Chapter 3: Chemotherapy

If Chapter One was Surgeries, and Chapter 2 was Radiation, then Chapter 3 will have to be Chemotherapy.  While we got a preview of chemotherapy during radiation, it feels like now we are starting it in earnest.  Adding etopicide to the cisplatin chemotherapy regimen feels ominous to me.  Probably because I don't know what it entails, how it will affect Brendan, or even what the side effects are.  The fact that the doctors are admitting Brendan for a 5 day hospital stay make it feels much more serious.

Numbing cream on his port 30 minutes before blood draws.

A hot pack speeds up the skin numbing process.

Tomorrow morning (Monday, Jan 4th) we will leave for Salt Lake after contacting the new insurance company for identification numbers and pre-authorization, and waiting for blood count results.  Problems with either of those things could derail chemo treatment this week.

Even after all the blood draws he's had, Brendan still doesn't want to watch the needle going into his port.

With Arches Insurance going out of business --(we got word about that just a week after Brendan's diagnosis)-- we (I mean Shaun) has been working like crazy making sure all the "i's" were dotted and the "t's" crossed so we could not be denied new insurance coverage.  After months of nervous waiting on my part, I cried tears of relief when I heard for myself from the insurance representative, "Your application has been approved."

We don't expect any problem with Brendan's blood counts either.  His counts have been in the normal range every time they have tested it.

Brendan chose applesauce to eat today.  He got about 5 swallows down.  He said it tasted awful.  Lydia liked it fine, though.

So, Brendan is scheduled to have another audiogram to test his hearing tomorrow at 1 p.m.  After that, we will check in to the hospital.  I expect it will be quite the process with changes to insurance and no identification numbers promised until mid-week.  After that, I expect the doctors will discuss with us what to expect with this third round of chemo.  Then they should start Brendan on his pre-chemo fluids.

Today, after teasing Maddy mercilessly,  Brendan spent quite a bit of time looking through the Make-A-Wish website looking for all the different wish possibilities.  He was told months ago that he would be eligible for a "wish" as soon as he completed treatment and was cleared by his doctors.  The social worker, when telling me about his eligibility, was quick to point out that all children with a life-threatening illness are eligible for nomination.  That illness does not have to be terminal.  She said that is the biggest misconception about "Make-A-Wish."  I must have had that idea at some point, because when I heard he was eligible, my heart skipped a beat.

 We had no idea there were so many "wish possibilities."  The imagination is the limit when making a wish with the "Make-A-Wish" Foundation.  About half of the wishes involve trips to somewhere Disney related.  Other travel destinations are popular choices.  The rest of the wishes vary from meeting a famous person, to getting something you've always wanted, to doing a service for others.  Our social worker says she has helped kids write and publish a book, restore an old car,and go on trips to the ever popular Disney World.

Brendan enjoyed a game of Scrabble tonight.

 Brendan cried himself to sleep tonight. He was tired and he doesn't want to go for chemo tomorrow.  "Yes, I know," was all I could say.  We had just had a close call with his feeding tube and he was still upset about that. Brendan had walked away from his pole and forgot that he was still hooked up to his feeding tube.  It pulled the tube off of his face and out of his nose a ways, but not so far that he couldn't push it back in.  Whew!

Well, here we go.  Another chapter.  Another adventure.