June 13, 1999 - Andy came home from the hospital. Things went pretty well. He received cytoxan and VP-16. He didn't get sick or have any problems. He was a little wound up. We spent alot of time in the playrooms. The most difficult thing was chasing Andy around with the IV pole. He just ignored it and I had to run to keep up with him. Toward the end of the stay Bill rigged the 'sit and stand' stroller so the infusion pump sat on a shelf behind the stroller seat. He attached a piece of PVC pipe to the stroller to make a pole. It worked well and we were able to wander around the hospital with just the stroller. Andy was a little more tolerant of the medical professionals. The last couple days he let them take his vitals without throwing a fit. When we came home, we gave Andy his first neupogen injection. We were very worried about having to do this. We debated trying to recruit our neighber who is a paramedic. We decided in the end to do it ourselves. I held Andy and Bill injected him. Andy hardly cried. It was very quick (just .2 cc). I was relieved that it was so easy. We found some great tips on Joseph Spurgeon 's website (the link is included with the childhood cancer links).We had a harder time getting the oral antibiotic in him because it takes longer. Andy doesn't seem to mind a little pain, just don't try to restrain him for any length of time.
June 24, 1999 - I cut Andy's hair very short. It was falling out in clumps and he was starting to look odd. After I cut it he just looked bald. It was so hot he probably felt better without it.
July 4, 1999 - Andy finished another hospital stay. It was uneventful again, this was good. His hemaglobin was a little low and they said we could expect a transfusion soon. His platelets and ANC had recovered and were normal He had a little diarrhea but it cleared up pretty quickly. We took both boys to see the fireworks and they had a great time. Andy kept saying WOW and clapping. He would hide his head, the fireworks would go off and he would start to clap. He was feeling great.
July 20, 1999 - July 26, 1999 - Andy was admitted for chemo again. They did a chest x-ray and abdominal ultrasound both are clear - thank God. He put up a tremendous battle with the radiologist doing the ultrasound. He earned a sticker that said 'I pitched a Fit'. One of the nurses suggested that the decadron that they were giving Andy for antinausea may be contributing to his attitude problem. Since Andy tolerated the chemo so well we decided to try it without the decadron. He still received kytril for nausea. He had the last 2 days of chemo without the decadron and did not get sick. He was also much calmer. On the 23rd Andy got an echo cardiogram and there was no heart damage. On the 24th Andy had his first transfusion. I was surprised because his hemaglobin was 8.3 when he was admitted. It dropped to 6.8 and he needed the tranfusion. He didn't look pale or seem tired. Other than people examining him none of this seemed to bother him.
August 10 - 13, 1999 - Another uneventful hospital stay for Andy. He went in, he got his chemo and he came home. His blood counts always take a hit in between treatments but they always recover.
August 20, 1999 - Andy had his second transfusion. There were 10 kids getting transfusions and they didn't have a room for us. We had to spend 3 hours in a little examining room. Luckily Andy slept through most of it. I learned that Andy was finished with his weekly vincristine. He would still get 2 more doses during the hospital stays. This meant he only had 4 more chemo treatments. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.
August 29, 1999 - We had a party to celebrate Andy's 2nd birthday. He started it off by diving off his slide. It took about a half hour to calm him and we debated calling in and taking him to the ER. After he calmed down he was back to running, climbing and doing all the normal Andy stuff. I knew he would be examined when he was admitted for chemo the next day. He had a great time for the rest of the party and really enjoyed his gifts.
August 30, 1999 - Andy was admitted for chemo and examined. The doctor wrote in his chart 'no complications since last chemo except for falling off a slide'. His right arm and shoulder seemed a little tender but he was using everything.
August 31, 1999 - Andy officially turned 2. The hospital gave him a nice present to open. His arm and shoulder seemed fine.