Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Week 3 update...

Well today was week 3 of chemo. It was a crazy morning here. Katie was really upset with us going to the hospital this morning. She was so afraid of us going and not coming home tonight that she was hysterical crying before we left. I was so relieved when we finished the treatment early enough for me to get home and pick her up. She was so excited to see my dad, Mike & me at pickup that she was giddy and hysterical laughing! :) It was great to see that!

Well, onto Mike...he did so well today! He is such an amazing trooper. He still HATES the medical profession as a whole but as soon as they look like they are leaving the room he is ok. That's a big improvement from the beginning when he cried for a few minutes after they left! The fact that he stops crying when they are in the room is a HUGE step forward.

I was told again today that I need to glove up for the first 48 hours of diaper changes after treatment. Chemo is excreted in the urine and since I have to change him I need to be gloved so as not to expose myself to chemo meds. I was so glad to have that tip from Mike's nurse about the Emla (numbing) cream... instead of bandaging it on so that it doesn't rub off into his clothes, I cover it with Glad Press n' Seal! It keeps the cream on without adhesive on his skin so it won't irritate him after a while and it doesn't hurt coming off!! Definitely a HUGE plus for us since accessing the port is a HUGE anxiety-ridden ordeal.

So, his counts, for the most part were great. The only thing that went down this week was his hemoglobin again. It is at 10.4. They start talking about transfusions when it gets down to an 8. I went down to the blood bank today to talk to them since Matt and I have an antigen/antibody issue that could affect our donating blood to him. In fact, they said that neither one of us would probably be good candidates for donating blood for Mike... Matt due to the fact that they don't want Mike to develop antibodies to the antigen in Matt's blood b/c then he would reject the transfusions and me because they don't want to introduce new antibodies to him that aren't necessary for him to have. They are going to type and cross him next week just in case and test for antibody titers and antigens in his blood. If we should get closer to the possibility of a transfusion I will get all the info I can to have blood donations made for him and in his name.

The BEST part of the day was... the surgeon didn't feel a hernia in his scrotum!! He thinks that I may have been right and what he was feeling a few weeks ago was excess fluid from the shunt and steroids. He will check him again in a few weeks to be sure but he was prettu certain that Mike won't need the testicular surgery!! :) YAY!! That is definitely one piece of good news that I needed! :)

Well, I am off to do homework with Katie. Hope you are all doing well!! Please keep those prayers coming...

Love,
Chrissie

3 comments:

Fella',Mommy,Girly,Chrissy,Christina,You Pick! said...

Sounds like you have some positive things! Glad to hear them!!!!

Kay said...

What a strong little guy you have there. Please let me know if I can donate blood in his name here. The blood bank here prefers my platelets since I am a rare AB+ but if I can help with Mikey somehow, I will give whatever it takes.

{{{hugs}}}

Cookie said...

Hi Chrissie,
It's me Cookie! I pray for you and your family, God will see you through this ordeal. Monique and I want to visit with you and the baby.Please call me, Terry has my #. Stay strong.
Cook