Go Away Scary Things!

Things have gone a little backwards for Tate. His ANC is down to 340, which makes him extremely vulnerable to illness, and his abdominal pains have worsened. The doctor suspects Tate has gastritis and/or an ulcer. He’s hungry but afraid to eat, and both moving and laying still hurt.

We got to see Dr. Williams today, and that was great. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you I’m giving you all hugs!” is how he greeted us. He was so happy to hear Tate has been playing his cello and even happier to learn he is ASU bound. Tate voiced some disappointment at not being able to go out of state for college, and Dr. William’s response was that he was glad Tate was staying close so he could finish his treatment. He said he had “a little bit of reach” at some hospitals, but that he wouldn’t be able to take care of Tate somewhere else. It was heartwarming for us to see how much the doctor cares for his patients.

Tate got his Vincristine today, but since his ANC is so low the doctor told us not to give him his daily chemo (Mercaptopurine and Methotrexate) for two weeks until they can check his blood work again. We haven’t had to omit his daily chemo for more than six months, so it feels like this popped up out of nowhere. Tate was supposed to start his 5-day steroid pulse today, but his medications weren’t ready until late and the pharmacist warned us that a new drug prescribed to help Tate with his stomach pain might prevent the steroids from being absorbed or working correctly. So we’re going to wait until tomorrow when we can get clarification as to when to give him what. Do we stagger the doses? Give everything all at once? Does anyone really know?

Tate was doing pretty well after his Vincristine this afternoon. Normally he crashes as soon as we get home, but today he was walking around the house a little bit looking for his cat. The cat was not in the most cooperative mood. Tate passed out hard at about 5:30. I hate to wake him, but we have to get him to take some medicine, or he’ll be in even worse shape tomorrow.

Dr. Williams, who is usually pretty lax about diet, told Tate to stay away from coffee and spicy foods until his stomach heals. This means we didn’t get to stop at Starbucks for a mocha on the way home, which has become part of our post-treatment ritual, and he couldn’t douse his traditional post-chemo meal with his favorite spicy sauce. We did, however, stop at Mesa Donuts on the way home, which was a pretty good treat substitute.

The title of this post is taken from my mom’s comment after Tate’s weekend ER visit. “Go away scary things!” Yes, I agree. Go away.