Monday Update

Blood work from Tate’s appointment today shows he will need a platelet transfusion Wednesday before getting chemotherapy, but his his hemoglobin was fine. His ANC was in the 300s, meaning that his immune system is very depleted. “It’s functionally a zero” is how his doctor phrased it.

Tate has been struggling with motion-triggered headaches the last few days, which the Nurse Practitioner attributes to the lumbar puncture he had last week. She said this kind of headache should go away with fluids, pain killers, and time.

Riding in the car is torturous for Tate. We try to make it as comfortable for him as we can, but bumps in the road, bright sunlight, the motion of the car, and the sounds we cannot control make his headache worse. Days like today, when the simple act of sitting up in bed makes him curl up in pain, I give him an anti-anxiety medication about an hour before we have to leave for the clinic. This enables him to endure the car ride much better, and occasionally we are gifted with morsels of Tate’s sense of humor.

Nurse Practitioner: How’s your appetite? How much are you eating?

Tate: I’m not eating. I have barely eaten the last few days.

Nurse Practitioner: How does your stomach feel?

Tate: Empty.

The Nurser Practitioner, Greg, and I could not stop laughing.

Greg told the Nurse Practitioner about his experience with the bad syringe yesterday. She said that since there is no way to measure how much of the ARA-C he actually got, there is no way to fix the dose. We only know he didn’t get the whole thing.

Tate’s next appointment is Wednesday morning. He will be getting platelets, Vincristine, and Erwinia shots at the clinic, and we will give him Thioguanine at home.