Time Marches On

2/22/2012: 7:20 PM

Compared to Davis' allergic reaction episode on Friday, the weekend was pretty uneventful. We managed to visit my mom and stepdad in Champaign. They watched Davis for us while we ran a couple of shopping errands.

Davis had blood work on Monday that revealed another drop in counts. His red blood cells had dropped to 8.9 (They transfuse at 8). His platelets hadn't budged, despite the partial transfusion, and were at 11 (The docs like them to be over 75). The biggest hits were to his white blood cells. His white count was 0, which meant is ANC (immune system) was 0. Davis' nurse Kathy assured me that while this isn't ideal, it is expected. His bone marrow is worn out from the chemo, and even though Davis isn't getting massive amounts of chemo as of late, the effects of chemo are cumulative, and his body can't fight back anymore. The good in this is that his body is responding to the chemo. By weakening the bone marrow, it will have a chance to essentially start over and create and build healthy non-cancerous blood cells.  The bad in this is that Davis has no immune system. He won't be able to fight off any kind of infection on his own, and we are still trudging through the cold and flu season. Also, the white blood cells (where Davis' cancer is) can not be transfused. His bone marrow has to produce them on its own. So, we are careful and prayerful now.

We headed down to St. Louis at 5:30 AM Tuesday morning for Davis to receive another platelet transfusion. Davis was premedicated with Benadryl and Hydrocortisone via his port before his transfusion. His pulse, blood pressure, oxygen, and temperature were monitored every fifteen minutes during the transfusion. The premedication worked and Davis was fine - a little tired - but fine. Kyle's Uncle Randy was vacationing in St. Louis and spent the morning with us. Davis filled Uncle Randy's head full of Nintendo DS knowledge, and Uncle Randy listened attentively for what seemed like forever.

Davis was hooked up to monitors, so Uncle Randy was the book holder.
Davis has to read twenty minutes a day and keep a reading log for
his literature class.

Davis is finishing his treatment on Tuesday with his nurse
Kathy in the foreground.

We were able to make it back to Charleston in enough time for Davis to go to school for the last hour of the day. Davis is so awesome. It amazes me that he can get up at 5:30 in the morning, be pumped full of medication and platelets, travel over five hours in the car, and still show up for math class. 

Thankfully, I am rarely sick. Well, not so fortunate now. I was up most of the night with flu symptoms: body aches, headache, upset stomach, sore throat, etc. Kyle made a doctor's appointment for me. Yep, it appears I have a viral infection. I am quarantined to my bedroom, but I don't feel well, so I don't mind. Kyle is absolutely amazing. He is completely holding the fort down and caring for the babies. I feel pretty guilty snuggled in bed and barking orders to him to change out the laundry while he is cleaning up the kitchen and getting Davis' nightly medicine ready, but I am thankful he is willing and able to take charge.

Davis will have bloodwork done on Thursday, and Friday will be Davis' last chemo treatment on his Delayed Intensification road map. Yay! He will receive any platelets and/or red blood cell transfusions and chemo. He will then get a week or two off to build counts.   

We still love and appreciate your positive thoughts and prayers. Davis struggles with change and having very little control over his life, and we are facing, however positive it may seem, another change. Plus, his counts are terribly low. We are praying that they start trending up quickly. We still pray for those things we have prayed for since the very beginning: no long-term or short-term side effects, no organ damage, no port infections, no relapses, and no secondary cancers. I have also started praying that Davis sees the good in this and that God gives him discernible wisdom to apply this experience as a chapter in a long and meaningful life.  I pray that he remembers the bad so that he has empathy for others.

Annakate has been taking karate for three weeks and LOVES it!

Here she is practicing her form.  She has it all planned out.
She tells me she'll have her black belt in 2 1/2 years. She's too funny.

We will keep you posted.