Cancer Center

We took Nathan in for his second dose of chemo during this cycle. This is our first visit to the cancer center in Topeka so it took a little longer than perhaps it should have otherwise. The good news though is that next week it should be much shorter since we’re in the system now.

Nathan was a trooper, he did so well. He got upset when the nurse came in to access his port, but honestly we don’t think he noticed the stick. He seemed to be more upset that Malia was holding his arms down. They had prescribed numbing cream for us to give him about 20min before his appointment, and that seemed to really do the trick.

The oncologist told us that over the next few days Nathan’s counts would begin to drop. That means his immune system will slowly go downhill, and we were told to discourage anyone who isn’t feeling 100% from visiting the house. His little body should begin to recover maybe mid-week, just in time for another dose of chemo. The way I understand it is that his immune system will drop 10-14 days after his day 1 chemo.

Day 1 chemo is a 6 hour treatment that requires 24 hours of hydration after, so each day 1 will be in the hospital. Out next day 1 I believe will be on March 26.

Aside from his counts going down the doctor said that he wasn’t dehydrated and that so far he had only lost a half pound. We met with a nutritionist to try and figure out how to get more food into him, it’s difficult because his appetite has changed so dramatically from what it was before. Fortunately he has been drinking more, let’s hope that keeps up.