Heart in my throat, I looked at the doctor standing masked and gowned by the foot of Chase’s hospital bed. “Have you heard anything on the spinal fluid yet?”
Slowly, she lowered her mask and I could see her huge smile…“Yes. The fluid was negative.”
In shock, I asked her if she was sure it was Chase’s fluid as Bob laughed quietly from his place across the room.
Chase’s spinal fluid–this fluid that has been positive for cancerous, atypical and abnormal cells from day one–is weird cell FREE!
There is a cautious moment to this, as it does not mean that Chase is cancer free. The true State of Chase is something that will be unknown for a while, hopefully only until his evaluation at the end of the month.
There is still a long road ahead for this little one. He’s only 14-16 weeks through a 51-54 week chemo protocol … Encouraging news to the little boy who burst into tears as he thought clear spinal fluid meant no more “fishy hospital.” (Oh, Chase…)
So, as I’ve written many times, we don’t know what’s ahead, but …
Today was a REALLY GOOD DAY.
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes. Bless The Lord, O my soul!
I meant to write all week and the time completely escaped me.
Here is a brief (“brief”? A bit of levity there…) update from our week.
Monday: Chase went back into surgery to have his infected central line removed and a PICC line placed (in his arm).
Some things never change. Chase, before his central line removal, explores the cupboard.
Tuesday: We finally got to go home!! …in time to meet Grandpa and Grandma’s flight. (Early bedtime? Say what?)
Wednesday: Bob and I checked Aidan into outpatient surgery at our local hospital – to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. Surgery was successful.
Having to show up for surgery at 6:00 A.M…. Well, we may recover some day. Aidan was a pro and he was genuinely excited about all the little things like monitoring vitals, the beds and the ID bracelets because he was getting to be just like Chase. Watching them compare their hospital ID bracelets was both heart-breaking and a little hilarious.
Big brother joins the surgery club…
Thursday: Thursday is our scheduled chemo day. Anytime you think of us on a Thursday, we’d so appreciate your prayers. This day meant rising early to get back to “Chase’s Hospital” (he really does call it his hospital) for his labs, chemo, and another lumbar puncture (injecting chemo into his spine). This day was INCREDIBLY encouraging to us because Chase had been able to come home for a day (something never to be taken for granted on this chemo protocol), his counts had dropped – but not as low as they’d expected (so he could come back home instead of being admitted), and despite eating almost nothing, his body was doing well on the IV nutrition and he hadn’t lost any weight since his discharge on Tuesday!
Chase, Thursday, post-op recovery
Friday: The first day in SO many days that we didn’t have to be in either a hospital or a doctor’s office. Ahhh… We ended the day with a small celebration…cuddling up on the couch in our pajamas and watching the “Apple Dumpling Gang.” Silly and perfect and all together for a moment.
Saturday: Chase had a rough night and a slight fever in the morning. The fever got higher as the morning passed and we brought him back to the hospital early in the afternoon. (fevers in a chemo patient are really important as they are usually indicative of a system issue that the body can’t fight due to it’s lack of white blood cells).
Sunday morning: I’m writing this blog post from an inpatient room in “Chase’s hospital.” Chase will be here until he completes a course of antibiotics, the fever is under control, and his blood counts start going back up.
Even though it’s hard to be back in the hospital, we have so much to be thrilled about this week… two kids through two surgical procedures in two hospitals with no complications, Chase doing far better than expected, for longer than expected after his chemo clinic, and getting a special family evening to relax in the middle of the chaos.
