Sunday, February 20

Well chemo is done, woohoo! There was a slight miscommunication on Saturday that resulted in some stress and not much fun, but it got worked out. Christian began his shots today, two times per day. They'll begin to collect the cells from him on Wednesday and Thursday. Depending upon the time they get done, they'll begin to transfer them to Dogger immediately or start the next morning. So we're coming in to that Day 0.

He's doing well. The steroid given with the chemo makes it hard for him to sleep, which is hard. You get so tired and your eyes close, but your body won't let you sleep. But the nurses are wonderful and they're taking great care of him. A little benadryl is proving to be just enough to get his body to relax and let him get some rest.

The physical limitations of his environment are proving a bit more challenging than he thought it would be. He'd give just about anything to be able to walk freely around the floor or just go outside and stand in the sunshine. The small room just adds to the anxiousness and suddenly you just feel very wound up with nowhere to go. But they're helping him to adapt and the doctors are telling him to walk around the "floor" by the nurses station a couple of times a day, he's got bike pedals and he has to "ride" each day and use the dumbells to keep his strength up. This is also the first time in a long time that he's got to re-learn how to deal with his ADHD. He's had physical jobs for the last almost 3 years to help burn off the energy.

So lets add this all up, steroids, ADHD, quit smoking (on the patch now), limited physical outreach, not his bed, not his home, line placement, etc., etc., etc. All makes for a very anxious and out of sorts boy. But like I said, they're working with him to make it better and that's what counts. If he can't be home, then take good care of him. They know I'm watching. Nicely of course.