Tyler’s time at home so far has been wonderful!!! It’s been pretty physically exhausting, but mentally and emotionally he’s been on cloud nine. Saturday he attended the Mt. Hebron High School homecoming game and was the honorary captain (he got to do the coin toss). The timing of this was especially neat because the homecoming game was also the “Hebron for Hope” annual fundraiser for childhood cancer. You can watch a video of Tyler tossing the coin at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBTYJ1RHyFI
The rest of Saturday was spent with a friend. Sunday, Tyler attended church and loved seeing his friends there. His aunt, uncle and cousin drove up for the afternoon, and then two friends hung out with him until 10PM.
Today (Monday), Tyler was able to sleep in, then we went to the JHH outpatient clinic for his blood draw. Disappointingly, the results of Friday’s bone marrow aspirate weren’t available yet today. We’re hoping for the results tomorrow. Everything else was great. His Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) is 860. 1000 is when they can safely admit him back to the hospital to start his next chemo course.
Tomorrow I will take him locally for another blood draw, and as long as his levels don’t drop, he will be readmitted to JHH on Wednesday. We so wish it could be a longer stay at home, but that would mean his levels weren’t recovering, so we’ll just be grateful for the time we’ve had! His weight was up to 141, only 3 pounds lighter than his last healthy weight!
For his last full day at home, Tyler’s birthday plans include visiting Chapelgate Academy and having a family birthday party in the evening.
Upon his return to Hopkins on Wednesday, Tyler will have a central line surgically implanted. He will then begin his second course of chemo. This course will follow the same plan as his first course, with the addition of a new medication which is a FLT3 inhibitor. This course will last 10 days, followed again by 21+ days of recovery. If all goes as well as it did this last time, he should be able to come home for a short break again.
We just can’t tell you how great it’s been to have Tyler home these few days! Waking up and knowing he’s across the hall, hearing him laugh with his friends, sitting with him at the dinner table…it’s all been such a blessing. These were things we simply took for granted before; now, never again!
Please pray for us all on Wednesday as we make the adjustment back to life in the hospital.