Good News, Bad News

Posted by Mommy

Well we went back to the doctor today, and we had good news and bad news. First CJ’s counts were up enough to get his chemo. They again gave him two kinds that come along in this phase, Vincristine and Methyltrexate. CJ did very well at clinic. It was one of the fastest trips we had, not because of what we had to do but there just weren’t that many kids in there this morning. This is very unusual; the clinic is usually packed at all times.

The bad news is CJ’s counts were barely up enough to even get chemo today at an ANC of 540, the minimum to receive chemo is 500. They didn’t increase the dosage this time since last time it dropped his ANC count by 1100. Since his counts are so low and the chemo tends to drop them even lower we have to be extra careful. If CJ gets any fever or anything else from the long list of symptoms they give you to look out for, we go back to the doctor and very likely the hospital for a stay. That is why we are still home bound for at least ten days when we have to go back to the clinic. We still have to limit the amount of visitors, and make sure any we get have no illness.

For more good news, when we got home today, CJ was in a good mood wanting to play. The chemo doesn’t seem to affect him the way most people picture chemo in their heads. He has never gotten sick to his stomach or extremely tired because of the chemo. In fact it seems to do the opposite for CJ that is why he calls it energy juice. Most days after he gets chemo CJ wants to eat, usually more than he does on a normal day. After eating he wants to play, and play and play. A lot of times he plays the Wii, boxing is his favorite. Anyone who has played the Wii knows boxing is a very tiring game. The only bad part about all this is when CJ does get tired he crashes hard. His mood turns quickly from good to bad, and nothing short of sleep will get him out of this mood. The mood is really bad when he hasn't taken his medicine for the night yet, and the fight is on to get medicine in him before he goes to sleep.

Tonight we watched the TV show Wipeout, CJ loves to watch it and made his own “Knock out game” as he calls it in the middle of the living room. Then he would run the course several times showing me how much better he is than the people on TV. One thing is for sure CJ’s imagination has not been effected from his treatment.