Day 0 - Stem Cell Infusion Day

Just another morning of crafts and pirate ships.

 

Liam is still feeling really well this morning. I have been told that the effects are cumulative, so I was quite worried about this cycle, so far it has been easier than the last cycle when Liam had the fever that went on and on. Though Liam's blood counts have not gone down and the vomiting hasn't started - yet. They both will hit soon.

The stem cell infusion is this afternoon. The stem cell infusion is quite the ordeal, because they have to bring Liam's frozen stem cells from the "bank", it will be the same as the other 2 cycles. The issue we faced with the previous 2 cycles is Liam coughs and gets sick, a side effect of the preservative used to freeze the stem cells. 

During the infusion we have a room full of people. The person who brings the stem cells and thaws them, 1 nurse who does the infusion, 1 nurse who tracks everything that happens and usually a nurse watching/training. They give Liam Benadryl, Gravol, Grinisitron (anti-nausea), Ativan plus Liam's regular steroids, etc. But because of all the people in the room, Liam doesn't sleep, he forces himself to keep his eyes open. Maybe this being the third time, he can relax, ha.

Stem Cell Infusion Done

It was a big production of preparation, but Liam's got his stem cells back.

The preservative caused Liam some coughing, but nothing too bad. Liam could have just slept through it, his eyes were drooping, we could tell he was so tired, but he fought the sleep the whole time and hasn't given in yet. There were about 6 nurses in here during the stem cell infusion, he knew something was going on, there's no way he'd give in to sleep.

Also funny, Liam smells like creamed corn from the preservative. It's not an overly bad smell, just there.

Now is just hydration and waiting for Liam's blood counts to come back up.

Prep for Stem Cells

Liam's frozen stem cells are just sitting here frozen in a tank. This is all crazy foreign to me!

They are loading Liam up with medications now, he's pretty dozy from them. They said many kids do get nauseous, they have given him more anti-nausea medicine than he's ever had all at once before. He's  suspicious about what is going on, so he's hugging onto teddy and being very quiet. We thought Liam was sleeping until Troy tried to turn off the volume of the tv and he up and yelled "Dad!".

Try explaining a stem cell rescue to a 4 year old, I can hardly understand it myself. They are giving you stem cells, to make you feel better, but the stem cells might make you feel sick, um, ok

They don't thaw the stem cells until the very last minute. When they give the stem cells to him, it's done through his central line, like a blood transfusion, and only takes a few minutes. It's all the prep and checks that take time.

If you want to read more, this link is to the Mayo website. In Liam's case, the chemo has killed off all his stem cells. Stem Cell Rescue

Stem Cell Transplant Delayed

Look Mom, I'm not connected! Liam is so happy, he's no longer connected to his IV, so he has freedom to play and walk more freely.

Unfortunately, he is not connected, because when they were cleaning the dressing, his central line came out further, and is now 8.5 cms out, which means it is no longer usable. This happened when the nurse was cleaning it, when all of a sudden Liam had to pee, so he wouldn't sit still. But, obviously it wasn't staying in place, so it was going to happen sometime. It just should have happened after the stem cell transplant that was supposed to be this afternoon.

They called off the stem cell transplant until Monday. Today, we will figure out what can be done with the central line. They could do the stem cell transplant with a PICC line, but no sense giving him another poke with a PICC line, when he needs the central line anyway.

We are just waiting to find out if he'll be going to the OR this afternoon for a new central line.