Twists and Turns!

I should have just posted this afternoon when things looked like they were nice and quiet.  And then everyone could have gone to bed thinking how well the first day of radiation and chemo had gone.  But things change quickly here (as we have found time and time again) and now I'm wondering how long we will be here, and if we will start chemo this week.

This week, while Brendan is going through radiation and chemo, we are staying with Shaun's brother, Sheldon and his family, so we can be closer to the hospital during the week.  This morning Brendan woke up with a headache (not that unusual), but then he got up and going and played a game of pool and shot a few hoops with his dad before deciding what kind of cereal to have for breakfast.

Brendan's headache came back and he rested for awhile, but played with Zoe, their dog,  and had fun with the player piano.  

After a fun morning, it was time to head up to The Huntsman Cancer Institute for Brendan's first day of radiation.  Before we left, we tried to give Brendan some medicine for his headache, but he just threw it up.  

 The weather was getting rainy and slushy and Brendan's headache was getting worse.

More nausea made for a miserable wait for the radiation treatment.   The Zofran kicked in to help the nausea and a Tylenol made the the radiation treatment bearable.

 Brendan's radiation technician crew invited us right into the vault to be with Brendan while they set up.  We were glad they kept us close by until Brendan was all set to go with his first radiation treatment.

 Checking and double checking. . .

 Then Shaun and I (and the technicians) left the vault while Brendan had his radiation treatment.  The technicians monitored him via video while Shaun and I went back to the patient dressing rooms to wait until Brendan was done.

View of Vault 3 from the hallway

After his radiation treatment was done, they needed another CT scan.  Brendan showed us the watercolor markings they drew on his neck.

 One radiation treatment down, 32 left to go!

 Because Brendan had surgery to remove most of the cancerous lymph nodes in his neck, he will get lower doses of radiation to the places (head and neck) where the tumor was removed.  To the cancerous lymph nodes they were not able to remove --(due to the increased surgical risk of swallowing and breathing problems, and the lymph node being at the base of the skull next to the carotid artery),-- those spots will get 5 extra days of radiation when everything else is done being radiated.

The Huntsman Parking Garage is one busy place!

Following radiation, we went straight to Primary Children's Hospital to check in for Brendan's chemotherapy treatment. We made a cute, new friend in the admitting office.

 We are back to the ICU (Immunocompromised Unit) on the 4th floor and washing our hands before they open the doors for us.

 It didn't take long for Brendan to fall into bed and bury his head in his pillow.  His head was really starting to hurt again.

 Sam (one of our favorite nurses) came to get some blood work and get IV fluids in him-- in preparation for the chemo treatment.  Before he could get his chemo, he had to have a certain amount of urine output.  Nausea control was (is) also important because this type of chemo drug is known for its nasty nausea side effects.  All this time, Brendan's headache was getting worse and worse.

 We have a great view from this room!

 I spent about an hour talking with the 3rd year oncology fellow about the ins and outs of Brendan's chemotherapy treatment.  So much of it is still a work in progress.  What we do know, is that Brendan will start with Cisplatin and get one big dose (rather than three smaller ones over three days) and then wait three weeks before getting another treatment.   Once he is done with radiation, then another chemo drug will be added to his chemo treatments.

About 6 p.m., Sam noticed that Brendan was hot.  His temperature had spiked up and was hovering between 102 and 103 degrees.  Of course, that set off a flurry of activity as everyone tried to figure out what needed to be done.  First, more blood samples for testing (that's when Brendan is so glad he has a port!)  Second, a CT scan to check for pockets of infection in the brain.  Third, another lumbar puncture to collect CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) for testing for meningitis.

 Yet another CT Scan -- with contrast. His second in two days.  (He hates the feeling of the contrast going throughout his body.  Contrast can make you feel hot and weird, and make you feel like you are going to wet your pants -- but, apparently, nobody really does. It just feels like you are going to.)

Wearing a mask to avoid germs (since they took him outside the ICU).

 After the CT scan showed no obvious problems, then we moved on to the lumbar puncture.  Brendan once again talked them into moving his whole bed so he didn't have to get up and walk.  (It's not hard to talk the nurses into anything when you are feeling as bad as Brendan did tonight.)

Brendan was given some morphine and a relaxant and he didn't even flinch during the procedure.  No sedation this time.  

The CSF fluid came out looking clear and the tests have shown less than 1 white blood cell (that's good they told me) and protein and glucose are both good.  We are still waiting on blood tests, but in the meantime they are putting him back on Vancomycin overnight.  Tomorrow I'm sure we will see ID (infectious disease control) and start this whole process over again.  At least this time it doesn't look like meningitis.  But why is he fevering if he is still on Ceftriaxone (Rocephin) antibiotic?  I guess that's what we all want to know. . .

Chemotherapy won't start until we have a few more answers.  And his fever just went up again. . .