Week 5

Sorry for the delay.  Ryan and I have been feeling under the weather for the last couple of days so not much has been done outside the absolute necessary. I certainly miss the days when you could stay in bed all day when you were sick.

Exam with 2 of this week's approx. 10 doctors/nurses

Week 5 was as expected.  Short and easy.  Don't get me wrong.  We still spent 2 hours with the doctors, but that's nothing compared to the 4-7 hours we have been doing weekly.  The reason for this speedy session was that Logan was only receiving one of the two chemo drugs.  We did not have to wait for the blood counts to return from the lab, as this medicine would not depress his counts any lower, and we did not have to wait for the hour long infusion or anti-nausea push before starting.  Aside from those very minor, but time saving steps, the routine was basically the same.

A couple notable differences:  1.  This was the first week we did a session with one parent.  Up until now, both Ryan and I have attended all Logan's appointments, as our schedules have been flexible enough to allow it.  This week, we anticipated a quick and easy visit so we decided Ryan could go to work and I could manage on my own.  Manage I did. 2.  During the doctors' neurological exam, they noticed some possible deficits in Logan's right foot.  As I've stated before, nerve damage is a common side effect from this drug and it typically effects the hands and feet first.  They will be monitoring this closely as they may need to reduce or eliminate this drug from this treatment. This side effect, unlike most of the others, has the possibility to be long term or permanent.  

This treatment marks the half-way point of his "induction" period.  In 5 more weeks, Logan will have his next MRI to determine what effect, if any, the treatment is having. In other news, since Logan has done so well with the side-effects, we have decided to start him back to "school" next week.  He has missed his friends a ton and, after seeing many of the parents at a school function last week, I know he has been missed as well. Fingers-crossed he does not come home sick, although with the start of flu season right around the corner and him not being able to get the flu shot, I'm sure there is a strong likelihood of some sick days in our future.