Monday, November 22, 2010

New Treatments

After having about a month off, Joey started the next phase of treatments.  Today marked the start of his consolidation phase, which will last about 6 months.  He went into the doctor for a few hours - he got a bag of fluids, a spinal tap, and a bag of chemo to bring home for the next 48 hours. I was there for the first half which included just the fluid drip.  He doesn't mind sitting there - he mostly played his DS.  He also got a visit from a sweet old therapy dog. 

I left before the spinal tap, but Jon said it didn't go well.  Joey decided that he didn't want to do it - when he decides he doesn't want to do something, he'll do anything he can to keep it from happening.  Jon described it like trying to shave a monkey - I'm not sure what that means exactly.  Several people had to hold him still, but when it was done, he admitted it didn't really hurt too much.  I'm really glad I wasn't there. 

When he first got home, he refused to wear the backpack to carry around the chemo bag because he said it was too big and hurt his back.  I was surprised at how big it is - I was expecting something more his size.  After a while, he finally put it on and got around pretty well.  He even played Wii for a little while. 

We'll go back tomorrow to get a new bag and then again Wednesday to have it taken off and get fluids again. I'm really hoping this new medicine doesn't make him sick and that he's able to enjoy the holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


1 comment:

Gayla Schlies said...

It's funny to see Joey with his belly hanging over his jeans. He's always been so skinny. He looks cute with the backpack and no shirt.