Chemo in a cluster

Scott had good bloodwork yesterday. But that was about all that was good for his clinic visit. He was in a real wreck of a mood. Very nervous all morning. Got sick right when he took his first ever Orapred ODT after having blood drawn. Not a good sign. Then on with the IV Vincristine, Doxorubicin and leg shots. Just and endless stream of stuff being shoved into his port.

After the legs shots, he seem to cheer up a bit and start making jokes. It was a very long day for him, as he had to cram all of that in, then get two more loads of steroids and a dose of 6mp before bed. A whopping load of poison all in the name of treatment. It is staggering. You think you get used to what is going to happen, or maybe settle on the fact it is "routine", but it just does not work that way at all. Luckily he's in a much better mood today. And the Orapred ODT seems to have been accepted by him, as long as he lets them melt away under his tongue, safely away from tastebuds.

On top of all that, he had IV antibiotics pushed in so he could make his dentist visit just after the clinic.

I hate to think of the total amount of chemo his body will take during this course. If you do think about it, you're mind will become mush. But he's hanging in there.

It seems, dependent on his feeling and mood tomorrow, we will be making his visit to Toys R Us in the morning. Stephanie has spoke with the manager, and he's somehow convinced one of his managers to get a Wii in the store and marked for Scott. Hope that doesn't cause a riot amongst folks in search of one.

Also, being Mother's Day weekend, we must bring attention to the Thanks Mom Marrow Drive, which is organized by the National Marrow Donor Program. If you feel you can committ to being on the list, please do so. One never knows when they may be the perfect match for someone's chance at survival. Stephanie actually solicited Michelle Malkin to tout the drive on her web-log, which gets several million hits per month. Michelle generously did, it was posted by her about 9 this morning. Stephanie even got a reply email from Michelle telling her she'd be glad to, and quoted Stephanie on the entry. We have a star!

The National Registry needs as many folks listed as possible. Folks are diagnosed endlessly, and many require bone marrow transplants. The day Scott was diagnosed, we thought it was bizarre that 3 kids came in the same night as new cancer patients at St. Joe's. This week seems to have been a very sad one. St. Joe's has had 17 brand new cases just this week. That's staggering and very depressing.

Tomorrow also marks a milestone for Stephanie - it will be the 6 month mark since she quit smoking. That is a wonderful feat, especially considering she was only about 8 weeks in when Scott got sick. We're all very proud of her, and we've told her she can gladly start smoking again when Scott approves of it.

And of course Sunday is Mother's Day here in the States. With all of this going on, it makes one think about where we may be without moms. It makes me think of the things my mom has done through the years of grief I gave her. It makes me think of Steph's mom, and how she became a savior in our infamous "deportation fiasco" of 2004. As well as Steph's grandmother, who is a wonderful woman that helped Stephanie mentally through that time in a major way. And Stephanie's Auntie 'Mo - a mom herself - who helped Stephanie, Scott and Derry during that time just as if they were her own. All were literally shelters in a storm. Makes me think of my "little sister" - who is actually my niece, who just became a mom last month. And also makes me think of the mom's going through sheer hell with sick children at the hospital. Especially Mary, who is about to go to NYC with little JJ for a very critical operation.

No mom should have to see a child through this struggle, but far too many do.