Well it's been pretty quiet on the home front. Luke's blood levels have remained stable and he hasn't been neutropenic yet, which is a good thing. He is currently on an interim maintenance chemo which seems to be a lot kinder to him. He's certainly been making the most of being able to get out of the house. We've been to the movies a few times. The other weekend, Murray and Luke saw the A-Team while Amy and I went to Shrek 3D. Both movies were good. Then this weekend Luke ditched us to go with his friends to see Toy Story 3 (Murray, Amy and I went to a different session). What a great movie - very funny in places. Luke has also been over to friends places several nights, playing X-Box,a boardgame - Risk, and Poker. Mind you his latest escapade saw him walking in the door at 2am!! He tells me they lost track of time as they were so engrossed in the X-Box tournament they were playing and got a shock when they saw how late it was. I guess when you're 17 and some of your friends are 18, I have to let the strings loose sometime!! He'd just better not do that too often as I laid awake tossing and turning, waiting for the door to open - not good when you have to wake up a few hours later to go to work. Murray naturally heard nothing!!
Luke managed to hand in the assessment item requirements for college for the semester. So at least he has caught up with 3 of his 5 subjects. He didn't manage to get IT Programming done or Maths. He is hoping to catch up with these over the next 3 week break that the college has and into next term.
We are heading into the hospital this afternoon for a big day of chemo. He has 2 drugs via the central line (one of these takes about 2 hours to go through). Then he has a lumbar puncture under x-ray with chemo injected into his spine. This is booked for 4pm so it could be a late evening, as depending on the doctor or nurse you speak to he should lie on his back for 2 to 4 hours after the procedure.
It's Dad's birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY. As chemo will finish so late today we won't be able to go out for dinner. Luke and I are going over for lunch before heading into the hospital. We'll have to do something for Dad on the weekend.
Luke has another injection on Friday followed by a week's break then chemo via the central line on the 10th July. This will then end the current chemo cycle and he'll have a few weeks break before having a bone marrow biopsy. So I probably won't have much to tell in the next few weeks.
The next round of chemo will probably start up again at the beginning of August (dates still to be confirmed). This cycle goes back to the start with a reinduction and reconsolidation phase for 8 weeks. These cycles are very intense so he'll probably be not so good during that period.
I'll be in touch when I next have any news.
Friday 18th June 2010
I've just had a call from a friend who has reminded me that I haven't done a blog!!!
Luke's had a better end to the week than the start. He was still feeling headachy and sick in the stomach at the end of last week into the long weekend. However he is much better this week and has been eating okay again.
Last weekend was a long weekend and on the Monday, Murray's sister Heidi called and said the family was going go-carting. Luke and Amy thought that would be a bit of fun so off we went also. I watched everyone have a good time - the boy's were all very competitive!!
Luke has been getting stuck into some school assessment items. He's got through quite a bit which is good considering how he had been feeling, and considering he's been catching up.
Luke had chemo on Sunday and has had a mini break. He goes back this Sunday for the next dose and unfortunately it is the drug that we think is making him sick. He hasn't had Methotrexate via the central line before (only injected when he has the lumbar puncture) and unfortunately they keep increasing the dosage as this cycle goes on making it more toxic. He's also got a lumbar puncture next week. So we are back to a busy week and fingers crossed his body is used to the chemo again and he won't get sick.
Everyone else is doing okay. Amy got over her cold and luckily no one else has caught it. Murray went to Brisbane for work on Wednesday and got back late last night. He had a good time although the State of Origin results were not in his favour and he found himself in a foreign land!!!!
Have a good weekend.
Luke's had a better end to the week than the start. He was still feeling headachy and sick in the stomach at the end of last week into the long weekend. However he is much better this week and has been eating okay again.
Last weekend was a long weekend and on the Monday, Murray's sister Heidi called and said the family was going go-carting. Luke and Amy thought that would be a bit of fun so off we went also. I watched everyone have a good time - the boy's were all very competitive!!
Luke has been getting stuck into some school assessment items. He's got through quite a bit which is good considering how he had been feeling, and considering he's been catching up.
Luke had chemo on Sunday and has had a mini break. He goes back this Sunday for the next dose and unfortunately it is the drug that we think is making him sick. He hasn't had Methotrexate via the central line before (only injected when he has the lumbar puncture) and unfortunately they keep increasing the dosage as this cycle goes on making it more toxic. He's also got a lumbar puncture next week. So we are back to a busy week and fingers crossed his body is used to the chemo again and he won't get sick.
Everyone else is doing okay. Amy got over her cold and luckily no one else has caught it. Murray went to Brisbane for work on Wednesday and got back late last night. He had a good time although the State of Origin results were not in his favour and he found himself in a foreign land!!!!
Have a good weekend.
Wednesday 9th June 2010
Sorry I've just realised I haven't done a blog entry since last Monday.
Luke started Interim maintenance chemo last Monday and by Wednesday, after having had such a nice break from chemo, he felt rotten and it hit him pretty hard. It's amazing how the body adapts so quickly to having poison in it.
This time round he is getting a few fuzzy heads. Today he came home from chemo with a throbbing headache and proceeded to throw up before heading to bed for a sleep. It's very unlike Luke to sleep during the day so he obviously needed it.
He's back at the hospital tomorrow for two lots of chemo via the central line. One of the drugs keeps increasing every 10 days in intensity so I'm hoping he handles it okay.
At this stage his blood levels are all fine and just within a normal person's range. I'm sure it won't be too long before these drop.
He has been getting stuck into a bit of school work. He's running out of time to get some assessment items in but hopefully he'll get them finished in time.
Amy has been home sick from Thursday last week to yesterday with a really bad cold. It's been difficult trying to keep her a little isolated from Luke. She's been wearing a mask whenever she's been near him and the can of Glen 20 has been working overtime - much to everyone's hate of the smell of it!!
She was very bored and we borrowed a puzzle from 'the Pears' - our neighbour's up the road. It was a lovely old fashioned Pears soap puzzle. It certainly kept her entertained and she even became obsessive about finishing it!
So far the rest of us have avoided getting sick but time will tell.
I'll update you again some time next week.
Luke started Interim maintenance chemo last Monday and by Wednesday, after having had such a nice break from chemo, he felt rotten and it hit him pretty hard. It's amazing how the body adapts so quickly to having poison in it.
This time round he is getting a few fuzzy heads. Today he came home from chemo with a throbbing headache and proceeded to throw up before heading to bed for a sleep. It's very unlike Luke to sleep during the day so he obviously needed it.
He's back at the hospital tomorrow for two lots of chemo via the central line. One of the drugs keeps increasing every 10 days in intensity so I'm hoping he handles it okay.
At this stage his blood levels are all fine and just within a normal person's range. I'm sure it won't be too long before these drop.
He has been getting stuck into a bit of school work. He's running out of time to get some assessment items in but hopefully he'll get them finished in time.
Amy has been home sick from Thursday last week to yesterday with a really bad cold. It's been difficult trying to keep her a little isolated from Luke. She's been wearing a mask whenever she's been near him and the can of Glen 20 has been working overtime - much to everyone's hate of the smell of it!!
She was very bored and we borrowed a puzzle from 'the Pears' - our neighbour's up the road. It was a lovely old fashioned Pears soap puzzle. It certainly kept her entertained and she even became obsessive about finishing it!
So far the rest of us have avoided getting sick but time will tell.
I'll update you again some time next week.
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