April 16th update
Bennett is doing pretty good. He played 5 holes of golf this morning with his Grandpa/ma Page. They walked the 5 holes. Him and I went to lunch together. Our 2nd lunch outing in a week! Boy, are we glad his counts are up so we can do this. He took a nap this afternoon because he was really tired. Sid took the boys to the park tonight to hit in the batting cages. We are thankful Bennett is up to it.
Yesterday at the clinic, Bennett weighed 114. He has lost 6 pounds from a couple weeks ago. He should gain some back if his appetite increases with the steroids.
Bennett had heartburn today which is a side effect from the steroids. He has started taking pepcid to try to relieve this. The steroids really have so many side effects that we are praying Bennett doesn’t get any.
I asked the Dr. yesterday of what she wants Bennett’s ANC to be while his on maintenance. She said 500 to 1,500. 500? I never dreamed that they would want it so low. We were disappointed to hear this. An ANC of 500 is too big a chance to catch all the flu bugs going around. They will change his chemo pills as needed to keep his ANC within this range. So he could take more or less. We are so praying that his ANC stays more around the 1,500 mark or that we can keep it there.
The chemo pills that he is taking will kill the white blood cells making his ANC lower than a normal persons. The Dr.’s really want this because if the chemo is killing white cells than it should kill any leukemia cells. It prevents any leukemia cells from growing or multiplying.
Bennett will go on a bi-weekly basis at our local hospital to get a CBC test so we know where his counts are. So our next one will be a week from Monday. We are dying to know what his ANC has done since last Monday at 870. We have decided that by this Monday it should be over 1,000 and he will go to school.
Thank you for checking in on Bennett, love to all!
Hi Cindy & Bennett,
Just up getting ready to give Ethan his “early” morning antibiotics so thought I would check in on you. It was good seeing you in clinic. We’ll be praying that your ANC stays up there so you aren’t at risk of infection and that you can get back to “normal” everyday stuff. It was our friend Tara’s 14th year since she was diagnosed with ALL. Lots of reasons to celebrate. So glad you are on your maintenance phase. May GOD be with you through all of this. Take care and have fun playing ball!
GOD BLESS! Alicia Weiman
Hi Guys, so glad to hear the good news on Bennett. Cindy, it sounds like you could become a doctor with all the knowledge you have accumulated! Thanks for letting us all know each day what is going on. I appreciate it and I am sure everyone else does that reads your comments daily. God Bless you all.
What a milestone! We are praying for 1000+ ANC count next week. You be headed to school in no-time.