Day 187: Back For Round 3

After several weeks of Cristian’s blood levels being too low to resume his treatments, this week his body was able to recover to a safe level. This round of chemo includes a procedure (lumbar puncture) and then high dose of chemo of 24 hours, followed by monitoring until the chemo has left his system.

With Cristian’s Covid status the hospital process is that his procedure will be last in the morning. This is done to limit the exposure of other kids and to attempt to limit the spread of Covid. Unfortunately for Cristian that means he has to fast for an extended period. It was almost 12:30 before he was able to eat, and he was very hangry at that point.

Following the procedure Cristian was very groggy from the anesthesia for a good portion of the afternoon. He also had trouble keeping anything in his stomach, including water. He spent the evening throwing up several times but had no other discomfort. The doctors gave him some anti nausea medicine, but it didn’t seem that effective.

Before starting this round of chemo we need Cristian urine levels to be within acceptable ranges for hydration and PH. This hasn’t been an issue in previous stays and we have been able to start the chemo almost immediately after the procedure. This time however took lots of extra fluid to get his levels in line. We weren’t able to start the chemo until very late into the night. This doesn’t impact his treatment, but will delay how long we are here by a day.

We appreciate everyone’s prayers and support! We couldn’t do this without all of you and God’s grace in healing Cristian. Please pray that these treatments go smooth with no mouth sores and that we get to go home ASAP!