You can't keep a good boy down....

...and this good boy can't keep anything down.

Hayden's blood counts were high enough to start chemo again. And no feeding tube required (yet!). He didn't eat anything yesterday and still 'barthed' in Daddy's truck on the way back from the hospital. This morning he had a little smoothie and it stayed down so off to school he went - first day this week. It's after 1:00 and still no call from the school so maybe a change of scenery gets his mind off his queasy tummy. Oh well...we are truckin' along through the consolidation phase. The faster it goes...the sooner it ends. That's not to say that the next phase will be a picnic but things should get progressively easier.

Hayden is quite excited about the summer - he took up fishing last year and can't wait to get started again. He's planning a trip to Crowduck and is even starting to think about who will be in each boat. I think Green Grandpa and Daddy are in his boat. Mommy's with Chandler and Uncle Shawn. Uncle Todd is with Taryn and Kaitlin. Not sure if John, Jill, Chelsea, and Derek will all fit into one boat.....what about Grandpa? Jack's coming....and he'll probably bring his Dad (Grant)....does Uncle Ray fish? Will Auntie Nadeen go.....if so, she can take the Siobhan and Celeste.

As you can see, there are still a few details to work out.

Sick of being sick

Hayden has his regular clinic appointment today so he'll find out where his blood counts are at. If they're high enough to start another round of chemo, he'll be admitted to the hospital for one night. He's doing well but I think he's sick of being sick. Being back at school has many advantages but it's often a reminder of how different he is now. Poor little guy is in a bit of a slump lately.

We're a little worried about his complete lack of appetite - he is painfully skinny. The problem is that, when he eats, he often 'barths'. We'll see what the doctors say today...hopefully he doesn't need a feeding tube.

Let's hope we can get through this consolidation phase as quickly as possible without any setbacks.

Neutropenia ain't so bad

Today was a clinic day so Hayden had a blood test - he is now neutropenic. That means that his neutrophils (a type of white blood cell that fights infections) are very low. It's not bad news - it means that the chemo is doing its job....the chemo doesn't know the difference between a leukemic blast, neutrophil, or even a hair follicle - it gets them all. However, we have to once again take precautions to limit his exposure to potential infection. Surprisingly, he still goes to school. Because it's a controlled environment, he is good to go.

School is going well. A few difficult sitations for Hayden with kids in other grades who likely weren't aware of his illness, but he seems to recover quickly. And he certainly seems to be OK with his new hair style...he lifted his touque several times to show the class during last week's presentation. He even demonstrated how to access the doll's port with a needle...so proud of that boy.

Overall, his spirits are high and he is feeling well. The chemo side-effects continue to be erratic but nothing major. It's sometimes a battle to get him to take medicine in him or make another trip to the hospital but when you consider everything that he's been through...wow, what a champ...and he is in this fight to win.

Back to school...after a roller coaster weekend

It's been a crazy weekend starting with an unscheduled trip to the clinic on Friday afternoon. Hayden got a fever and because we expected that his white blood cells would be very low this weekend, we had to take him in. We knew that high temperatures are a common side-effect of one of the chemo drugs so we weren't too worried about another infection. Thankfully, his blood counts weren't that low yet so the doctor OK'd Tylenol - which helped the fever, headaches, and nausea. We expected that the side-effects should run its course by Sunday so when he still had a fever on Sunday morning, we called the doctor and took him to emergency. They ran more tests and, once again, prescribed Tylenol. That, along with the anti-nausea medicine, keeps him pretty happy. Otherwise, he suffers with hangover-like symptoms. We need to keep a close watch, but nothing too worrisome yet.

We have an appointment at Ecole St. Germain tomorrow at 2:15. Nurse Kathy Bourne (super oncology nurse) will talk to the class about cancer and chemo. She has a puppet to demonstrate to his grade 2 class how the port works (a demo that H can participate in, if he wants to) and its hair falls out to show that it's a normal side-effect. Afterwards, we'll meet with the teaching staff to talk about Hayden's return to school. He's a little nervous about going back but it will be good to have some normal routine (as much as possible). He had a couple of school buddies over last weekend and that went really well. And, of course, cousin Chandler will be there to help him out (same grade, different class).

So a busy weekend and likely a busy week ahead. Some of the drugs from his first phase of chemo will be re-introduced into the mix.....damn, hate that vincristine but at least we're not back on the steroids yet. More to come...

This consolidation phase is a snap....so far

Hayden started a whole new round of cancer-butt-kicking meds on December 30. We started the consolidation phase in the hospital with IV meds and a spinal injection. Take that leukemia! This was the first time that his Iron Man port was accessed - first to take blood in the clinic, then to administer the chemo. Home Care is coming today and tomorrow to do injections (nice that we don't have to trek back to the hospital for that).

Hayden's blood counts are way up so he's feeling good and happy to be out among the general population. It will only last about a week and a half so we are getting out! Other than some coordination / balance / strenght issues, he is pretty much back to normal...being goofy, tearing around the house, and wrestling with Dad. He may even go back to school next week. We better get on that homework.