Hello,
To our surprise Nick started spiking a fever Thursday night and then his temp. went back down Friday morning and spiked again Friday late afternoon. Greg took him to the ER and they accessed his port, drew blood and gave him some antibiotics immediately. We had a feeling he might be fighting a little virus because of his cough and a little runny nose. Also, Tom (our 1 yr old) had caught a virus as well and was fighting it off. Nick's ANC number: Remember this is the number that shows his 'immature' white blood cells (which can NOT fight off virus's) to his 'mature' white cells = 975. Anything below 500 is considered neutropenic and he would have been admitted. Waiting for that number is always scary because we really do not ever know how his body is fighting and if it has enough 'ammunition' to fight off a virus. His red blood cells were at 7.4, which is borderline a transfusion, but the doctors decided to send him home and bring him back on Saturday for more blood work and another round of antibiotics. Nick is such a trouper and was okay with everything. I think he really liked the idea that he did not have to spend the night and agreed to come back the next day.
Greg brought him again on Saturday afternoon. As I have stated before, you really have to be on your toes in the ER. The nurse tried to access Nick's port the first time and used the wrong needle.... Greg had to point that out to her. The second time she could not get it, so Greg requested a nurse from the 5th floor to come down and access it correctly. I heard Nick was a brave boy throughout, but he was left with some bruising on the skin of his port. His counts came back about the same and the doctors sent Nick home again. This week I have Nick signed up for a Ready-Set-Go Kindergarten class in the morning w/his friend Michael. I took him there Monday morning and picked him up at lunch time and headed down to clinic w/Colby. His red blood cells were still low and we are heading back today for a transfusion. The process can be a little frustrating. I think the clinic doctors had planned on a transfusion on Monday, but we did not have enough time (for clinic hours) to give him one. The ER doctors never mentioned it to Greg on Saturday, so Nick gets his port accessed again today. Grammy is going to take him today... it will the first time Greg or I have not taken him. He said he wanted to go w/Grammy today.... what a difference from just 9 months ago. We'll let you know it goes.
take care, Karen
Nick is an amazing 6 year old fighting T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). He was diagnosed at 4 years old on Oct. 15, 2008 and here is the story of his courageous battle. This day changed our lives forever. Nick seemed very healthy at the time and the only signs we noticed were swollen lymph nodes on his neck. At first, we thought it could be a virus, but after 2 rounds of blood tests, the doctors confirmed our worst fear, cancer. This site is to show how strong our little boy is.
Update:
Nicholas finished treatment on 11/18/2010. He will continue to go for blood work for the next 3 years. He is still in remission.
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