Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Grant's First Day of School



Grant had a visit to the clinic yesterday to check his counts. I believe the goal is to increase his chemo back up to the levels they were at before we had to cut them way back. His counts were right where they needed to be, so we did not make any changes to his medication. I was glad they didn't increase it the day before he went into a school full of germy kids.
Grant was so excited to go to school this morning. He just marched right in his classroom and really didn't understand why Rudy and I were coming in with him. It was time for school! I did pretty well and never actually cried, just had eyes that were a little teary.
I had a meeting with the staff a couple weeks ago at the school and that put my mind much more at ease. I know faces of people I can get in touch with if need be. I met with the principal, 2 nurses, counselor, and Grant's teacher. They were all so wonderful, helpful, and understanding. I am excited for the school year b/c Grant is so excited. Please continue to pray that he is able to stay healthy.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Answers Please

Grant had his regular clinic visit today. He got vincristine in his port and started his steroids tonight. His counts had come up quite a bit, but Dr. Heym still did not increase his at-home chemo all the way back up. He's being cautious and we go back in 2 weeks to check counts again. If his counts are still up, he will go back to taking the full doses he was before his counts dropped. That will be the day before school starts. Yes, I'm nervous.
Grant has also been battling a rash off and on for the last 4 months. Dr. Heym has not had many answers, but today Rudy instructed me not to leave without one, so we didn't. :) Dr. Heym had some guesses, but he wasn't willing to give me the sure answer I was looking for....and a solution. So, he referred us to a dermatologist, who got us in today. (B/c I couldn't go home without an answer and I think Dr. Heym is a little scared of Rudy.) :) After being at the dermatologist's office for almost 2 hours, they diagnosed something. I still don't get it and they sent home pages of information for us to read. Basically, it is something that adults usually get, but it has shown up (VERY RARELY) in kids that are being treated for ALL. Also, it is usually on the face and scalp, but can show up (VERY RARELY) on the extremities. Grant's rash has spread to his stomach, arm and leg. It seems that with Grant we can just skip over the "common side effects" column i.e. nausea or constipation. Those are not his problems. We can just jump right to the VERY RARE column i.e. crazy rash and stroke-like episode. We are now applying a cream to his whole body before bed that he has to wash off each morning. We do this for 5 days and then 2-3 times a week until we see the dermatologist again in 4 weeks. Please pray that this works and Grant does not have to deal with this rash any longer.
Grant was a champ at both Dr.'s offices today. He is a real trooper. We capped off the day with t-ball tryouts this evening in 107 degree heat. It was a great ending to an otherwise so-so day.