He got a Neulasta shot yesterday to help boost his white blood cell counts. He went in this morning for a blood draw and here are results:
Obviously his platelets are very, very low. If he had not had an allergic reaction to platelets in the past they would have had him get platelet transfusions at the hospital today. If he bleeds and it won't stop then I will need to take him to the ER. He is scheduled to see his oncologist next week.
The contact at MD Anderson called this morning and said that they want to see him on the Thursday the 13th. They want to wait for a few weeks after his last dose of chemo (which was December 27th) before they do their tests, that way they will be able to tell if the chemo is working or not. He would be scheduled to start round 6 of chemo on the 14th, more than likely he will start his next round when we get back from Houston. He will be getting treatment at their Leukemia clinic and be seen by a doctor that specializes in acute leukemias. Chris technically has lymphoblastic lymphoma but their really is no medical distinction between it and lymphoblastic leukemia, hence him being seen by an acute leukemia specialist.
They said to expect to stay there for 3-5 days, it could be more or it could also be less. The first day we get there he will have a nurse assessment going over the 7 page medical history that we are going to fill out and bring with us. He will have labs, a chest xray, and a bone marrow biopsy test. We will meet with Dr. Deborah Thomas, the leukemia specialist, that afternoon after all his tests. That is all we know so far about what we will be doing at MD Anderson.
Since we aren't leaving next week I will have more time to look into where it would be best for us to stay. We have had offers to stay with friends or friends of friends but it may be easier to stay at one of the hotels that offers medical discounts to MD Anderson patients as well as free shuttles to and from the facilities. There is also a hotel associated with MD Anderson right across the street but it may cost $30 or so dollars more a night than other places we could stay. I'd rather not attempt to navigate downtown Houston and find parking at their large facility everyday. They do have valet parking but it is only free the first day, every subsequent day it costs $15.
Our son's 3rd birthday is the 18th of January. We hope that we will be back in the area to celebrate with him but if this process has taught us anything it's that we really can't plan on anything from day to day.
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