Xander went in to get his counts checked and to get his cough checked out.

His counts are mostly up, ANC has rocketed to 23,600, Hemocrit was fine, but Platelets were down at 18K, so we will be going back in for a platelet transfusion.  Luckily they're quick.

His cough has been getting pretty bad.  His little nose is running non-stop.  So much so he gets the tissues now and brings them to us.  On Sunday he was coughing so hard he brought up and impressive amount of phlem.  He must have a ton of it draining down his throat.

So the RN is not taking any chances of complications and sent them down for a chest X-ray to make sure it's not pnuemonia developing.  Xander's temp has been pretty stable so we hope it's nothing sickness related.  Plus the RN will start him on some antibiotics that he will take every Monday/Tuesday for a few weeks so that he will be covered past his treatments.   Plus more Benedryl to help sooth the cough a bit.

His weight has also been stable at 30lbs.  He's not eating as much as before, it seems, but at least he is maintaining.

He bumped his head on Saturday and there was a nice small goose egg.  Right on the top of the head and on the edge of where the incision was. Ouch!  We should have known his platelets were down the way it bruised right away.  We'll be seeing Dr. Avellino on Wed so he can take a quick look.  Xander was also bruising at some of the latest GSC-F injection points.

So if he stays healthy then we will be starting Round 6 next Monday.  Two or so weeks after that, when his ANC is back up we'll be done his treatments.  We're starting to see some light at the end of this tunnel.  Hopefully that doesn't trip us up.  We will still have to be very diligent for the next few weeks.

Should be one more set of labs this week and then back in the fray for the next.

Xander headed into Children's, briefly, for his second set of labs for this round.

Nothing to exciting, Hemocrit was 30.4, Platelets was fine, and White Blood Cell Count iinched up to 0.2, but ANC was still 0.

His next appointment is Monday, which should be when his counts recover.  Hopefully so because it will mean one less Neupogen shot.

Yesterday he was pretty cranky, he did not have much in the way of sleep.  Plus his nose is running like a non-stop faucet.  He's been good though, in that when his nose starts to drip he comes to one of us and says, "Nose... ", so we know enough to get a tissue.

He has started to get some near diuretic diapers, luckily we've been heavy with the Desitin so he has not been in as much discomfort as before.

Hopefully we will have a nice, uneventful, stay at home this weekend.

Xander went in today for his first set of post chemo labs today.

As expected his counts were down, the RN had his the timing right on the money.  His Hemocrit was 20.6, Platelets: 31,000 and his ANC is now 0.

Mom, Baba, Willem and Xander headed to Children's early this morning and got the labs and his weight, an impressive 30.4 lbs (no shoes, or milk in hand).  They were out in less than an hour, which was good, and headed home.

Later the RN called with the counts and had platelets and blood ordered for 13:30, so they all climbed back in the van and headed in again.

The platelets took no time at all, but the blood took 4 hours so they got home just in time to get supper going.

Since he has shown no signs of nausea we have weaned him of f of his meds.

His cough has gotten pretty harsh at times so we are continuing the Benedryl, but at a lower dose.

Xander only had a small catnap with all the running around so now it's up for a bath and then bed time.  Hopefully the infusion of blood doesn't give him a second wind.

It was a pretty quite day for everyone.

Xander has been doing fine.  Being a normal two year old. 

He is still eating very well, his main prey has been the elusive Cheeseburger Happy Meal, and has foraged frequently for hot dogs, ham and strawberries.  We're extremely happy his appetite has maintained itself so far.

One thing that was new today was that he had napped three times.  he got up around 7:00 this morning and went back to sleep around 9:00, then again at 13:00 and 16:00.  Could be the chemo, low red blood cell count, or perhaps the delayed radiation fatigue is coming in early.  He is still pretty active so it's a bit of a mystery.  It's interesting in that he'll be doing something and then he will come up to us and say, "Nap?", and then leads us up to his room to go to sleep.

Other than that, no problems.  We're still home, so we're still happy.  Next set of labs is Tuesday so we'll see if he needs a transfusion or not.

Xander went in today for his stem cell recovery.

As on Tuesday Mom, Baba, Willem and Xander took off to Children's early in the morning to get Xander fully hydrated before his stem cell transfusion.

At noon the lady from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (Fred Hutchinson) arrived with Xander's small package of 14.4 million stem cells.  As before they were infused by gravity over about 10 minutes.  The tickled the back of his throat again and he had one small bout of nausea.  Otherwise he was fine.  His counts are: Hemocrit 24.2, Platelets 114K, and White Blood Cell count 1.1.  We did not get his ANC, but with the WBC count that low it would be low as well.  We'll be starting the GCS-F shots again to get the White Blood Cell factories going again.

