Things Are Getting Difficult

Things have gotten very difficult physically for our Noah.  All of the doctor's predictions have come to fruition this weekend.  All of the horrible side effects that one experiences when given such heavy doses of chemotherapy have materialized.  Noah was very, very sick all night long on Saturday night.  He was getting sick every forty-five minutes.  An anti-nausea medicine that finally worked was administered Sunday morning and Noah was able to sleep most of the afternoon.  He is also on morphine and that seems to bring some relief for the pain and helps him perk up after it's first administered.  I can't even imagine what our little Noah is going through but nothing so far has been unexpected or is alarming to the doctors.  His counts have all dropped to almost nothing so that Lara thinks that he will probably get an infusion of platelets tomorrow.  What I sometimes refer to as "mouth sores" is a deceptive description because these are not confined to just his mouth and throat but rather extend to his entire digestive system.  This is why the morphine is so necessary because there is so much of his body that is effected by these horrible sores.  There is internal bleeding caused by these sores and that is what Noah is regurgitating.

Noah is wanting to just lie in his bed and to be left alone but there are things that he absolutely has to do. Hygiene is so important so he has to shower and he has to keep his mouth clean.  He doesn't want to do these things but is still good at negotiation with his mother. He has agreed that he will do these things if he is paid a dollar for every disagreeable occurance.  He's trying to save up to buy a toy that he has wanted forever but is very expensive.  So this afternoon the nurse came in and said that he had to get up and go for a walk.  This was the last thing that Noah wanted to do.  He has to wear a mask when he leaves the room and Lara told Noah that he looked scary in it.  That's all he needed to hear.  He was up and ready to scare everyone with his mask.  He made two rounds down the halls and scaring everyone in his path.  He mentioned to his mother as he returned to his room that just cost her two bucks.  He also wanted to tell the little eight year old girl down the hall that he was ten.  So, as I said earlier, Noah is very physically ill but he still has his goofy sense of humor and his mind is never clouded.  Let's just hope that Lara and Andy won't have to refinance the house before this is over. 

It's hard to believe but supposedly things will get worse before they get better.  Monday is day five and there is to be ten days that are really tough.  Hopefully, Noah will be half way through the worst of it by the end of the day.  When I last spoke to Lara last evening, Noah was watching a movie and seemed to be getting some relief from medication.  Please pray that Noah's pain and nausea is kept to a minimum but also that he never loses his sense of humor and sense of fun.   

Much love,   Grandma

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