Owen's Story

Yesterday was supposed to be Owen’s first day of Long Term Maintenance.  He was ready.  He wore his scrubs, and doctor coat and was the hit of the floor.  All of the nurses had to come see how cute he was.  He did so good with them accessing his port and getting his blood.  The results came back… and the ANC was down to 560!  It was 1270 when we were in the Emergency Department the other night, and I guess I assumed it was going to stay up.  They think he must have had some kind of little virus and that is what knocked it down.  Due to it being down so low, they couldn’t begin this new phase of treatment.  It needs to be 750 or above.  So, we go back next week, have to fast, and try it again.

Today was Nana’s birthday, so they came down to spend the day.  The boys had so much fun!!  Owen loves helping out Pap Pap, and taking hikes.

Sorry again for the delay in posting.  When we have such good days, it gets away from me.  Last week went very good.  We had a fun outing with a friend at Animal Treasures in New Castle last Thursday.  It is a zoo, but a lot smaller.  They also have a lot more interaction between the animals and the guests.  One thing I thought was really neat is you can buy food and put it in a bucket, and send it to the monkeys and they will get the food out and send it back for more.  And the male lion likes to put a show on every several minutes.  He comes to the front rock and stands and roars for a little, like he is talking to everyone.  So neat!

Saturday was another special day. I won tickets to a Superhero Cruise on the Gateway Clipper.  Jeff and I took Owen.  He dressed in his Spiderman outfit and got to meet some of the superheroes.  It was a lot of fun for him.  That night we noticed he was running a little bit of a fever.  We monitored it all day Sunday.  It was in between 99-100 which wasn’t too alarming.  Monday, he seemed fine, we went to the park in the morning, came home and it was up to 101.  I thought maybe it was just because we were out in the sun and he was running around.  After nap, it kept going between 101 and 100.5 and up.  We called the hospital after dinner and talked to the Oncology doctor on call and she wanted us to bring him in.  So, I took him down at 7:30 last night so they could run some blood work and give him some antibiotics.  His ANC was good (1270) so we were able to come home instead of staying there.

We go back tomorrow, and as long as his ANC is above 750, he will begin Long Term Maintenance.  Tomorrow is going to be a rough day.  His procedure isn’t until 1:30 pm and he has to fast before since they are doing sedation and giving him a lumbar puncture.  I am going to try to keep him out of the house and occupied so that he doesn’t think about food.

Best Buds