Meet Buster: My Big, Fat Tumor

Morgan is on track to discharge and get home Monday or Tuesday of this week.

It’s been a long two weeks.  I’ll try to give you the latest.   I really won’t do it justice though, I am hopeful Morgan will get to fill in the details soon.

Monday, September 7th, Morgan forgoes Labor day hoopla for the start of chemo round 2.  We were all dreading it, especially Morgan.  We were told the chemo cocktail would be much stronger than the first round and that treatment would be intense.

Morgan was fabulous, he did great.  PacMan was on the attack and Morgan persevered!   He was in good spirits,  feeling decent, ready for visitors, pain management was under-control- a few glitches, but for the most part the week went smooth.  Highlights included Mom’s 60th birthday which brought in a surprise visit from Mark and Andrea.

The week of chemo went better than expected, so much that I completely forgot about what follows chemo treatment.     He was doing well Saturday the 12th, it was mentioned that he may get to leave the hospital that Sunday.   Of course we made plans.  I know, sometimes we get ahead of ourselves scheduling fun…

Well, the fever came- “unknown origin” they call it- so they did blood work and cultures to try to figure out what was going on.   I don’t remember all the details, but do know that it went on for a couple days.  They called in a “disease specialist” to review his case.  He was given antibiotics and they did another scan.  They found that his kidney and bladder were not draining all the way even with the stents and the catheter.  Somewhere along the way they also found a blood clot in his left leg and did surgery to place an umbrella-like device (filter) to keep it from moving to his lungs.  During this past week he also went through the neutropenic phase where his total blood count drops.  Chemo kills everything.  He is weak and is in and out of sleep for days.

The great reports (aka answered prayers):

• Morgan is a champion; he has done so well!!  I must remind you we were not sick kids.  He only had stitches once when we were kids and before severe back pain three years ago he appeared in great health.  No hospital stays.  This has rocked his world and changed ours.

• His pain is managed completely by his pain pump
  http://www.spine-health.com/video/intrathecal-pump-implant-video
  Before the pump, he was getting close to 200 mg of morphine a day.  His pain pump disperses the drugs directly into his spine area and only requires drops (not sure of exact measurement- significantly less)

• He is off steriods.  His face is back to normal without the puffy swelling and I know he feels more like himself:
  http://cancercaw.com/blog/pain-mgmt/turn-it-down-on-steroids-refocusing-on-support/

• They caught the clot!  They found it and did surgery to treated it!
  http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/blood-clot-legs?page=4

• Leaking catheter issues- RESOLVED. without MacGyver appartus.   dry again….PRICELESS!

• http://www.neulasta.com/patient/about/about_whitecell.jsp?wt.srch=1
  Neutropenic phase was managed and treated with tranfusions  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_transfusion

• Morgan continues to INSPIRE!  We have a family saying or cheer~ ”NEVER GIVE UP” ~ Uncle Morgan is a perfect visual example of this for my three girls and our entire family.  Hebrews 12:1-2

• Suffering… Pray.   Cheerful… PRAISE!!  James 5:13- 20   Thank you for your continued prayers!

Morgan is back!!  His eyes are as blue as the sky again, his coloring is back, the swelling in his face is down.  He looks great and is feeling better.    Timely I’d say~  We’re preparing for a celebration!  … more to come- please don’t miss this!