Tom is feeling much better! We kept the fever under control over the past weekend, and on Monday his counts showed that his white cells are on their way back up again! He is starting to feel better every day. We were sad to miss Jeanie's grad, but it was a better idea to stay home, given how unwell Thomas felt over the weekend. I am so happy to have all my babies back under one roof again. I love being able to go to sleep counting my blessings and knowing that our kids are all together with us. I'll put up some pics of Jeanine's grad and fashion show later in the week.
This will be the first time in 11 months that we don't reward him for feeling better by immediately putting him in for more chemo. We have a little break now before we travel to Calgary for the final phase of treatment. In the meanwhile we need to be super careful about keeping him healthy. Sadly, one of his little buddies from the clinic has shingles (a very painful rash caused by the chicken pox virus) - and unfortunately we cannot visit him for Thomas' sake. Reyce has had to be hospitalized to treat this and he is in a lot of discomfort. We are saying extra prayers for him!
Over the past couple weeks, we've managed to get most of the tests done that the transplant team requested as part of their pre-transplant evaluation.
Tests completed in Regina:
Vision Check - establishes a baseline, helps identify whether the chemo thus far has affected his vision (and the good news is it has not, there has been no significant change since his last checkup which was a few months prior to diagnosis).
Hearing Check - similar to the vision check, is used to establish a baseline. And contrary to the evidence, he has PERFECT hearing. Now whether or not he chooses to listen is a different matter! Part of the reason they establish these baselines are so that if he should encounter problems after the transplant, they will be able to get special assistance because they occurred as a result of the intensive therapy.
Dental Check - evaluates dental health, ensures there are no significant concerns or infections which would pose a risk when he goes through the next rounds of chemotherapy. He does have four tiny cavities, but the dentist feels we can watch them for now - they don't have to be dealt with before the transplant. His enamel has taken a beating, but that is fairly common after chemo.
Echocardiogram and EKG - mid-term evaluation (has been monitored frequently throughout treatment). Will be used to determine whether the next phase causes any change in heart health and rhythm. Completed before last round of Doxorubicin.
Chest and Sinus X-Ray - checks for existing infections or other problems in the lungs and sinuses. Report pending.
Bone Age Test - a simple x-ray of his hands. Our hand bones develop through childhood and teen years, and the x-rays are compared to norms to evaluate a patient's relative bone age. This will help evaluate the impact of treatment to this point, and establish a baseline for comparison after the transplant. Report pending. (Before we knew what this test was, Tom's sisters teased him it likely meant they'd have to core out a sample of a bone and count the rings, as you would with a tree!)
Pulmonary Function Test - establishes how well the lungs are currently functioning - how much power does he have. Report pending.
Abdominal Ultrasound with Dopplar - helps determine the baseline vascular health (blood flow in/out) of the liver. Report pending.
Bone Marrow Sample - a sample of bone marrow will be obtained from both hips and analyzed to determine status of his bone marrow. Fortunately, Tom will be under general anaesthetic. Scheduled for Wednesday, May 5 here in Regina.
Tests that will be done in Calgary the week of May 10th:
Blood Analysis - a full blood workup will be done to evaluate blood, immune function, organ function, viral status and infection disease status
Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) Test - series of timed blood tests, used to check how well the kidneys are working. Specifically, it estimates how much blood passes through the tiny filters in the kidneys, called glomeruli, each minute. This test will evaluate how well his body is still able to clear toxins from the body after all the treatment he's been through to date. This test will help the team evaluate what strength of chemo he can tolerate for the final round(s).
PET/CT Scan - evaluates progress to date on the tumors, whether positive or negative. This is the granddaddy of the tests, and is the main test that will be used by the team to determine whether or not they would recommend he proceed with the transplant. The only thing that would stop us at this point would be new tumor growth. God willing, that is not the case.
Zzz. Zzzz. Hey, wake up! The blog post is done! Sorry if I lulled you to sleep.
Thanks for checking in on us, and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Tonight is Luther Choir's Home Concert (usually the last performance of the year, except for singing together at the graduation exercises). We are hoping Tom can go, and Miss Morgan would like him to join them up front on the material he knows - he's missed a lot of time this semester so he's not up to date on the full repertoire! It will be a great evening (we hope)!
Thomas' Mom
