Harrison County to 7 West

Well, here we are - 7 West - the oncology floor at Kosair Children's Hospital. The diagnosis is acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or for short - ALL. From what we have learned ALL is the most common form of childhood leukemia and the most treatable.

Our nightmare began 6 days ago on Thursday, 3/5/2009. A week or so before, CJ had been treated for strep throat. At first he seemed to be feeling better, then he began to weaken and started running a temp again. Sheree took him to the doctor and they ran some blood tests. Later that evening Sheree received a call from the doctor telling her they needed to get CJ to the emergency room for more blood tests. Greg and Sheree rushed him to Harrison County Hospital in Corydon where they re-tested his blood. At first, there was talk that it could be a virus, or possibly, a low-grade infection. His little mouth was covered with canker sores. He was just so miserable.

When the second set of blood tests returned the same results as the first, doctors at Harrison County had CJ rushed by ambulance to Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville. His red cell, white cell and platelet counts were all dangerously low. They gave him transfusions of whole blood and platelets during the night and the following day. Once we arrived at Kosair they drew more blood, took xrays and ran more tests. After a couple of hours we were moved upstairs to the ICU. CJ dozed off and on, but never really slept. In the early morning, a doctor came in, pulled up a chair and told us it was time to talk. She was really very kind as she told us they were 95% sure that CJ had leukemia but they would have to do a bone marrow test to confirm the diagnosis.

Later that afternoon they did the bone marrow biopsy and moved CJ to 7 West. Within 2 hours the first results were back and the diagnosis was confirmed. More samples of his bone marrow have been sent to the lab to determine if the cancer has affected other organs like the liver or spleen. The next step was to have a port surgically implanted in CJ's little chest. This is a catheter that runs directly into a major vein. Once it was inserted, they were able to remove the IV's that had been placed in his arms. During CJ's treatment he will receive some of his chemo drugs, blood transfusions and other medications through this port. He will have his blood drawn and tested 3 times a day. They can draw blood from his port so he doesn't have to be stuck every time.

While he was under anesthesia having the port placed, they also did a spinal tap. They needed to test his spinal fluid to determine if any cancer cells appeared there. As a standard part of the treatment protocol, they inserted a chemo drug directly into his spine to replace the spinal fluid they drew. He will receive periodic spinal taps and bone marrow biopsies throughout his treatment program. I will have to follow-up with Sheree to see if they have received the lab results of this test yet.

Because CJ was admitted over the weekend, we didn't really get a full sense of what life is like on 7 West. It is a busy place. We spent the day Monday watching a steady stream of people come through CJ's room. I don't mean visitors, but hospital staff, doctors, volunteers, administrators - you name it - they stopped by. They have music therapists, art therapists, massage therapists and the most wonderful professional staff! CJ's room quickly began to fill with deliveries...balloons, baskets of snacks, toys, cards and love - lots and lots of love.

All of the activity was a good thing since that morning, CJ was placed in isolation. He was required to stay in his room...no visits around the corner to Evan's Playroom which he discovered on Sunday. The sores in his mouth were determined to be a form of herpes virus and they couldn't risk exposing the other kids on the floor to it. He will be required to stay in isolation until it's better. Visitors must wash their hands as they enter and leave his room and we must wear gowns while visiting.

The plan for Monday was to begin the chemo drugs, but they couldn't give him the first dose until he pooped. Don't anyone question CJ's stamina and will power. He refused to go and nobody was going to convince him otherwise. No begging, pleading, prodding, or bribing was going to work - not even multiple doses of over-the-counter and prescription laxatives was going to make things move. Finally, the laxatives took over and we had success, but not until 11:00 pm. The chemo was administered before midnight that night.