Lovingheart

Happy to say Marlon is much better.  Tuesday again, and we were back at the hospital to get his blood counts checked and all is well. Before his last LP (lumbar puncture) in April, Marlon was dreading it, and also curious.  After the previous LP, when he reacted so poorly, he was scared to have another but curious to have a coke, a drink he hadn't had before.  Apparently, the caffeine in the pop can help with the headache and it did.  We were both relieved that he was ok after the treatment.  He still felt his back and head but not the screaming kind of pain from before.  Next LP is June 28th and we are prepared with a different kind of caffeinated pop in the hopes it will work again.  While he has chemo hospital visits every month on top of the chemo pills he takes at home, we are grateful that the LP procedures are down to every three months. The biggest issue of late is Charley horses.  Monday night he was up every two hours crying with the pain of his cramping legs.  We had him

Yesterday, Marlon had a transfusion as his hemoglobin was low.  As far as the pain and rash go, the doctor thought it may be an autoimmune response.  Some big name but basically the blood vessels get inflamed.  Sounds about right.  Now except for a couple of small bruises and slight redness his legs are better. He has been getting headaches but it is likely just a reaction to everything he has been through the past couple of days. And we went home today.  Yay!  His neutrophils are quite low as are his platelets but those are expected. Getting checked into emergency early Saturday morning was a slow process.  Very slow.  There were about 6 people in the small check-in office, staring at the computer screen, making occasional moves, pointing at the screen, shrugging, and looking confused.  I believe we were one of the first patents to be checked-in under the new computer system that has been two years in the making.  Since then, there have been several confused faces and a great deal of

Overall, Marlon is much better.  While he had an elevated temperature yesterday for a while, he has had no more fevers. Since his diagnosis, Marlon is more worried about his health.  Worried the cancer will come back.  A couple of times lately, his legs hurt.  The pain is such that even gentle touch makes it worse.  One day while I was at work, he messaged me to come home because he was scared.  His dad was there for him and I did not leave work.  I trust he is healed and hope he never has to deal with cancer again.  While we may wish he did not have to continue with chemo, I tell him he is safe from the cancer. Last night, he did have an episode of very sore legs and knees.  It hurt to walk, and the pressure of rolling up his pants legs had him crying out in pain.  Along with the pain he had a blotchy, bright red rash.  No one had any idea what that was about and the pain has eased up but some rash is still there with one spot looking like a bruise. During March and the beginning of A

I feel like I have some catching up to do but I will start with this week. Tuesday, Marlon had his monthly chemo injection at the hospital to add to the daily chemo pills he still takes. He was commenting that it feels it is hitting him harder every month. By Thursday night, he was crying with leg pain and a bad headache. Friday, he didn't eat anything and had a raised temperature but not quite a fever. He woke in the night and was quite warm and when I checked his temperature was 39.9. Darn, a trip to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital, his temperature was down to 37.2 and then a bit later, 37, so I thought that for sure, they would check his blood and we would go home. I was hoping to be back home to go to work at 4. Then we were told, his platelets had dropped from 64 on Tuesday to 9 so he would need platelets. His neutrophils had been 1.1 on Tuesday and today they are 0.2. Without any reserves to fight infection which is what the fever indicates, he is ge

I have a bad habit of running into work in the last minute.  Actually these days (ever since having kids), I seem to be perpetually late. Today, I left the house in good time and was happy to think I wouldn't be late.  Paco was outside working on the car and Mina was hanging out.  We joked about her following me.  I laughed and inhaled something.  I was biking down the road, coughing, trying to clear my breathing.  I glance behind me and do a double-take as I see a black figure running down the road behind me.  Yikes, Mina did follow me.  I phoned Paco, he drove down to pick her up (almost a kilometer from the house by the time I noticed her), I pedaled hard, and clocked in late for work. I keep picturing Mina running down Churchill.  A pick-up truck even stopped to ask if we needed help as I stood on the side of the road, holding onto her, waiting for her ride back home.  Phew! Overall, she has come a long way in terms of her health and strength.  Along our walk, there is a log we

Compared to the last time I wrote, Marlon is much better. He was at his worst on February 15th when he had a hospital check-in.  After finger poke, we got a wheelchair to get him to the ward.  He had nothing left.  Bad headache, sore back, nausea, no energy.  When there, they gave him water and blood.  His counts were low, not dangerously so, but low enough.  He did feel better afterward.  His back was still quite sore, leftover from the LP on the 8th. Since that time, he has been slowly getting better.  Still a lot of nausea and no appetite, which had the hospital giving him a hard time because of weight loss.  He has also had several lectures about drinking enough.  They expect as many as 10 cups a day.  Getting that much liquid into him, gave Marlon anxiety and a lot of stress.  We have found that a goal of seven cups is doable, comfortable, and often exceeded. On his 12th birthday, February 18th, Marlon said he was feeling ok and we celebrated that as a good birthday present.  He h