Matt had his first round of chemotherapy yesterday. It was a LONG day. We had to be in SLC by 8 a.m. for his first appointment - which means we had to leave Logan a bit before 6. He first had an audiogram to check his hearing. One potential side effect of the Carboplatin is hearing loss, so before each round of chemo he will be having a thorough hearing check. After the audiogram we headed down to oncology. We met the oncology Fellow and really liked him. He was very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. After waiting for several hours and talking to many different people, it was time for Matt to go back to 'infusion.' He received a bag of fluids, then got an anti-nausea medication, then the carboplatin, then more fluids. He was able to watch two movies and eat lunch while he was there. He complained a little bit about his stomach feeling 'funny' but didn't get sick this first time. He was also quite tired when we got home, which is likely from the medication, but also probably from such a long day. This morning he woke up feeling well. He had a good appetite at breakfast and he wanted to go to school. I decided to keep him home to let him rest for today and this weekend. Hopefully next week he can go to school for a bit.
Primary Children's hospital has a program for critically ill children called 'colors of courage.' Basically (in Matt's words), for every horrible thing they have to do to you, you earn a specific color/style of bead. We laughed at that analysis. I was surprised, when I started looking at the list to give to the social worker, at how many procedures Matt has had. He has had a:
Biopsy
2 PICU admissions
PICC line insertion
Clinic visits
Course of chemotherapy
Dressing changes
Inpatient admission
Numerous IV starts
Lumbar puncture (Spinal tap)
Several Morphine infusions
Port access
Surgery
Many tests and scans
Tube insertion (his Broviac)
So, he has quite a little collection of beads already! It's amazing how quickly it adds up over 3 weeks!
Love,
-Alli
4 comments:
They should give the kid a bead for each procedure and the mom a pearl. You could have quite the necklace by the time he's on his feet again.
What a trooper wanting to go to school the day after chemo. That's amazing. Matt is quite the fighter.
I like Karen's pearl idea! I hope Matt continues to feel well.
Keep on keeping on! Scott tried to visit today, but, alas, you were all out! We keep sending love and prayers your way!
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