Christian has started to recover. His temperature has been under control and he is smiling again!
He is not eating yet but is completely off the morphine and we hope to be home within a week or so. The radiotherapy has been booked in, it starts in the middle of June and it is given Monday to Friday for 3 weeks. He will need to be given a general anesthetic each time.
They hope that the radiation will not effect the growth of the leg too much but there may be a very slight one.
As we expected it’s been a tough 10 days. Christian has been on Intravenous morphine for the pain and has had bad diarrhea and vomiting. He hasn’t eaten for about a week and has been on TPN which is intravenous nutrition. His Neutrophils and white blood count have been zero and as he has had a temperature he has been on antibiotic and antifunguls. The good news is that his Neutrophils have been boosted by a drug called GCSF and he can now fight infection and the mucositis should start to heal.
I’m looking forward to him laughing again, at the moment his only response to my usual nonsense is “stop it daddy, you’re annoying me”. And who can blame him?
Christian has had his stem cell transplant. It didn’t go too badly but wasn’t a lot of fun, it gives him a sore tummy and nausea as it is given. Bizarrely due to the chemicals used to preserve it, it gives him a strong smell of sweet corn first and he now smells of tinned tomato soup.
He has started to go downhill and the worst of it will come in the next couple of weeks. The chemo will attack his stomach lining and he and will probably give have a very sore tummy, throat and mouth. This is called mucositis, there is not much that can be done about it apart from treating the symptoms and waiting for him to heal. He will probably end up on intravenous morphine for the pain and not be able to eat so will be on nutrition through his NG tube.
Christian has finished all of the chemo now. He is not feeling too bad, a bit more sleepy than he has been but yesterday he ran around and played hide and seek with me taking advantage of an hour or so when he wasn’t attached to a drip. Today at around midday he will have the stem cells that were harvested a few weeks ago reintroduced. Apparently it can make him feel nauseous and can induce a seizure.
He still loves playing up to a crowd. Here he is in the play room yesterday…
Update – the stem cell transplant has been delayed until tomorrow, because they have decided to give him 72 hours from the end of chemo before he gets it. He needs to be well hydrated for it but as it has been delayed he has now been taken off the drip and has run off to play room with Anna. Watch out plates, here he comes…
Saturday 28th April 2007
Christian is in pretty good spirits. He has been on pretty much around the clock chemotherapy as well and various other drugs to combat potential side effects. His NG tube went in Thursday afternoon and he pulled it out in his sleep on Thursday night so they had to put it back in yesterday morning. It was fine last night but he doesn’t like the sensation he gets when medicine gets pushed down it.
He’s eating well and loves playing in the play room – here he was yesterday getting dirty…
Christian is now home and feeling much better (as is Claudia). The intensive chemo is due to start on the 25th April (correction from incorrect date).
Villa Rental in Begur, Spain
