January 16, 2014

I picked up Evan at home today with his Mom and dropped them off at Health Park so Evan could begin his next round of Chemo.  The Doctors and staff all say that this round of Chemo will be less nauseating than the first.  I really hope this is the case!  He will have his port accessed and blood drawn to assess his ANC values and if they are at or above thresholds, he will then have a 6 hour or so infusion of saline and dextrose to pump him up so he can accept the Chemo.  This is a 4 hour drip and the chemical will affect his liver and kidneys.  After the 4 hour drip, there is a window of a few hours and then they must begin an infusion of Folate (folic acid) in order to jump start the liver and kidneys and flush out the chemical. Evan will be hospitalized for at least 72 hours so tests can be run to make sure that his organs are responding to the Folate.  He will then be able to go home only to return to the hospital next Thursday January 23 to repeat the process I just described.  Then the following Thursday he will return again to begin a repeat of the DOX and Cisplatain.
Last night Justin, Kristin and family visited with the Hampel herd as their flight back to the frigid North is today.  Evan was convinced that cutting his hair really close would be a benefit and be much better than having his hair fall out in clumps.  When the hair falls out in clumps it just an irritant as it goes down his back and makes him itch.  I think he looks GREAT!

I will be writing to this post throughout the day so please check back to see updates.  The next post should be shortly with his ANC values. Enjoy the pictures.

It is 10:30 AM and Evan is currently having IV fluids and waiting for a room on the 4th floor.  The floor is currently full but it is expected that a discharge will happen shortly.  His ANC levels have just come in and they are 2,880 well above the threshold for having Chemo today.  His spirits are good! I will post as I know more as the day continues.

It is 4:20 PM and I have stopped by the hospital. Evan is ready for the Chemo and should be done by 7:30 tonight.  The Folate should happen before midnight. I will let all know later how he is reacting to the Chemo.

Just got home from the hospital.  Evan's Chemo started a little later than planned and should be done by 9:30 tonight.  His spirits are good and so far no real nausea from the Methotrexate. He did have a puking session from the Decadron that was given prior to the Methotrexate. Decadron is given to help kill cancer cells and enhance the Chemo given.  The nurses gave it at a rate of one dose IV over 20 minutes and they felt it was too fast for him so next time they will up the time to 30 minutes and that should keep him from tossing the old cookies.  I plan on visiting Evan tomorrow at lunch time and Sherie is going to be there after her work session on Friday; sometime after 2.  More updates to follow as I get them.

It is 9:40 PM and Evan is done with the Methotrexate drip!  He has had no nausea or vomiting from this round of Chemo; what a relief!  He is sleeping right now and is tolerating the treatment better than expected.  It is so hard to watch a little tyke heaving for no reason in his mind.  They will leave the Methotrexate flowing in his body for 12 hours and then start the Folate rescue.  Everyone have a good night and I will report tomorrow on how well he is doing with the treatment and the Folate.