Posted Mar 2, 2010 7:25pm
I'm very pleased to report that last night ended uneventfully. Yay! It's amazing how relieved you can feel and how much you celebrate your child not vomiting on a daily basis. I so look forward to the day when I don't have to think of that as an important milestone to reach.
Oh, and I need to correct something Chase said yesterday about the blond Miss.Georgia contestant. I said, "Dumber than a bag of rocks" (I think), but what he actually said was "Dumber than a sack of nuts". I stand corrected.
In spite of yesterday ending without him getting sick, today however, was a bit wishy-washy in the beginning. This morning he refused to eat or drink anything and pulled the blanket up over his head and left it there for a couple of hours. I had to get onto him when he wouldn't even pull it down to speak to Dr.Cooper or Beth (his psychologist). Normally, he doesn't have a problem talking to either of them. Dr.Cooper assured me his avoidance technique wasn't new to him, so he didn't take it personally, but Chase didn't have an excuse other than he didn't feel like doing anything or talking to anyone. In my book, that's not an excuse at all unless he's truly feeling ill, which he wasn't. I tend to make him so happy with me when I pull the blanket away from him.
Dr.Cooper did have some great news for me today. He said they wouldn't start paying too much attention to his counts until Thursday, but that a peripheral look at his blood (I guess from this morning) showed NO sign of leukemia blast cells!! Amen!! That doesn't mean that his marrow is clean, but if he's gone from about 15% saturation to 0% since last Friday, then I'll certainly celebrate that milestone.
One thing that I believe I have mentioned before is the difference nurses around here make. We've had Marlene several nights since we've been here, and she's shared a few more of her stories with us that are always good for a laugh. You have to really appreciate a person who can laugh and let others laugh at her expense. She's such an uplifting person, too, which is why we love having her so much. Unfortunately, we haven't seen Rebecca yet. I think she may be on BMT duty right now, but hopefully we'll see her soon. Robert has been around, but wasn't assigned to us - until today! Yay! He's always reliable for a good kick in the pants for Chase. He puts up with nothing and told me to tell Chase that his past few days of having the "wimpy" nurses was over, and that he needed to get up and get moving around. He even got Chase to do his Biotene mouthwash! That was the excuse Chase gave me for why he couldn't eat or drink anything this morning, to which Robert replied - "That's bull and he knows it." See why I love this guy??? That's exactly what Chase needs, too. Nurses who push him and won't put up with him being so complacent...lazy....lethargic....apathetic - take your pick. :) He came into the room and said we needed a large can of Pam to spray under Chase so we could just slide him right out of bed. That got a smile out of him finally and he began to engage a bit in conversation.
Not long after Robert started his chemo, Hartley dropped by. For those who recall that name, she's the physical therapist Chase worked with quite a bit last year. You know...the one he thought was cute and made the mistake of telling a nurse about it (probably Robert) and then the whole staff knew afterward? Well, lo and behold, he actually got up for her and went to PT! Yep, I was pretty shocked. I expected him to balk. Instead he asked me for his Axe body spray and to help him with his shoes since his little toe was tender from his biopsy yesterday. I gave him a couple of bucks so he could buy himself a drink on the way back if he wanted. Chase doesn't care too much for going downstairs to the cafeteria, but I figured giving him some money for the vending machine would be too much for him to pass up. I was right. He came back with a bottle of water to which I added a packet of Propel Kiwi-Strawberry mix. It was a hit and he's almost downed the whole bottle. Although he hasn't eaten anything yet today, getting him to drink something is just as important, especially with the Clofarabine chemo he is receiving.
And later this afternoon, he went to the Teen Group activity. Can I get another woo-hoo?? Apparently, they're tie-dying. Robert asked for a pair of boxers. Ha-ha. I have no idea what he'll come back up here with, but I'm so pleased he went down there. Christina, from Child Life, came by to get him. When she did, she told him that the band he had done some karaoke singing with before was here, too. Unfortunately, it conflicted with the teen gathering. But, she did tell him that he was in their promotional video. What? Between David and me, we've signed a bunch of releases for him for this or that, but I didn't recall him being filmed for a video. Apparently, he's singing "We're not gonna take it," from Twisted Sister and they're using it as part of a promotional video for fund raising. She told me that she's asked for a copy and I know I've got to get my hands on it as well. The last time Chase was in the hospital, he started getting into 80's music and that was one of the bands whose songs he downloaded to his iTouch. I think it was Chase's first night here that we both got into some impromptu karaoke singing and that was one of the songs he queued up. Chase was pretty amazed that I could recall some of the lyrics from the older songs. Let me tell you, I didn't know I knew them either. It's pretty funny how some lyrics will stick with you over time. Not the whole song mind you, but at least a few words or lines from the chorus.
He's pretty wiped out right now, but then again, he's had an active day today, too compared with yesterday. Robert started up his AraC as I typed this and I'm hoping he'll sleep through it as he has the past couple of times. This is the last one until he goes in for his bone marrow transplant. Amen!! After this, it's just a waiting game to see when his counts will bottom out and rebuild, as well as praying that he doesn't get a fever or any kind of infection. In the past, he's never had an infection, but he's been feverish. I'll take the latter if we have to as long as there's no infection.
God Bless and thank you as always for your support and prayers!!
Caroline
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