Mom and Baba did something slightly different this time in that they had some lemon aromatherapy in the room while the transfusion was going on to try and cut through the smell of the preservative.  It seemed to have worked pretty well and they did not notice it as much.

Dad was home again, sick, and trying his best to make the house germ free.  Wash the floors; wipe down all the surfaces that are touched on a daily basis.  Wash towels and Xander's bedding (once every two days), and washing hands over and over.  If we're lucky we can keep him out of the hospital again.

With the Hemocrit so low he will probably need a blood transfusion.  We get his counts checked again early next week.

Xander finished off his chemotherapy drugs for this round, today.

Another long day for Mom, Baba, Willem and Xander, as they headed over to Children's for Xander's second day of chemotherapy.  Dad had to stay at home because he does indeed have a cold.

Since everything was set up yesterday he sent straight in and was done the chemotherapy by 13:30.  Then the hydration and they were out before the doors closed.

Dad went to see their general practitioner to get some antibiotics to speed his recover along.  That and a day or two of rest should help.

Willem looks like he may have caught Dad's cold, but we're still unsure.  Dad is wearing a mask around the house and washing his hands constantly.

Xander had no nausea today since I think we were on the anti-nausea meds a little more consistently today between the hospital and home.

Well, now we have a day off and then back in Thursday for the stem cell recovery.  This time Baba get to name what she thinks the preservative smells like.

Xander has started his fifth round of chemotherapy today, his second in the consolidation phase.

Today we went back to Children's early this morning.  It was to be the start of a long day since chemotherapy could not start until after we got his counts back and then after the order went down to pharmacy so they could fill it.  As it was we started around noon.  Then it was two hours of carboplatin and then two hours of thiotepa and then three hours of hydration afterwards.  Which was interesting since the Hemotology/Oncology clinic closes at 17:00, so we went down to third floor for the next two hours and played musical rooms moving from one to another.   We finally got into one of the meeting rooms which Xander tried for a hour and a half to get out of.  A long day.

His counts we good: Hemocrit: 25.7, Platelets: 114K, and ANC: 2520.  Temp, blood pressure, hearts, lungs, mouth and ears were all fine.  He was definitely good to go.  Plus we was starting a week earlier than anyone thought he would.

When we got home things were a little chaotic.  He was so good at Children's and in the van that we set him up with a DVD and started to get supper ready when Baba's eagle ears heard something amiss.  Xander had thrown up all over the couch.  Dad was a little peeved they were not better prepared, but we quickly got things cleaned up and Xander back to normal, all the while with Willem crying.  Then Xander threw up once more in bed, but everything was in place to keep the clean up simple.  Much less stress when you're prepared.

Now back to the anti-nausea meds every 4 hours.  He has maintained his weight at 29.5 lbs so no NG tube so far.  He was still eatign fairly well during the day.  Not as much as previous, but he did eat most of his lunch, some breakfast, and no real supper.

He has also lost most all of his hair now.  Back to the Telly Savalas look  Not too bad with the Menegis down.

The only part concerning us now is that Dad seemed to  have picked up a cold somewhere.  Great timing considering Xander counts will bottom out in the next few days.  Hopefully nobody else gets it to keep it around.  Dad literally sneezes and then has to wash his hands. 

Dad had a nice experience with Xander last night when he was going to sleep.  They were lying there and Dad told Xander they would be going to the hospital tomorrow morning again and Xander nodded his head on his pillow.  Then Dad told him that he would be getting sick again becuase of the medication he would be getting and Xander shook his head.  The Dad said that it would only be two more times and then they would be done.  Xander shook his head again.  Then Dad said, "But, we're going to beat it, right!?", and Xander said, "Right!".  That, for no other reason, is why we have so much hope in this little man.

Xander went in today for his last set of labs before round 5, which starts on Monday.

His counts are middle of the road: Hemocrit: 26, Platelets: 58K, and ANC 8,798.  But far more than enough to get the go ahead for round 5.

We're starting to see some fall out (no pun intended) from the chemotherapy in that his hair is now falling out again.  Sigh.  It was so nice having a head of hair on him.  Hopefully, it will all come back consistently the next time since the areas that were touched by radiation only have fuzz on them at the moment.

So Mom, Dad, Baba, Willem & Xander will be going to Children's early Monday morning to get Xander settled.  In the meanwhile we have what is shaping up to be a beautiful weekend with lots of sunshine and decent temperatures (it's been really, relatively, hot around here).  Something to look forward to before going back in the fray.  Although we do have to do a bunch of cleaning and such.  Oh well, anything to keep him out of the hospital.