Delayed Intensification

Today Alex officially started the next phase of treatment: Delayed Intensification. This is the most aggressive phase of his treatment. His hair will fall out again (any time now), and I've been told this phase will really tax Alex physically.

I guess I was so eager to get started, that we got to the Clinic 6 hours early! (Actually, it was originally scheduled for 8 am, but they moved it to the afternoon knowing that Alex has school on Thursdays - they just forgot to tell me.)

Alex's counts were great - ANC of 1800, and very good Hemoglobin and Platelet counts. Again, Alex wow'd the nurses with his maturity while accessing his PORT, and getting his Chemo.

He received a back poke today - Methotrexate in his spinal fluid. He got his wonderful "sleepy milk" which sent him off to "la la" land during the procedure. Once that was complete, he was moved to another room, where he slept for another 1.5 hours. During his slumber, the nurse gave him his Vincristine, Zofran (for nausea), and the Doxorubicine. The nurse had to keep the Doxorubicine covered in a dark bag, since it can loose it's potency when exposed to light. 

Tonight, we started 7 days of a new steroid: Dexamethasone - it is in pill form, and he will be on for 7 days, off for 7 days, then on again for 7 days, etc. We tried again to teach Alex how to swallow a pill this evening - with no luck. So, we crushed the three and a half pills in sorbet, and got Alex to eat it. Lucky for us, this Dexaethasone tastes just as good as the Predisone did (insert tons of sarcasm here)!

I gave Alex a hug tonight before bed, and I could smell the Chemo already secreting out of his pores. That is one smell I cannot wait to eliminate from our lives!

We are cleared for our Memorial Day camp out, and it looks like Alex will be on a break during my sisters wedding in June (although he may have low counts then) - so things are looking up!