a restless sleep and thought I heard Chase and his day nurse talking about him going home that day. When I finally woke up, I asked him about it.

What did he say? "She said that I might be going home today."

To which I replied, "What? Why didn't you tell me?"

And he said,"Because I wanted to go back to sleep."

Chase's only problem with going home on Thursday was that he would miss Bingo night! He was actually hoping to not go home until then, but as soon as it was confirmed that he would be going home, I called David to alert him that I was both sick and that Chase was going home. What a day!

Well, Chase is now home and right back with his brother and his video games. It was a battle to get the two of them to go to sleep instead of staying up until all hours talking! Worse than teen girls I tell you, but who can blame them.

The best news they gave us was that Chase didn't have to go back into the hospital until a WEEK from Tuesday!!! Woo-hooo! So, this time we get to keep him home for longer than last time and he won't have his stay interrupted by a trip to the clinic for a bone marrow aspiration, which he'll have when he goes back into the hospital.

Chase handled this month's stay remarkably well! We have been so very blessed by how he has responded to the chemotherapy and by his health. He has definitely kept the nurses entertained with his antics such as dancing (very, very badly) around the nurse's station, running down the hallways like a goof, and surprising Rebecca with a syringe that was NOT full of water...just to name a few. He was felt so well that he's almost been wired with excess energy.

Again, I cannot thank you enough for your continued prayers for him. I see them working. We were told that this month would be the easiest of all of the rounds of chemo. Although I am realistic that the upcoming next rounds may be rougher for him, I know prayer and Chase's strength of spirit will see him through.

Thank you so very much!! God Bless!

The O'Bannon Family

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

5/11/09 - Chemo Round #2 Over

Posted May 12, 2009 12:13am

First, let me apologize for the delay between updates. After I received a few emails this week asking about Chase, I was quickly reminded that I needed to post! :)

Chase completed this round of chemo last Wednesday. It was only 8 days in total length, with 2 of the 3 meds only lasting 5 of the 8 days. Thankfully, he handled it all very well, only becoming ill (vomiting) once. From what we could tell, it was due to him not having enough food in his stomach.

I don't know what it is about the boy, but you literally have to make him eat as he rarely requests food. Ensuring that his weight doesn't drop below 100 lbs is a daily battle. He tends to flex between 99 and 101 daily. Lately, he has taken a liking to the grilled cheese sandwiches that he can order in the cafeteria and also to the French Toast sticks for breakfast. I discovered by accident one morning that you HAVE to order the syrup with the sticks. What?? Who would order French Toast sticks and not want syrup? Regardless, we've had to be pretty vigilant about his eating. Sometimes that means getting a nurse on our side (Robert is great about this.) to prevent him from calling room service.

Chase really didn't like going out of the room or going downstairs to the cafeteria the first week he was here because he was still tethered to his pole. The dreaded, detestable pole!! But when the chemo was over? He was like a new kid! He's gotten to where he's wandering off on his own to the play room (which is right across from his room this time) and meeting some of the other patients on the Aflac floor. He's been spending a lot of time in there, which I think is great for him to have some sense of independence.

The first month we were here, he was still recovering from the surgery for his CVL (central line) and also suffering from the effects of the leukemia, both of which lasted a while, and he didn't feel much like leaving his room. Now that the effects of the leukemia aren't bothering him as well as his CVL, he's got a lot more energy and desire to get out of the room. Actually, he's also complained about being bored a bit, too. I'm glad that he's gotten bored!! I see it as motivation for him to spend more time out of the room - the very SMALL room. Yes, we are still in the small room and looks like we'll be here for the rest of this round.

Okay, but on to the more interesting aspects in Chase's life - the cute nurses!! As you might recall in the last update, I mentioned that I had let it slip about Chase liking the physical therapist. Come to find out her name is Hartley. Well, during the nurses' rounds (where they sit at a table and discuss the patients), his doctor mentioned that Chase liked Hartley. Robert was there and spoke with Chase about it. Chase thought that Robert had told Hartley that he liked her. So, the entire rest of the day when he saw Robert, he was pointing at him and drawing his finger across this throat. Robert would turn to Rebecca and make her look at Chase, who would simply smile and wave innocently. Chase didn’t realize that was why he was getting her to look over there. He was hoping to catch Chase in the act, but had no luck, so Chase was being devious without even realizing it.

I was at work when all of this was going on, but by the time I arrived, Robert was joking around with Chase about being threatened and needing protection. Robert finally managed to get Chase to realize that he had NOT spoken to Hartley, which led the two of them to discuss which other nurses Chase thought was also cute. He didn't mention Rebecca until after Robert had left though. I kind of figured that he thought she was pretty. He threatened me if I breathed a word though!

And who showed up the next day?? Hartley to ask Chase if he wanted to go down to the gym. I don't believe I have ever seen him leave his room quite so quickly.

And speaking of the cute nurses? Chase had requested some Axe body spray so he could "smell good for the ladies". I brought him a bottle of it and I should have brought myself a gas mask, too. Good grief! If you have never smelled any of the Axe products, go get yourself a whiff. They're quite strong and Chase has the whole suite of products - body wash, deodorant, and body spray, the last of which I've seen him apply several time a day. I can tell just how "cute" he thinks a nurse is by how much he'll talk to her.

Okay, now onto the medical news.....

We (FINALLY) got Chase's bone marrow aspiration molecular results back and the Philadelphia chromosome is almost completely gone!! It's basically insignificant. It can come back, but given how well it responded to the chemotherapy, everything looks very good that it won't. They've sent off Chase's records to doctors all over the US and they all agree that they should treat Chase's leukemia as AML (not CML). Unless something drastic changes, there will NOT be a need for a bone marrow transplant!!! This is wonderful news!! Should he ever need one, we do have William, which is a blessing.

