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Velcade, Radiation and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
By Margot | December 24, 2008
Sam got his first injection of Velcade on Friday of last week and his second yesterday. It goes on day one and day four. We got into the hospital at 7:30am Friday so I could try to get him to meet his class on his field trip for a Wizard of Oz play. Velcade is a simple injection into Sam’s port that takes all of 10 seconds but it’s kind of like dog years in hospital time -or would that be people years for dogs? Once you get the blood check, doctors check, velcade ordered from the pharmacy and add to that that it’s a Friday and it’s a zoo, it takes close to four hours for a ten second velcade push. The nurses were great though as usual. We got to the middle school production of The Wizard of Oz right about when Dorothy met the scarecrow. I have to say that it was kind of a painful production so it wasn’t too bad that we were late. It did bring back memories of me being in our sixth grade production of Wizard of Oz. I was the scarecrow and sang “If I only had a Brain,” I still know all the words. I was hoping that I was much better than the scarecrow we saw on Friday but it’s not likely. Sam felt pretty crappy through the whole play. His stomach hurt and he didn’t want to go back to school, he fell asleep in the car on the way home and then slept most of the afternoon. When he woke up he was fine and perky all night.  Saturday he started to have pain in his lower back and tailbone. Dr. Sholler said it’s probably neuropathy from the Velcade and Rhonda Dudley said Sydney had lower back pain after Velcade -thank you Rhonda, if you are reading this, for calling us back it helped make us worry less that it was disease. Uncle Dave was in town for the weekend and the boys had a great time with him. It was really great to have him here. Thanks for coming Uncle Dave. We went to SeaWorld on Sunday for a few hours and Sam sat in the stroller most of the time because his tailbone hurt. Charlie didn’t mind though, he’d rather run than ride anyway. We had to pull him (Charlie) away from the Clydesdales, he’s really horse crazy. Monday we went back in to do the day four Velcade push. It was a bit quicker but not by much. We had a dentist appointment while waiting for the Velcade and Sam has cavities in between his teeth. Arhgh. So we have to go back and get those taken care of in a couple of weeks. Poor guy. Today we went in to have his legs mapped out for radiation.  He did great as usual and Dr. Mundt was asking where his heelies were and remembering that he never needed to be sedated even when he was really little. Sam talked football with the techs, he and I have been reading the sports page in the waiting rooms and we’ve read every Charger article there is. I now know more about Charger Football and personnel than I ever thought I would.  Dr. Mundt said that he will be able to avoid the growth plate for radiation Sam will do ten days. We start Sunday at three, then Monday and Tuesday of next week.  We’ll take a break for three days, hopefully giving the stem cells time to come out of hiding so we can hit them again (there was a study done with Medulloblastoma and radiation which showed that the really tough yucky cells go into hiding and it’s good to give the radiaiton a break for a few days and then hit them again). Then we’ll do Saturday, Sunday, etc. of the following week. Sam’s VMA/HVA was 16 and 18 this week. Staying in the high range. Hopefully, the velcade radiation combo will remedy that. We have scans again in mid-January so we’ll know pretty quickly if things are working.
Sam was feeling good enough to practice basketball with Andy’s team last night and made a few from downtown. He has practice with his and Neil’s team tonight at 5:15. I told him he didn’t have to practice if his tailbone hurt. As usual he said, “Nah, I’ll practice. Can i get some Tylenol before practice?  This past Sunday morning at our house was lots of yelling and screaming as the Chargers beat the Bucs to keep their playoff hopes alive, then when Sam and Andy found out that Denver lost, they were thrilled, it was like an early Christmas present.  They sent off a letter to Santa, with a stamp and address and the whole bit. They asked for Rock Band for the Wii. Andy keeps adding things mentally that he thinks of and asked me the other day if Santa knows what you are thinking of wanting even if you didn’t put it in your letter.   We are about to bake cookies for Santa and the boys are counting down the days and hours. Sam said he’s going to try and stay awake and see Santa. I told him Santa only comes if everyone is asleep, he said he is going to keep one eye a little open so he can see Santa but Santa will think he is sleeping. I told him I didn’t think Santa would fall for it.   Neil and I just finished our last minute Christmas shopping. Grandma is coming at 6:30 tonight and we are all excited to see her.  Her Christmas letter by the way, was five pages. Not sure much editing went on there. Ha. ha. We love you, Mom.
 Margot
Topics: Progress Reports | 5 Comments »
December 24th, 2008 at 4:08 am
Margot and Family, hope you all have a great Christmas! You all deserve it!!! Angela (Madison’s Mom)
December 24th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Dearest Team Sam…blessings to you ALL this Christmas! Margot I laughed so hard at the description of Oz…I was the Wicked Witch and have to live with “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” forever and ever! (Never mind the permanent trauma of NOT being chosen for Dorothy’s role…!) Never asked my mom and dad just how painful THAT production was…! HA!
Praying for extreme happiness for all of you, and for some serious damage done to the NB…
December 25th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Merry Christmas!!! just a thought on the snail pace of the hospital… When nick was getting all his Synergist shots – Nicks nuse at Iowa Blank Childrens hospital would have me call them when I was leaving my house. That way they could start getting ready the expensive and special doses for him – by the time we arrived – meds were drawn – warmed, and ready for injection. But… that was Iowa – And I am positive you have explored every avenue of getting the lead out!!! I miss you guys- playdate soon I hope!!! Rebecca
December 28th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Sam~ I hope you and your family had a GREAT Christmas. Did you keep one eye open and see Santa? I hope you got everything that you asked for. You are such a sweet little boy!
Love,
Mrs. Heather
December 29th, 2008 at 6:23 am
Merry Christmas to ALL the Hutchison’s !!!
Received your darling card of the boys and wish we were there to hug you all in person !
(Our cards will get there by Valentine’s Day ! )
Hope Santa made his way to PB and hope the New Year is filled with
more basketball and soccer and less doctor visits !
Love you all,
Colleen and Nick and family