Eat, Drink, and Grow Neutrophils

Today is a big day in Tate’s treatment protocol for two reasons. First, he got his last Erwinia injections today. That in itself is cause for celebration; Tate got 108 Erwinia shots over the last few months. Tate compared the experience of getting the last injections to finally finding the right cello. He said he’s really happy to be done with them but that it feels like it shouldn’t have taken so long. Ha. Tate. Second, the Erwinia shots were the last chemotherapy he was to receive in Delayed Intensification! The initial 8-month, intense, constant treatment phase is over. I am sitting in his hospital room choosing gratitude and happiness over fear of relapse. The next treatment phase is Maintenance, and it will last three years. Maintenance begins when Tate’s ANC is high enough to get a spinal tap and more chemotherapy safely.

Tate’s ANC is 126 today. The doctor on rounds this morning gave him strict order to “eat, drink, and grow neutrophils.” She’s pretty funny.

Tate is diligently following the doctor’s instructions. He does not want to get hooked up to the IV line again and is drinking as much as he can. His appetite has increased, and he said he is thinking about food constantly. He showed us a picture of a brown cat curled up in a ball sleeping and said it reminded him of the pretzel rolls from Costco.

My mom’s lifelong friend Kathy and her granddaughter Lauren delivered dinner to us at the hospital. Kathy brought her speciality and my all-time favorite – green chili. Green chili isn’t my favorite everywhere; it turns out I only like it when Kathy makes it. No one else does it right. Kathy and Lauren didn’t come into Tate’s room, but we had a quick visit in the 7th floor lounge. It occurred to me that Kathy was the first person to arrive the day Tate was diagnosed in May, and she was here today on the last day of DI. She has been there my whole life, really.