Now what does all of this mean? It means that Chase will only undergo the 5 rounds of chemotherapy. He has already completed two (but not the waiting period yet of the 2nd), and then he'll have three more after this. Dr.Woods, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Director, was making rounds this past weekend. We had yet to meet him, but he was very well acquainted with Chase's case and said it was very nice to finally meet him in person. He said Chase looked really good - always nice to hear from a doctor! He did caution us that the 2nd round of chemo is the easiest because he isn't battling the effects of the leukemia or recovering from surgery, and his bone marrow will take longer to recover after future treatments.

As for this round of chemo, we're estimating that he may be able to come home in a little less than 2 weeks if he follows the same pattern as last time, but it's all a matter of what his counts say. Until then, he'll keep himself quite occupied with the cute nurses, Hartley, oh, and Kristina in Child Life - she's cute, too. She's actually learning how to play chess so she can compete against him.

We've been extremely blessed with his prognosis and how he has responded to treatment. We thank you very much for your continued prayers!!

God Bless,
The O'Bannon Family

Friday, May 1, 2009

4/30/09 Smooth Sailing Thus Far

Posted Apr 30, 2009 11:55pm

Chase was re-admitted to the hospital this past Tuesday. We had to go to the clinic first at Egleston so they could draw his labs and we thought they were also going to do an electrocardiogram to check his heart. We arrived at 10:30 and they brought us back to a room around 11:00. They drew his labs, took some vitals,and weighed him (98.9 lbs).

Then we waited and waited and waited.

Now, I knew that we would have to wait to get a bed on the Aflac floor. If I haven't explained it before, the kids are constantly coming and going for treatment much like Chase. Also, if kids develop fevers or their counts are suddenly dropping, then they are re-admitted. Unfortunately for us, on Tuesday they weren't discharging patients very quickly and Chase was third in line for a bed. Given this news, I had a feeling we wouldn't land back in the "good" wing that has the bigger rooms with HEPA filtration.

Not only did we end up with a smaller room, but they didn't have a room ready for him until 4:15 that afternoon!!! We had to wait in a clinic room - I in an uncomfortable chair and Chase on a hard exam table - for the entire time! We did go downstairs and grabbed lunch in the cafeteria, but they didn't want us going far because they started him on fluids to prepare him for his first chemo treatment.

I was surprised that they started his chemo before we got to the room, but I'm glad they did. The sooner they start the chemo, the sooner it will be over and then we can begin the waiting process (once again) for his counts to rebound.

If you'll recall, Chase entered into the hospital on March 25th and wasn't allowed to go home until the 25th day. We were told that this go around, his counts could take longer to rebound than before. This could mean that Chase may or may not be able to come home the next time or if he is allowed to come home then it could be a far shorter stay.

I did speak with Dr.Cooper the day Chase was admitted. They didn't have the molecular level results of his bone marrow sample back yet, but he was able to tell me that there were NO leukemia cells present!! Although that technically means that he's in remission, the leukemia will come back without further chemo treatments, but the fact that he did go into remission after the first round is very positive. He went on to say that Chase's counts had rebounded very quickly.

This is my observation, but he sounded almost surprised. He seemed very confident that Chase would respond to the chemo this second time as he did the first time, meaning that he might not suffer many side effects. So far, he's done very well. Today was the first day that he complained of any nausea, but described it as only being queasy.

Right now the doctors are waiting on the molecular results to come back. They put a rush order on it, so we should hopefully hear something within the next couple of days. Dr.Cooper said that they are consulting with doctors all over the world on Chase's case. Should the Philadelphia chromosome be gone, then they'll continue on with the current round plus three additional rounds of chemo. Whether or not he'll need a bone marrow transplant after that would remain the be seen. If the Philadelphia is there, then it would mean two rounds of chemo, most likely adding Gleevac to treat the Philadelphia, and a bone marrow transplant. Dr.Cooper said that William being a match is like having an ace in your back pocket. You don't want to play that ace unless it is absolutely necessary because even with a relative who is a match, a bone marrow transplant carries with it its own set of toxicities.

Last night was my first night back at the hospital spending the night. I saw Rebecca briefly. Chase wasn't able to squirt her because he doesn't have any syringes. We'll have to get him re-armed. This morning, Robert was his nurse, and as odd as it may sound, it was like seeing old friends having both of them there.

The nurse he had last night was Natalie, and she was a cutie. She made the comment that most teen guys won't talk much. Chase, surprised that they would almost ignore the nurses, asked why would they do that, to which she replied, "Attitude." After she left, I told him I knew why he wasn't like that. I said that he liked to talk to her because he thought she was cute. A slow grin spread on his face and he slightly nodded. Yep, I thought so. LOL!

When the doctors came in this morning, they were speaking of getting him on a schedule so he would get out of bed regularly. They mentioned ordering PT for him (physical therapy), and I told Dr.Alexander that he liked the PT girls. She asked which one, and I told her "the blond". Chase turned beet red and swore to aggravate me even more than what he was already doing for letting that little secret slip. Let me say that he's quite good at that. For a kid with leukemia undergoing chemotherapy, you'd be hard pressed to believe it given his antics.

As soon as we learn more about this bone marrow results, I'll be sure to provide an update. I have to say that we've been so very blessed with how his treatment has been going and how he has been responding. Prayers work and we thank you for keeping Chase in yours.

God Bless!!

The O'Bannon Family