Josh went back into the hospital for his second round of treatment on Tuesday, February 28th. I didn't send out any emails to family, so let's see how my memory is one month later.
We thought we knew what to expect for this treatment because we already had a treatment under our belts, but this one didn't go anything like that. We had a really, really bad start to our week and Josh's stomach was already so sick that his not eating started really early. The last thing I remember him eating was a sandwich from Quizno's Tuesday afternoon before we went to the hospital.
Tuesday, Feb. 28th- We went to Dr. Legant's office to get the blood work results and she could examine him before we headed to the hospital. His blood results were good.....and a bit odd. She told us that his platelet counts were higher than when he started treatment, meaning that there could be cancer in his marrow and it is now responding to treatment. I'm not sure what that means or if it effects what happens next......so I guess we'll just wait and see. We got to the hospital around noon and for some reason they were extra slow getting everything mixed that day. They didn't start giving him his meds until after 5:00 PM. At that point we knew we wouldn't be out of there Thursday night. I usually stay the night at the hospital with Josh, but was needed at home. Josh keeps telling me that he's a big boy and doesn't need a babysitter all of the time, but he humors me and let's me arrange people to be with him at the hospital when I can't be. I let him stay the night there by himself, much to my anxiety, and he did just fine :)
Wednesday. Feb. 29th- I wanted to be back up to the hospital by 7:30 AM so that I would be there when Dr. Legant came in to check on him. Josh doesn't always relay the whole message to me, so I like to hear it for myself so I know what is going on. Luckily, Josh was still laying in his bed were I left him I when I got there. He said that his doctor said everything was going good. He got all 3 meds today. They didn't start them until later in the afternoon pushing our leave time on Friday to late afternoon/early evening.
Thursday, Mar. 1st- When Dr. Legant came to check on him she said that everything was still going good. Last time on Thursday night is when Josh's heart rate started slowing down, due to one of the medicines. She hooked him up to a monitor first thing in the morning so they could keep a close eye on him. She was concerned that he still wasn't eating or drinking, so she said if he wasn't feeling better she wouldn't mind keeping him until Saturday. He told her that would make him feel worse. Since they started his chemo meds so late on Tuesday and his 24 hour medicine wouldn't be done until around 7:00 pm, she was worried about how he was going to get his neaulasta shot. He is suppose to wait 20-24 hours after his last medicine to get the shot, but if that was the case our IV therapy nurse at Jordan Valley wouldn't be there to do it. Dr. Legant went and talked to the pharmacist and they decided that it would be ok to start his last medicine earlier than usual so the we could go home Friday around 4:00.
Friday, Mar. 2nd- Dr. Legant made her usual visit this morning, she told us his heart rate never slowed down like last time and he was doing good.....well other than he hadn't ate or drank anything since Tuesday afternoon. She let home go home at noon, instead of 4:00, since he did good all night. That perked him up a bit.....not enough to eat, but he got up and showered and walked around for a couple minutes.
He said that he seemed to bounce faster this go round than last. He started asking for food and was venturing outside our bedroom by Sunday. He was eating, but not as much as he usually does. We went in for a check up on March 9th and things were about what we expected. His blood counts were very low but due tot he neaulasta shot they bounced right back up to normal. On the 2oth we went up to the Huntsman so Josh could get a PET scan. These results would determine what happens next. The next day we went back to Dr Legant for the results. I have to say I was prepared for the worst and hoping for the best. The results were somewhere in the middle. All the cancer from the scan in December is still there but has shrunk, there is no new growth and his spleen is still rather large. His doctor talked to the bone marrow doctors before we came in that morning and they both agreed that with these results we should move onto the stem cell process right away. You may want to sit down for this part.....
On the 29th we will go to LDS hospital for Josh to get blood work and a bone marrow test done. I was told to make sure that he is VERY well hydrated before he comes in, because we will be shocked at the amount of tubes they will be filling. Oh boy.....
We will then go back on April 2nd for a heart and pulmonary test. They want to make sure that his organs are healthy and functioning properly. They were nice enough to postpone the next step for a week so that we can take one last family trip to Las Vegas over Easter weekend to watch Peyton play in a basketball tournament.
Luckily I'm not overly superstitious, because on Friday the 13th, they will start the mobilization process. We will be going up to LDS Fri, Sat, Sun and Monday morning so that Josh can get a shot that will speed up the growth of his white blood cells. Also on Monday morning, they will remove his picc line and place a central line in his neck that they use to draw his blood from and will give him his treatments. On Monday night we will go back up and they will give Josh a shot that will "open the flood gates", as I was told. This shot will make the stem cells from his bone marrow go out into his blood stream.
On Tuesday the 17th we will make yet another trip up to LDS to start the collection process. We will be there from 7:30 AM- noon while Josh is hooked up to a machine that draws his blood, separates the stem cells and circulates the blood back into him. Then the lab will count the stem cells to see how many they got from that day. I was told that it could take up to 5 days of going and being hooked up to the machine to collect enough cells for the rescues. If after the 5 days they don't have enough, we will take a 2 week brake and then start the process over. When they get the right amount of stem cells, it will take the lab 1 week to 10 days to process they cells. At that time, Josh will be admitted for the treatments to begin.
He will be hospitalized for 3-4 weeks for the high dose chemo treatment followed by the stem cell rescue. After they feel that he has recovered enough, he will get to come home for 45-90 days to finish the recovery process. While he is at home he will need care 24/7 in case he breaks a fever or he has some sort of reaction we will be able to get him back to the hospital ASAP!! When they feel that he has recovered enough, he will go back into the hospital one more time for another round of high dose treatment and a final stem cell rescue. We've been told that there is a higher success rate for those who haven't been in full remission to have two treatment rounds and two stem cells rescues.
I was told that the cancer didn't respond to the treatments like they had hoped, but all the doctor's involved are saying that, other than the cancer, Josh is otherwise very healthy and they all seem to be very optimistic.
Well, that seems to be our month, and life moving forward, in a nutshell.
Again, I want to say thanks a hundred million times to my Mom and Step Dad for coming to stay with our kids and holding down the fort. Big, huge thank yous to Grandpa and Grandma Jones, Justin, Jered, Sharee, Cayden, Jason and Amanda for coming and staying with Josh at the hospital so that I could make to Peyton and Kasen's basketball games. Tons of thank yous to those of you who picked up and brought home our kids from games and practices and to those of you who just simply check in on us and keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We are truly blessed and so very grateful for each and every one of you!!
