Monday, February 17, 2014

Snowy chemo

It's been a little while since I've updated so I am long over due.  I actually have a few posts started and saved but never posted, so I haven't forgotten about you completely.  Since the last post we have had 2 more chemo sessions, a weekend in the ER for fever protocol, more trying to setting in on Logan's medication, a few more snow days and a revolving door of family and work being done in our house.  Lets see if I can update you on it all.

ER- A couple weeks back, Logan was on/off with a low grade fever over the course of a week.  It would come and go quickly so we didn't feel the need to do anything about it.  Day by day is peaked higher and higher and was starting to disrupt his sleep and he was clearly uncomfortable.  We were granted some leniency in his fever protocol and our new action point was 101.5, so when that hit, it was time to call in.  Still seems so weird to rush off to the ER for such a low fever, but they were nice enough to extend an extra .5 degrees to us, I guess we should probably follow their orders.

The first night SUCKED!  Definitely in the Top 2 worst port accesses! Not surprising, it was the same nurse for both terrible accesses.  I guess we know who to avoid now.  It took 2 different nurses and multiple attempts to get his access in.  After that, it was fine.  As we were leaving the ER the first night, Logan decided that "that was a fun doctor!  Super fast!"  Thank God for his endlessly positive outlook on everything! Night 2 was a piece of cake.  A GREAT port access and fast procedures!

Medication- Since starting Logan on Ritalin, we're trying to figure out 1. is it making any difference, 2. is the benefit worth it, 3. what is the appropriate dose.  It definitely is not a magic fix and anyone who thinks that probably could use some serious help themselves.  Since starting we have seen some improvement in his attention/behavior while he is on it, but he continues to struggle throughout the day. He continues to exhibit impulsive behaviors (pulling the fire alarm more than once at school), aggressive/non-compliant behaviors and difficulty with attention.  Before you judge me, I know, he's 4.  What 4 year old doesn't have problems with these things?  Spend a week with Logan and you'll see.  We recently got a small change to his dose, so we'll be watching to see what. if any effect it has.

House- We recently had a leak in our powder room wall which triggered a long overdue bathroom redo.  For whatever reason, the previous owner of our home, decided that carpet in the bathroom was a good idea.  For about 5 years, we had been planning on redoing that room, although the time, energy, money and motivation just wasn't there.  Leave it to a soggy, stinky carpet to get the ball rolling.  With some new found extra time on his hands and a taste for painfully annoying renovation, my dad came down for a week to help and, lets face it, completely manage the work.  What seemed like a simple job, turned out to be a long and exhausting endeavor.  We are so incredibly grateful for all the time and work (and money) that he put into getting our house back in shape.  We are still waiting for the vanity top and plumber to come back and hook it back up.  I can't wait!

Chemo- We've had 2 chemo treatments since that last update, and nothing too noteworthy to report.  In fact, I can't even really remember the previous chemo session at all.  I vaguely recall Logan not napping at all, for the first time since introducing Benadryl to his meds.

The most recent session, last week, I was joined by my mother-in-law.  We had quite a bit of snow Wednesday night and I was unsure if we would make the trip Thursday morning.  I was up most of the night, wondering, debating, watching the weather.  Around 5AM we starting watching the roads to see if they were even passable.  There were several inches of snow, although at the time it was pretty light/dry snow. About that time, it had just starting sleeting.  I watched a couple of cars leave the neighborhood without difficulty and the plow had just come through, so I decided to give it a try.  If we could make it out of the neighborhood, that would probably be the worst of it.  It was a slow drive, but given the lack of traffic, we still made it in the same amount of time.  We weren't the only ones in the clinic that morning, but it certainly wasn't crowded.

Logan did his usual awesome job and even got a decent nap in.  Best part of the day, we were welcomed home by a shoveled sidewalk and a big friendly snow man in the front yard.  Glad we were able to travel safely and that Parker was able to enjoy the snow at home with dad.