AJ and Camille sitting in the yard
Everything continues to go well with AJ’s treatment. He is two weeks into Phase III (Interim Maintenance). This phase lasts 8 weeks and the main drugs are vincristine and methotrexate (given through IV) both of which he seems to be handling well so far. Some of the common side effects can include: nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, jaw pain, headaches, mouth sores, among other things. Fortunately, AJ has not experienced many of these. He tends to have a low appetite for the first day after the chemo is given, but after that his appetite seems to return. Overall he appears to be feeling pretty good. He is energetic, alert and happy. He also looks good, especially considering what he’s going through. He has lost most of the puffiness from the steroids and he has a healthy glow that he did not have a couple months ago. His hair has thinned quite a bit, but he doesn’t necessarily look like a “cancer” patient, at least not yet. We still aren’t sure if all of his hair will end up falling out. Sadly, he is losing some of his eyelashes too. AJ has always had beautiful, long eyelashes (any girl would be jealous). On the bright side, the loss of a few eyelashes probably isn’t too noticeable to anyone but us, and of course those will grow back right along with his hair.
His blood counts are lower than they were a couple weeks ago, but we were told to expect it. During this phase of treatment, they increase the dosage of drugs every 10 days until they reach the highest level they think he can tolerate. Hence, the blood counts are allowed to drop until they get to a level that’s low enough to stabilize the chemo dose. AJ’s ANC was around 1500 on Thursday, so if it drops to below 750 by our next visit his dosage may be lowered.
Now that we are part way through this phase, we’re feeling optimistic that AJ will be able to make it through the coming weeks of this phase without a ton of side effects. Our main concern right now is not the chemotherapy but rather preventing AJ from getting sick (cold/flu/infection). All of the hype about swine flu has us a little on edge. Our oncologist tells us not to be overly concerned. They have had leukemia patients at Children’s that had the H1N1 virus earlier this year and they made it through just fine. The current version of swine flu/H1N1 that’s out there is still relatively mild. However, there is the possibility that it could change into something more powerful. Given that children are especially vulnerable to the virus, and that AJ is immune-suppressed, it is highly recommended that he gets the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it is available. We are waiting to get word on when that will be.
Other than worrying about the flu, we had another unfortunate event. Our nanny left us high and dry. She had been with us since May, and although she had given us a 1-year commitment at the end of July, she ended up resigning with no notice this past week. Talk about adding to a stressful time. Thank goodness our previous nanny Sarah G. was quick to pitch in and help. (Our longtime nanny Sarah G. had her first baby in May, that was why we had hired the new nanny in the first place). We have family flying in again next week to help us with coverage until we can figure out what we are going to do.
On the positive side, we are looking forward to a relaxing weekend where we can focus on having fun with the kids and enjoying what’s left of the summer sun. It’s supposed to be warm enough for us to get some more use out of our kiddie pool…
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