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.

Monday, March 2, 2009

The Shannon Family-- Snow Day and To Clinic

We had another snow storm today. Just when we thought the weather would stay warm, the March snow storm came and gave Colby a day off from school. He was so excited to be home. It is Greg's B-day today and the boys made him breakfast in bed (and ate it to) and gave him presents. Colby said his present was having the day off and getting to go to clinic with Nick. Clinic was very quiet today, I guess many kids stayed home due to the weather. Colby is always looking forward to meeting new kids, so maybe next time. Nick was great. Today, was the first time that Nick did not cry (or say anything) while his port was accessed. The nurses even had trouble getting blood from the port and had him moving all around, jumping up and down to get his blood flowing. He tackled the shot very well. I have learned the best way to handle the shot is to have Nick straddle his legs around me (less kicking to), which makes it easier for us to hold him down. His counts came back and they are fairly low. We were hoping to send him to Prospect Hill this week, but I think we have to wait one more week. To give you an idea of 'counts', here are Nick's:

White Blood Cell (WBC): 1.5 (Normal 5.0-15.0)
Red Blood Cell (RBC): 8.8 (Normal 10.5-13.5)
Platelets (PLTS): 89 (Normal 150-400)
APC Number: 336

He is close to what we call 'neutropenic', which means low blood levels. He has 3 more days of his chemo pill and then a week off before his next 3 wk dose. Hopefully we make it fever free. We hope everyone stays warm and we are counting down the days for Spring :)