Bit worried about his WCC which has gone from 8.6 Sat, 10.8 Sun and 14.8 Mon with blast cells of 88%, 91% and now 94% - these are the bad cells. His immunity is now zero—down from 0.2% on Saturday.MONDAY DEC 2 (cont)….
ECG done today and results were all fine.
His room is looking good—it’s all decked out in Hawthorn things like his autographed football and jumper and scarf. Some nurses understand it but others follow Rugby so don’t even know the AFL teams. Kent is from America so he has no idea…….Tim & Matt will work on converting the whole ward to their team………..
Accommodation for the rest of the family is starting to become a worry—hospital has advised not to come as the only rooms they have are booked out until June 03 —but we need the whole family to be with Tim so are not listening. Something will work out.
Drama at home—Sarah cutting deep frozen ice-cream cake with a stay-sharp knife—Philip thought he might have to send her to get her finger sewn back on—but she does tend to overreact. A bandage soon solved the problem.
Tuesday dec 3….day 4
Our 3rd day of chemo and Tim is to have his first dose of ATG (anti-thymocyt globulin) - he will have 4 doses over the next 2 days. It comes with extreme risk of high reaction so as a precaution methylpredisolone, phenergan, and paracetamol was given 30 minutes before IV infusion. Treatment started at 8.00 am and the risks meant Tim had intensive one-on-one nursing including OBS (temp, bp, and respiratory stats) every 15 minutes. He did get a reaction—shakes, went very cold, and got a rash on his back. Right at that time a Santa sack arrived from Deb Bau full of wonderful gifts for Tim, Gerri and Matt. This was also the same time Matt was having his blood test for HLA tissue testing. The distraction was welcome as the joy of opening the presents got our minds away from the dramas in the room. Tim got through the reaction and Matt got over the blood test.Kent (Dr) did his rounds and discussed the concern about increasing WCC. He said today’s results showed the counts had crashed—exactly what was expected by him and indicated everything was going to plan. He congratulated Tim on doing a good job inside his body.
Tim is looking good and coping with the process remarkably well—but it’s in a few days as the drugs kick in that he will get real sick, so we are enjoying the positive spirit.
We have had lots of good wishes and thank everyone for them. The teachers and students at St Simons gave Jess, Sarah, and Andrew some special class treatment which they all told Philip about when they got home—they had a great day. Thanks St Simons as the kids have had a tough year and their excitement about their day was wonderful to see.
Also thanks to the people on the look out for accommodation—we now have some real options so Gerri will check a few out Thursday.
Nicholas has been counting the number of sleeps before he goes on the big plane (and so has Andrew) but Prep boys don’t think its cool to count sleeps. The girls are missing Mum. Jess has got the house under control and Sarah has been busy making cards and presents for Tim. Looking forward to getting the family back together tomorrow night.
Wednesday dec 4….day 5
Thank you to those who came to the house and airport to bid farewell, and thanks in advance to those looking after the house. We were picked up in a Limo courtesy of Paul McDonald and the kids waved “royally” as we drove off. Not sure if my car needs a TV and bar fridge, although the kids have a different view. Miffy has started her holiday, remember Maureen she lives outside and loves to pull off the washing at night for a bed.Our accommodation problems have been resolved thanks to the Leukemia Foundation who have worked very hard with social workers. We have also had lots of people trying for us—family , friends, school friends & work —your efforts at networking are truly appreciated. We have the use of a 3 bedroom house from Saturday 7/12 indefinitely which is about 20 minutes from the hospital and a similar distance from Applied Chemicals (Philip’s work). It is fully furnished and includes all utilities. The foundation is organising to get Gerri’s car sent up. They have been such fantastic support and today was a good day.
Tim is tolerating the chemo really well. Very excited with the arrival of his family. We got the news the plane had left Melb from Cathy (Gerri’s sister) and the Nursing staff all cheered—again more great support. Right now things are working out.