CHAM a Day Early

Sammy Playing Wii While Getting Chemo

This past week Sam had some interesting symptoms. They began with itching skin...just heat rash..probably.  Then he developed an itchy port site...not so heat rashy!  Then the peeing hurt and the testicles were stinging....not what a mom wants to hear.  Being me, I kept emailing Dr. C. to keep him in the loop and he felt we could wait until clinic on Thursday.

This morning Sam woke up with a canker sore, sore throat, pain in the 'you know what's', a blinding headache, and a very painful ear.  I took the day off work and went into CHAM to get it all looked at.  Poppa met me there incase I could get out and go back to work.  I do that on regular days when Sammy just gets chemo, but not when things are not as they should be.  So Poppa went home again as I dug in for the duration.

Sam's ear was red with water bubbles deep inside....ear infection - check!   No mass in his testicles so I began to breathe again as that may have meant cancer has developed there...common with boys and always checked on a regular basis.  Phew!  BUT, the pee and pain indicated a urinary tract infection, along with the wince of pain when Sam was examined on his back and belly - KIDNEY ISSUE!

As boys rarely get urinary tract infections (this is Sam's second), and due to the pain, Sam is going to get an ultrasound to check his kidneys....not for infection, but to see if they are damaged.  Please keep your fingers crossed that this is not the case....mommy sweats are not setting in yet...gotta keep the positive thoughts going on this one.

Counts came back and more mommy sweats could have occurred....his ANC was 12000+.....can anyone say relapse????   But, he has just had his steroid pulse and he has an infection...both cause elevated WBC and ANC so we are putting it down to that and NOTHING else!!!!  Other counts are fine so I know we don't have to go down that route at this point.

We have been sent home with ten days of antibiotics and the hope that we get the ultrasound pretty quickly.  Sammy feels a little better.

I also learned that Sam is in cycle 16 out of 24.  Due to a delay he had earlier on, he only has to get to cycle 23...that means we have seven more cycles to go and that's it!  First or second week of November should be the last chemo Sam gets....Yeah!  

Mummy Radar

My instincts were correct!  Sammy went into the clinic this morning after I emailed Dr. C. to tell him how the night had been.  Sammy had been in pain and awake in that semi-consious state all night...I knew something was not right...deja vu!

Once in the clinic, Daisy whipped us back to get vitals done and immediately put us in a room as Sam had such pain.   The nurse practitioner  said it could be the result of the steroids accumulating in his body, getting more aggressive as they have been in his system for so long now.  The doctor, Dr. G. felt there was more to it and found a red ear along with flushed cheeks.  He put two and two together and came up with infection.  No fever???  Well, Sammy's counts are no longer in the neutropenic range so, just like you or I, he can get an infection without getting the tell-tale fever.

I had the foresight to numb Sammy's chest and finger.  It is a habit I have when we go to the clinic....they usually stick something in him!  It was a blessing because Sam could get accessed and have a culture taken, along with morphine and antibiotics.  He is already allergic to Vecomycin, getting Red Man's Syndrome if it is administerd too quickly.  The doctor mentioned Ceftriaxone and I told them Sam had developed a hive last time he had that (or at least I thought it was that) in the Stamford ER.  The decision was made to administer it anyway and then come to their own conclusions about allergic reactions.  It was, after all the best choice for the situation.

My super guy asked me to go get him some food from the store.  He was about to be accessed so I offered to wait. He preferred I got the food...how comfortable is he with this stabbing the chest thing now!!!   I was very impressed.  Blood could be drawn immediately and a culture is growing to check for a line infection.  We will cross that bridge if we come to it (one day at a time).  Cefrtiaxone given through IV, hives developed, Benadryl given, allergy confirmed, (told ya), and now they had to decide how to proceed in order to best beat this infection.  In total Sammy fashion, he leaned over to me and quietly said, "See, I told you it wasn't the steroid feeling I usually get. I know it was something different."  Can you imagine a young seven year old begin so acutely aware of his own body?  Cancer kids are...they are amazing and will be great people when they grow up.

So Sammy is still accessed with tubes dangling from his chest,  He will return to the hospital tomorrow for more antibiotics, get his weekly chemo a little early, stay home from school as he will be a wreck just from the battery of junk pumped into him, and we will wait for the all clear on the culture.  Another dose of antibiotics will be given at home by mouth.

Monday is a day for kids who are in earlier stages of treatment.  There were so many more bald heads than on Thursday.  It took me back and reminded me of how far we have come.  This is a speed bump...one I caught because my body ached with worry over Sammy's condition.  I love my instincts, I trust them, I will always listen to them.  We are lucky...words I used in my earlier posts...we really are.  Cancer stinks, what Sammy has to go through is too much for a small child, but we are lucky to be where we are now...with a future, a party to look forward to...hope!