Day 50 of 57 during Consolidation Phase

Today we finished Elliot’s last chemotherapy for the Consolidation phase! One more week of “Consolidation” in order to let his counts recover, and then we start the “Interim Maintenance” phase. Yay! It’s been a busy week for us complete with several trips to the doctor’s office, 1 blood transfusion, and 2 platelet transfusions.

Last Thursday (7/7), Elliot’s labs were very low. His platelets were only 9,000 and his Hemoglobin was 6.4. They tell us this is to be expected from the chemotherapy, and it will probably happen again. It helps to expect it, but it still doesn’t make it any easier! So, originally we went in for routine chemo, but ended being in the clinic the entire day from 9 – 5 in order for him to get platelets, chemo, and blood (in that order). It was one longggg day. We did what we could to keep him occupied (including "pole surfing" -- see video to the right). The doctor wanted to see us again on Monday (7/11), to get his labs checked because they had been so low on Thursday. Sure enough, his platelets were still low. They were a little better (up to 17,000), but still low enough to require a transfusion. We stayed at the clinic until 1 that day. Today his platelets were good – up to 110,000. His hemoglobin was a little low (7.5) and his AGC (his immunity count) was very low-86 (500 is the cutoff for extra precautions, so he is way below the threshold). We are homebound for a while. We will go back Monday to get his labs checked again because of his borderline hemoglobin. We are glad it is less than a 10 minute drive to the hospital!

If Elliot’s counts have recovered by next Thursday (7/21), we will kick off the next phase of treatment with chemo in his spinal fluid (a procedure done in the clinic where they put him to sleep), and then we will be admitted to the hospital for 3-4 nights for a type of high-dose chemo that he hasn’t had yet. His platelets need to be 75,000 and his AGC needs to be 750 to start this phase, so please pray especially that his AGC will come up this week! We would really like to stay on schedule with his treatment. This means that we could be spending Elliot’s 2nd birthday in the hospital. Not exactly what we had planned for our son’s 2nd birthday party! Thankfully, he’s not old enough to realize it, and we will celebrate it later when he’s feeling a little better.

Elliot has been extra grouchy this week, and it has been incredibly draining. Not all the days have been difficult for him but a lot have. It’s hard to know if he’s just being 2 or if he doesn’t feel well. He has had a runny nose and cough, but thankfully he has not spiked a fever. His eating is still very sporadic, and he has lost 3 pounds so far. Praise the Lord that we had a fat baby :)! This week all he wanted to eat was oatmeal and pickles (including drinking the pickle juice out of the jar – gross).

“Cancer is a signpost pointing to something far bigger: the last enemy that you must face. But Christ has defeated this last enemy (I Cor 15). Death is swallowed up in victory. Cancer is merely one of the enemies scouting parties, out on patrol. It has no final power if you are a child of the resurrection, so you can look it in the eye.” David Powlison, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, page 211