Tomorrow could be Benjamin's last chemotherapy! We hope it will be and that all goes well! I feel so excited and feel like we are at the end. The doctors have said that three weeks following tomorrow's treatment, we will have his follow-up scans- probably a full body x-ray and a CT too. Then if they show good results, we will schedule surgery to remove his port! Yay! We are anxious to have his port removed which will prevent us from having to take him to the ER or clinic every time he gets a fever.
Speaking of fevers, we took another trip to the PCMC ER on Saturday night. Benjamin was sick with a nasty persistent cough and low-grade fever. We left home at 7:30 p.m. when his fever was high enough to require his ER visit (>101). This experience was especially miserable for the poor kid because they had to poke his port twice, then the nurse pushed around to try to get blood return. This was the first time I have heard him say, "Ow", as he cried out in pain! They finally decided his port was clotted, so they placed some medicine in it to de-clot it, and then started an IV in his foot! It was the worst time we have had in a while. I felt so bad for him, and he didn't feel well on top of being poked and prodded! After de-clotting his port, they did the usual work-up with blood work, cultures, and IV antibiotics. He also had a chest x-ray to check his lungs. All was clear, and once again, they chalked this all up to another "virus!"
I counted his fever visits and they total to about 15 or 16 since November of last year! (And $200 co-pays each time are daunting!) So it will be really nice when we can have the port removed to prevent all of this, and have his blood counts normal so he won't get so many "viruses"!!!!
All in all, we are still thankful for all of the great care we have received. The nurses are fabulous and eventhough we are tired of going to the ER, we still think the care they give there at Primary Children's is superb!
Hopefully tomorrow, we can experience the goodness once again and just hope this is our last chemotherapy (forever!!!!). Pray for Benjamin!!!!
I am having trouble uploading pictures today. I'm not sure why. Hopefully pictures to come soon.
Speaking of fevers, we took another trip to the PCMC ER on Saturday night. Benjamin was sick with a nasty persistent cough and low-grade fever. We left home at 7:30 p.m. when his fever was high enough to require his ER visit (>101). This experience was especially miserable for the poor kid because they had to poke his port twice, then the nurse pushed around to try to get blood return. This was the first time I have heard him say, "Ow", as he cried out in pain! They finally decided his port was clotted, so they placed some medicine in it to de-clot it, and then started an IV in his foot! It was the worst time we have had in a while. I felt so bad for him, and he didn't feel well on top of being poked and prodded! After de-clotting his port, they did the usual work-up with blood work, cultures, and IV antibiotics. He also had a chest x-ray to check his lungs. All was clear, and once again, they chalked this all up to another "virus!"
I counted his fever visits and they total to about 15 or 16 since November of last year! (And $200 co-pays each time are daunting!) So it will be really nice when we can have the port removed to prevent all of this, and have his blood counts normal so he won't get so many "viruses"!!!!
All in all, we are still thankful for all of the great care we have received. The nurses are fabulous and eventhough we are tired of going to the ER, we still think the care they give there at Primary Children's is superb!
Hopefully tomorrow, we can experience the goodness once again and just hope this is our last chemotherapy (forever!!!!). Pray for Benjamin!!!!
I am having trouble uploading pictures today. I'm not sure why. Hopefully pictures to come soon.
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