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.

Friday, May 20, 2011

poked and prodded

Well its been a long day. His fever is still dependent on Tylenol. When the Tylenol runs out, he spikes a high fever again and his respirations as well as heart beat spike. So, when he has enough Tylenol in his system the day is pretty relaxed, but when it wears out, the whole PICU crew starts to get concerned. This afternoon however, was not relaxing. The doctors have all been discussing what to do about Andrew. It has been a week since any blood cultures came out positive and so his fevers should be going down by now. They decided to to an echocardiogram, CT scan, and pull his central line. We did the echo and were in the process of the CT when his line broke. That cemented the deal that they are pulling his central line. They eventually decided to hold off on the CT for a little longer. Anyway, the surgeon was here to remove his central line but there was no one who is able to place a PICC line. So rather than sedate him twice, we had the central line glued shut over night and we are having them remove it tomorrow when they can place the PICC line. Which brings me to the final bit of news. Andrew's breathing is still a concern and so rather than him going under general anesthesia they will have to do all of these procedures using sedation and local anesthesia. We are not looking forward to Andrew being cut open while awake. It is a small quick surgery but sill not fun.

4 comments:

  1. Praying, praying, praying for smiling Andrew, for his wise and loving parents and for your skilled staff. May you have showers of blessings.

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  2. Stew and Lizzie, we are still praying so hard for your family. This is so difficult and challenging. I am sorry about the issues you have had with his central line. Hopefully having it out of his body will help him heal. Lots of hugs and comfort going your way!

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  3. P.S. I sure hope his ANC starts coming up. Does it seem like the Neupogen is helping at all? Erin did not have Neupogen during round #5 and it took 32 days (from the first part of round #5) for her ANC to come to 100. On day 31 her WBC was 0.7, she had 1 monocyte and 0 bands. I always wished I'd had someone to compare numbers with. I can't recall how long ago you started round #5. Andrew's counts always came up quicker than Erin's so hopefully it's just right around the corner.

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