5/12/2014

Yesterday marked the end of round 1 for Evan's post  chemo treatment schedule.  He did a great job of clearing the methotrexate by early Sunday morning but his release from the hospital was delayed by 5 hours because of an overly cautious Doctor.  Even though the delay was frustrating it was in Evan's best interest to make sure the levels were low enough to ensure he would not have any problems at home.  Evan was still able to enjoy the rest of Sunday afternoon with his brothers, sister and dad and I am sure they had a great time celebrating Mothers day with everyone there instead of in different places.

There will be another 3 full rounds of Chemo at the very least before Evan can be determined NED and we are hoping that the holidays will be another milestone in Evan's journey that allows him to be free of the cancer.  We are all aware that we must be vigilant afterwards and have frequent scans to make sure that the cancer stays away and be ready to fight aggressively should it return.

After I picked up Meghan, Evan and Matthew on Sunday we took a little detour to the Ronald McDonald house which in on the Health Park Campus.  I have been donating food and other necessities to the house over the past few weeks as a way of paying it forward to others in similar situations that are not as fortunate as we are to be so close to the hospital.  Ronald McDonald houses across the country make sure that parents of hospitalized children have a safe place to stay during their stay in the hospital and they do it for a nominal fee or gratis if the parents simply cannot afford to pay.  The house needs donations in order to continue to operate and readily accepts products to assist them in delivery of services. We had Evan in full superhero costume when we made our delivery and the staff gave him a huge welcome to the house.  He was given a full tour of the facilities and made to feel special for taking the time to help others. It was a very good time for all.

When Evan was in hospital for the first round of Mexotrexate we all had a small scare about his surgery site.  Evan rarely complains about having pain or discomfort and when a nurse gave a gentle squeeze to the middle of his right upper arm, not only did he wince in pain but he actually gave out a good vocal disapproval of the squeeze.  An immediate X-ray of the area was ordered and during the wait for the X-ray to be taken and read there was considerable concern.  This is where several things could be going wrong including: fracture of the allograft; infection; dislocation of the plates and screws and finally a occurrence of the dreaded sarcoma.  The news was good, the X-ray showed all items intact and right where they should be!  The reason for the pain is still unknown but I think it is related to nerves still coming to life after the surgery.  The X-ray did show that there is still no "boning over" of the allograft and this is expected due to the chemo which is keeping his marrow to a minimum.

The posts are becoming less frequent and that should be a comfort to you all in that there is little to report.  Things are status quo and the chemo will go on until the Doctor determines he is comfortable with ceasing the drugs.  We are not lulled into a sense of relaxation but will remain vigilant for signs of something going wrong.  Please check back often and hope you see nothing and when you do see a new post wish that it is just an update on great progress.  Evan will start the next full round of chemo on Thursday 05/15/2014 and should be done with that round by 06/16/2014 as long as his counts are good and he does not develop an infection.