First, I want to
apologize for leaving everyone on a cliff-hanger last time. At the
most recent chemo visit, the doctor had some great news for us. She
had consulted with the lymphoma board and they all agreed that he was
doing so well that he could skip both the radiation and
the extra chemo. That means we are now halfway through the
treatment, and (barring unfavorable blood tests that results in
waiting an extra week) he will be all done with chemo before school
starts in the fall.
This
last time, lab results were borderline. They said the numbers were
strong enough to continue the cycle he was on, but if he was starting
a new cycle, they would have waited another week so his body could
strengthen up some more. They said his bone marrow is getting tired.
I’m not surprised, it has been working overtime for three months
now. I’m trying to feed
him more bone broth to support his marrow. Chicken noodle soup seems
to be a lunchtime winner.
We
seem to have gotten a handle on his nausea. It seems to be entirely
related to the administration of the chemo, rather than the presence
of the chemo in his body. A large part is from anxiety, but a
significant part is also from flushing his line. Every time they
administer a drug through his port, they have to do a blood draw (to
make sure the line is clear and flowing properly) and then flush the
line with saline. He can taste the flushing. The saline creates an
unpleasant taste in his mouth, and then his focusing on it escalates
it to nausea. So we start with skipping
breakfast, then taking an
anti-anxiety pill (Ativan/lorazepam) on the way to the hospital,
along with an anti-nausea pill (Zofran/ondansetron).
Once we are there, we get him distracted with his Chromebook and he
watches YouTube videos of people playing Roblox (his favorite game
platform). With the videos distracting him from the taste in his
mouth, he only has to spit to get rid of the unpleasant flavor.
So
here we stand at the halfway mark. Once his chemo is done, they said
that they will continue to see him every three months to monitor his
progress for a year, then every six months after that.
