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.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Sick again...

So Andrew and I are sick again! This has been the third time in the last month. I really don't get it--I eat great, I exercise, try to get enough sleep, and wash my hands like a madman. Don't know what the deal is. Really stinks because it makes it so I just hang out in my little room and don't visit anyone...

Otherwise, though, this round has been mostly uneventful. He's still not eating very much, and the fuzz on his head that he got between rounds has yet to fall out. He's had a few reactions to the ARA-C (Cytarabine) that have made him red on his arms, legs, and face:


The half-life of the ARA-C is pretty short, so these reactions don't last long, and are usually cleared up by hydrocortisone.

I've had a lot of exercise in patience this round. For some reason, it just seems like everything goes wrong when I put him down at night. It will happen multiple times that I will have just put him down, but they need to give him a medication, or change his diaper, or give him eyedrops, and he'll be awake for another hour or two. Last night was a long, drawn-out unhappy saga that lasted until way past midnight, when he had originally gone to bed at 7:30. It's times like these I end up calling Stew and he comes up to try to help me out while I get a bit of sleep.

Andrew's line also broke a few days ago. The blue lumen (the smaller of the two lines) has always been sluggish, so the nurse was pushing through it and the pressure made a hole near the top. I'm just grateful she had already pushed the ARA-C through. I'm not a fan of chemo being sprayed all over him. I'm positive that it wasn't her fault, though--the line had been twisted and occluding all day long.

So, Andrew was off fluids for 4 hours while they fixed the line and glued some things on. So, to keep the line out of his reach, they made him wear this funny wife-beater. Andrew wasn't phased though. He didn't know how goofy he looked.

7 comments:

  1. That smile is just amazing!! Thanks so much for the video. You are in our prayers all the time.
    We love you all!!!!

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  2. Ohhhhhh, I am so sorry about his line break!!! Ugh, I hope it doesn't happen again!

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  3. Sorry to hear that you are both fighting a bug! We were at clinic on Tuesday with Rachel, but I was fighting a sore throat, so I wore my mask and didn't come visit you guys...though I really wanted to! Maybe we can say hi next week.
    --Marie

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  4. My new favorite video!

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