Andrew was diagnosed with Erythroid (M6) Acute Myeloid Leukemia on November 4th, 2010 when he was almost 5 months old. Andrew is currently in remission from his cancer, after finishing his 5 rounds of chemotherapy. He is a healthy, happy toddler.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Happy Kidlet

The last day and a half or so has been a really bright spot in all of this. Andrew's appetite is back in full swing and he's jabbering at the nurses, which is fun to see. They're done testing the pH of his urine, so I don't have to remember to put cotton balls in his diaper for them to squeeze out and send to the lab. There's so much to learn with a kid on chemo. I'm going to have to become proficient at changing his central line dressing and flushing his line with low doses of heparin at home. Also, when he's on chemo, they consider every bodily fluid (especially urine) to be toxic waste (as if I didn't already know that), so I need to change his diaper with special nitrile gloves and put it in biohazard.

I'm really enjoying the people here quite a bit. Since you basically live in a public place, you're forced to be a very social person. It's like being in a freshman dorm again, except less privacy. One lady I talked to today is going home with her 6 year old on Friday. He was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when he was 5 (about a year ago), and has done the whole bit--a pretty intense chemo regimen and a bone marrow transplant. He looks fantastic now, though. Another lady I met just a few hours ago mirrors my life almost perfectly. Her kid is 9 days older than mine, diagnosed with the same cancer (2 weeks ago), and she lives on the same street (in the East Village). She's gone through almost the exact same experiences as I have, only her kid had to have a feeding tube, which sounds nasty. The nurses have been telling me that cancer types will cluster--that they see groups of about 3 types of cancers alternate in frequency--and I'm starting to really believe it.

I'm really overwhelmed with all the generosity of people in my family, in my ward, at my old work, and just in this community. So many people have written letters, called, sent emails, fasted and prayed, cooked dinner, and done a whole lot of service for us. We both feel so loved and grateful for everyone's kind thoughts and actions. I'm not used to being on the receiving end of service, and my list of personal needs is pretty short, so I don't really know what to ask for when people want to serve us. However, I really feel like I'm finally starting to reach a new normal and that everything is falling in to place. We love you all and are so thankful for your support as well as the Lord's in our lives.

3 comments:

  1. We are so glad that Andrew is doing better! That is awesome :) Stew came over last night and told us about the kid that going through the same thing as Andrew. Good luck with everything over there! Keep us updated and let us know if there is anything we can do for you guys.

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  2. I can't wait to come meet little Andrew! He sounds like such a sweet boy. It was so wonderful to talk to you, thank you for coming to meet me. Marie Steele gave me your blog address, so I hope it's okay I checked it out. I hope to chat with you more.

    Jill Hughes
    http://littleairbear.blogspot.com

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  3. I just found out today that a sister in my ward is up at Primary Children's with the same thing going on with her son. He is a month or two older than your Andrew, but they just discovered all of this a few days ago. I thought it was ironic that I found out about two people battling the same thing within the same week. I'm glad Andrew seems to be toughing this out really well. :)

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