Tuesday, May 18

Chemo Round 1, Day 4

Collin turned seventeen months old today. The day was pretty quiet for the most part, especially compared to yesterday; Mondays are very busy as everyone who hasn't been in over the weekend stops by. This morning when I got his lab numbers, his Hemoglobin was 6.9, which meant he was anemic. When it falls below 8, a blood transfusion is needed, so he had one this afternoon. Because of the transfusion, PT and OT said they would come see him tomorrow instead of getting him worked up today. As the physical therapist left, I said to Collin, "Tomorrow you can get out of bed and work on the floor mat like you did yesterday." He started crying right away, which was an appropriate response, as he doesn't like physical therapy. This morning during his breathing treatment, he held his breath, and the respiratory therapist remarked, "So you've learned all the tricks!" He's definitely able to voice his displeasure when he has to do something he doesn't like! Last weekend, it seemed like his pain was well controlled and he was comfortable, but in the last 24 hours there have been times when I've questioned if he's hurting. It's possible that he could be having some chemo side effects like jaw pain and leg pain, but it's hard to tell since he can't tell us what he's feeling. We're keeping track of when it seems like he needs something more for pain, and will decide if he needs a higher dose of morphine, or even a continuous drip; he may be put on a continuous drip when the mouth sores start, if not before.

Today Collin received the vitamin rescue agent for the Methotrexate, called Leucovorin; it rescues the body from the ongoing effects of the Methotrexate. It was started 24 hours after the Methotrexate was started, and he will get it every six hours until blood work drawn every eight hours shows that the Methotrexate is out of his system.