Andrew sucking down breakfast

One more chemo treatment down!  Andrew went into the hospital on Monday morning and was released Tuesday night around 7:30.  He has been more nauseous with this treatment, but has only thrown up once.  He is happy to be home and awaits the next treatment to continue his countdown. 

So I promised an update on St. Baldricks and here it is. 

 Andrew assures me that more people will like me bald as he has first hand proof, and I am sure that he is right.  The sacrifice is well worth this now personal cause.   

Andrew only dropped a little weight so we are able to keep him off the overnight fluids – woo hoo!!!  He has started going to a chiropractor to help him with his stiff neck and he loves it – who knew?  He has almost full mobility in his neck after only two appointments.  He is very excited to get admitted again so that it is one more chemo treatment down, he is still keeping his hopes high.  He is still throwing up almost everyday, however it is very little and he gets over it very quickly and is ready to go back to whatever he was doing.  I will be updating again this week with details about St. Baldrick’s, a childhood cancer research foundation that Andrew and I will be participating in.  Thank you so much for your love and support!

Andrew had his checkup today.  First the good news, his blood counts looked reasonable which means that he is producing blood cells pretty well right now.  We want this to be happening during his “rest” weeks since the chemo will make them drop when he goes in on the 23rd.  The not so good news is that he has lost 2.5 pounds in one week.  We are starting him on some new medications that will hopefully stimulate his appetite, but looks like we are continuing his nightly fluids until he can keep his weight stable.  He is still in high spirits and keeping a positive attitude even after he throws up.  He is amazing.  He is so strong and continues to help me along too. He wanted to know about some children who have passed away from cancer and after talking about it for a while; he took my hand and said “we will get through this.”  And we will, one day at a time.  Thank you for the continued support and prayers.

Andrew in the hospital

We have had a busy week, here is a summary of everything.  Wednesday Andrew was admitted to the hospital.  We were first alarmed because he had a fever of over 101, and when we got to the doctor’s office they found that his blood counts were alarmingly low.  So our number one concern was getting his white cells/platelet counts up.  However, Andrew has not been eating either, and has begun to throw up everyday so we needed to give him more than just saline through an IV.  He was released on Friday afternoon after his counts had increased from the medicine administered the previous days.  I am now giving him IV nutrients over a 10 hour period every night to ensure he is getting enough calories.  One of the IV treatments is like saline but with added nutrients, the other is fats and smells like baby formula – gross!!!  We will be going back to the doctor on Monday to see if this will need to continue or if we will go another path to get him the nutrients he needs to heal.  He is still having low grade fevers but nothing too scary, and we are hoping they will discontinue soon.  Andrew wanted to say “hi” for this update to everyone.  Thank you for your support and prayers!

Andrew with his Grandma and Grandpa Vanderploeg

Mario Kart