Busy-ness
This will be short. Noah is back from his fourth round of immunotherapy. He (we) brought back a stomach bug so, while Noah recovers from the treatment, we're all at various stages of recovering from what is (hopefully) a quickly passing illness.
Noah seems to be doing okay so far. It is hard to tell, however, as he did vomit on his last day of treatment and he is also still dealing with the regular, post-treatment diarrhea.
This cycle went much as the last. The first day was the worst day with a new nasogastric tube and catheter, IV lines placed into Noah's hand and port and then, of course, the nasty mood altering side effects of the drugs and pain killers that make the boy go a little crazy. This was Tuesday.
Wednesday through Friday, Noah continued to be fairly active and even got to ride around the hospital on his trike in the early hours of the day when he was disconnected from his lines.
The gut problems began again on Friday and so Noah was put into "contact precautions" which meant no more leaving the room.
Saturday, satisfied that he would be better off recovering at home than in the hospital (and also, quite possibly, because the ward was packed) we were discharged and went home.
There were no unexpected surprises this round in terms of infections. Nothing came up in the blood and the C. diff was not obvious any of the samples either. He's still receiving antibiotics for this to help contain future waves and they seem to be keeping things under control.
Looking ahead, we wait for Noah's strength and appetite to, once again, return. In the week before this last round Noah had regained a level of energy and "heft" we had not seen since last June, just before the stem cell transplants in Toronto. It was a beautiful reminder of what a healthy Noah can be. We pray that this vision returns to us once again.
Noah also has a PET scan scheduled before the next round. This was supposed to have happened a couple of weeks ago but was cancelled due to other priority patients. This is a painful reminder of what is so difficult and horrible about cancer. After being on this journey for so long it is awful to think that for other families it is just beginning.
And if all is well, Noah will have his final in-hospital round of immunotherapy in a few short weeks. I will be sure to update more thoroughly then.
Once again, thanks for all of your prayers and supports. As always, we feel held.
Thank you for the update Dan. We continue to pray for Noah in my congregation in Burlington. May the Lord bless you and keep you and your family.
Really recently, Kim and I were laughing after church at how wonderfully playful and happy and teasingly normal Noah was being. It was a joy to behold. Two things: God continues on this journey with you. Prayer works.....continuing to pray daily for Noah and your family.