Round three? That’s a wrap!

Whew!  We are pleased to announce that Sam’s Round 3 of chemotherapy is officially over!  Hooray!  Amidst the holiday hoopla, Sam received round three of chemo on December 15th.  Upon arriving at Riley, Sam began a series of tests in which he partakes before each and every round-a kidney function test, a hearing test and an every other round MRI scan.  First up-his MRI.  The MRI department was running a bit behind, so we had quite a bit of waiting to do until Sam’s scan.  That called for some serious coloring.

After about a 45 minute wait, Sam was lead back to the MRI room where he was positioned on the table, fitted with head phones so he could listen to music during his procedure and began his one hour scan.  Jere and I are able to stay in the room with him, sitting in non magnetic chairs at his feet, catching up on magazines laying on the table in the room from 2007.  Some children have to be sedated during this procedure, but Sam is able to lay perfectly still, except for the occasional mouth movement when he yells out, “Am I done yet???”  He is such a trooper.

After the scan, we are not given immediate results, which is torture as you could imagine.  The scan is looking for recurring tumor growth and even though we are confident and pray multiple times a day that his tumor will not come back, the waiting is the hardest part.  So, off we go to his two other appointments (hearing and kidney function test) and then return to clinic to meet with Dr. Pradhan, Sam’s oncologist.  (We love Dr. Pradhan!)  More waiting is done in the clinic exam room until nurse practitioner Jayne (we love her too!) enters the room to give us the results of all three of Sam’s tests.  First, she begins with the hearing test…looks good, slight decrease in the left ear, but well within the normal range.  Next, results from the kidney function test….results still coming in, but so far everything looks good.  By now, I am squirming in my seat. I can’t stand that the MRI results are the last test results that she is going to report.   Jere feels as if he would like to scream out, “I don’t care if he can hear or not, I just want to know if his MRI scan is clean!”   Finally, the MRI results.  There, in black and white, the most beautiful words you could imagine…no evidence of disease.  Ugh!  Thank you God I hear myself saying.  Jere grabs my hand and we both have the biggest smile on our faces and I feel as if he might wanna have a make-out session right there in the clinic office in front of Jayne.  We are just that happy!  Then Jere says that he feels like having a beer….and a cigarette even though it is only 11:30 in the morning and he doesn’t smoke.  Good news about your child will do that to you, I tell ya.  God is so good and is watching over Sam.  Thank you all so much for your continued prayers.  They mean so much and are so powerful.  Next time, though, I think I’ll request that the MRI results are given first!

After the results, we met with Dr. Pradhan to discuss Sam’s continued/frequent bouts with vomiting.  Sam gets sick about once a day, sometimes multiple times a day and it is frustrating for all.  Some vomiting is to be expected with his chemo, but not so much during his “break” period.  Dr. Pradhan who had ordered an upper GI two weeks before (and everything looked great) decides it is time for an endoscopy to see if there is anything going on with Sam’s esophagus, stomach, etc.  It is decided that Sam will be put under and undergo this procedure Thursday, December 17th.  It is also decided that Sam will undergo a test while in the hospital to see if his body is producing enough cortisol, which could also be a reason for the constant nausea and vomiting.

Sam begins his hydration process and is taken up to the fifth floor of Riley hospital to receive his chemo rather early..around 3:45pm.  As Jere was helping Sam up into his hospital bed, the tape from Sam’s bandage that holds his needle in place in his chest (his port) catches on Sam’s shirt and pulls his needle out.  Sam, is a bit traumatized, but Nurse Chrissy is right there to put it right back.  Once settled, Sam enjoys some T.V. time and some much needed rest.

The next day was a bit rough for Sam, for he was sick four times from his chemo medicine, and met with a bunch of doctors in between.  Everyone agreed that Sam would spend the night in the hospital again in preparation for his Thursday morning endoscopy.

Sam was feeling a bit better Thursday morning before his day surgery.  So much better that he was able to participate in some painting crafts…

and a round of Riley TV Bingo…

and here he is calling in for his Bingo prize!

Sam’s day surgery/endoscopy lasted about an hour.  Visually, everything looked great and Sam did just fine.  Once the biopsy results were in days later, it was revealed that some of the cells in Sam’s throat are irritated, quite possibly from radiation, and he is suffering from some acid reflux (which in turn can make him feel nauseous and vomit) and he could benefit from a daily dose of Prilosec.  Doctors suspect Sam will need to be on the medication a minimum of two weeks before he could see some relief.  We hope this will help do the trick.  Please keep your fingers crossed and pray that we can resolve this issue!

Sam followed up his big chemo with two more trips to the Oncology clinic to receive two more doses of chemo on the 22nd and 29th.  His numbers were quite low on the 22nd and he did have to receive a three hour blood transfusion in the infusion room after his chemo.  By the 29th his numbers began to rebound and we were able to make a quicker visit to clinic this time just to receive his treatment.  Hooray!

So there you have it!  Round three – over and done with.  Sam will begin Round 4 on January 26th and after that round will be half way finished with his chemotherapy!  Wow!  That will be amazing and quite a milestone.  This has been quite the journey, but as we have learned and shared with you, this is not a sprint, but a marathon.  We pray everyday for Sam’s total and complete healing and for his strength and endurance during his treatment.  The chemo is just so hard on his little body.  And thank you, wonderful friends, for all of your prayers and support.  You are truly a blessing to us!

Love,

Erica