Consolidation I

We visited with Aunt Sara & Uncle Ralph on Monday. Nella and Caleb had a blast on the trampoline!

Caleb is feeling strong enough to jump on the trampoline. This is so fantastic, I can't really find good enough words to describe how happy this made me!

Aleah and Caleb share a ride in the buggy.

It's been a week since we last put up a post! I had hoped to put something up last night, but we're out of practice with hospital life and we forgot to get the network password and so we had no internet access. I read a book instead. Also a good way to pass time.

We arrived at the hospital last night after 8pm, and are settling into our shared room. Because Caleb's counts are up, we don't need to be in isolation anymore. We were able to go out and roam the halls this morning, and Caleb played in the hospital's play room for the first time! Caleb visited the Ronald McDonald family room here on the third floor, another first for him. It's a different hospital experience than he's had so far.

Today Caleb will have a lumbar puncture and bone marrow aspiration, the same thing that he had way back on day 18 when we learned that he's in remission. Today they'll do the same thing they did on day 18, and we trust that today will confirm the same results, no blasts! Caleb is beginning the next phase of treatment, called Consolidation I. The best way I can describe what happens from here on is that we will continue to blast the blasts to make sure they're really gone.

The medicine that Caleb receives changes today. He's been taking steroids throughout this month, which has had a huge impact on his appetite and mood. He's put on a few kilograms of wait (yes, a few) and he constantly thinks about eating. His mood also seems to be food-dependent. When he seems particularly grumpy, he can be calmed by a promise of more food or drink. This is such a change from before. And it will change again! Sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's funny. We trust that the process is eliminating the blasts and so we remain positive. On Sunday, Caleb was looking wistfully into the distance. I asked him what he was thinking about. He sighed and said, "I was thinking, you know, the grocery store sells Sunchips." I wonder what things will be like next.

We've been wondering why we need to be in the hospital for this phase. The reason is the particular chemo drug that Caleb will receive tomorrow morning, high-dose methotrexate. This is a particularly toxic drug that must be cleared from his system before we can go home. They'll be testing the pH level of his outputs (his pee) to make sure that it's gone. It's a bit sobering to think that it's probably dangerous to be at home with this drug in his system. We really take the good with the bad in chemo! The bad, this drug, is good, because of what it does to the blasts.

Today Caleb is in good spirits, and is healthy. We go day by day still, and today is good. And yesterday was good, and so was the day before. We were able to go to church on Sunday, the first time in a month. We had a great time at Aunt Sara & Uncle Ralph's yesterday.

Stay tuned for more posts. We've found a way for Caleb to communicate with you all. Intigued? Check back soon! (I hope :) )

J