The Day After Surgery

First, we have some more information about the test results. They aren't all back in yet, but we know a bit more than we did before.

• It is confirmed that the tumor is made of AML (leukemia) cells.
• He also has leukemia cells in his spinal fluid, which isn't surprising when you consider that's where the tumor is located.
• However, the preliminary tests on his bone marrow are clean - no leukemia cells. We have to wait on further tests that will provide a deeper analysis, but for now his marrow is clean.

The bone marrow and blood being clean while the spinal fluid is not is highly unusual. We aren't quite sure what to make of it yet. We will be meeting with Chase's primary oncologist, Dr.Cooper, tomorrow. Hopefully he will be able to tell us more, including some ideas for treatment options.

Chase was on a morphine pump all last night that helped control his pain, so he said he slept well. I wish I could say the same, but I didn't expect to sleep much being in PICU.

A couple of Physical Therapists came by today to evaluate Chase. He currently doesn't have a lot of mobility in his right arm or leg, which was the side of the spinal cord that the tumor was compressing. The neurologist said this would happen and that it would improve over the next couple of days. They moved him around, got him to roll on his side, sat him up and eventually stood him up. He was in pain and asked that he get Valium before they got started next time. I think I had to hit his Morphine button 3 or 4 times while they were here. I could see he was in pain and I was so proud of him. I can't imagine how much effort that took less then 24 hours after surgery.

It seems like every movement he wants to make in his upper body causes a strain on his neck and those muscles. He can now move his left arm enough to scratch his face and hit his pain pump button.

He ate a great lunch today, which is encouraging, but he's very hesitant to leave the PICU right now. They've mentioned that they'll probably take him back to the Aflac floor when a bed is ready. He feels he needs to be under more supervision for one more night. That and they said they'll remove the catheter. He isn't thrilled about the thought of needing help to go "potty" while he's so incapacitated.

I can't recall if I mentioned that we could see where the tumor was. I took a couple of "before" pictures. It might be difficult to make out, but there is a definite curved area that was larger than it should be, which makes sense now that we know the tumor was 2cm x 3cm x 4cm.

And, just in case you might be a bit squeamish, there is a photo of the incision and stitches ( no blood ) a bit further down.

Thank you again for all of the continued prayers and positive thoughts!!

 

The stitches won't dissolve and will have to be removed in about two weeks.