The Brands: News this morning

Monday, October 4, 2010

News this morning

Caleb had an echocardiogram this morning, as part of the routine for his treatment. One of the things they look at is his port and the connection of his port line to his central vein. There they found a clot, which has been occasionally making it difficult for the nurses to draw blood from Caleb. The clot is concerning, and we were sent to talk with our doctors about it. Because I had the girls with me, and we were off to gymnastics, and we'll be in tomorrow for clinic, they allowed us to leave and postpone our meeting until tomorrow.

It's difficult because not only do we have a blood clot to worry about, this also heightens Caleb's anxiety again. He was quite worried about the echo (I bribed him with the promise of a forage wagon to pull behind his tractor), and then when we weren't doing just what I said we'd do, he started to get upset and worried. I fully understand why he would feel that way. We haven't had uncertainty for quite some time, and it's hard to go back there. Caleb doesn't know he has a clot, but he does know that something happened during his echo that made us have to go and change our plans. He's doing okay, and we'd never know that he had a clot because it's not visible and he has no pain.

Please pray that this problem is simply and easily fixed. Because we left, in favour of gymnastics and tractors (and Caleb's peace of mind), we don't know what is needed and what they'll plan. Please pray that it's nothing too invasive. I really don't want to go through a surgery for him again, it makes me nervous because his port surgery had complications and I'm afraid of that happening again. So thank you, friends, for your thoughts and prayers. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.

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What is ALL?

Caleb has ALL, a form of leukemia. From what I understand (here's the dummy's guide to leukemia), leukemia means that something has gone wrong in blood cell production.

Blood is made up of 3 main parts, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The red blood cells do things like carry oxygen and nutrients through your body. The white blood cells fight infections and keep you healthy. The platelets glue it all together. (I did say this was the dummy's guide, remember.) Bone marrow is where these cells are made and released into the blood stream.

In Caleb's leukemia, his bone marrow is producing the 3 kinds of cells, but some of the white blood cells are being made wrong. These white blood cells are not maturing, they don't perform any function, and they aren't dying off. They take up space, and made it so that Caleb's red blood cells, functioning white cells, and platelets were having a hard time doing their jobs, and the production of the blasts was taking over. This is why before we were admitted to the hospital, Caleb was tired and pale. His blood just wasn't able to do what it should do.

Chemo treatments are designed to kill back the blasts. The only way to do this has a lot of extra damage (collateral damage) as well, which we see in side effects like hair loss and need for blood transfusions. Because chemo also knocks back regular blood cells, Caleb needs blood and platelet transfusions to replace what is being lost through treatment. White blood cells cannot be transfused, which is why he has nothing to fight off infections. We can't replace those ones. When the drugs are less intense and his body can gradually go back to doing what it should be doing, white blood cell production should return. We will have to be careful for a long time, though.

Hair loss occurs because cells that are replaced often in our body, like hair, can't keep up production. The cells die off faster than they are replaced. Other fast growing/often replaced cells are in our mouths and our nails. These are all affected.

I hope my dummy's guide to leukemia makes sense. It's the way I currently understand things. People in the health care profession may cringe at my descriptions, but hopefully it's accurate enough to explain what Caleb's going through. Maybe it will help you explain it to your kids. For now, we just say we're blasting blasts.

We are the Brands

We are three kids, two parents, and one dog. And too many fish. We love our city, time in the outdoors, playing soccer, camping, and making music. Our faith is central to our lives.

On June 23, pieces of what had previously been a concerning question about our son Caleb's health came together in a diagnosis of leukemia. It all happened rather quickly, after bringing him to the ER at McMaster hospital on Monday, June 21. We're absorbing this news, and trying to learn how to cope with leukemia and a young family. Our hearts are torn, but we feel the love of many.

This blog is intended to share with our loved ones and their loved ones what is happening for Caleb and the rest of us. I must say that it is possibly as much information-giving as it is therapeutic writing. Thank you for taking the time to share with us our experience. We find strength in numbers, and in shared experiences.