Checkup with Dr. McClain

Ace had a checkup with Dr. McClain today.  Toby and I had been kind of concerned that he would want to put a port in and begin infusion chemotherapy.  Ace's rash has improved, but the area on his bottom has not really improved too much.  You can't really see the rash on his head anymore unless we are outside in the sun.  It is also pretty visible if he gets upset, because it gets pretty red.  Dr. McClain agreed to continue on the course of chemo we are currently on for now.  We will follow up again with him in two weeks.  He explained that it is okay that it is taking a while for the medicine to completely clear up the rash, but at some point, pretty quick, we need to see that it is going to be able to completely clear it up.  We are thankful that he is willing to give it a little bit more time.  It is really hard not knowing whether or not the medicine will clear it up.  We want to be able to give him the lowest dosing of the chemotherapy and we want it to work.  We don't want to be giving him something day after day that is not ultimately going to work. We trust Dr. McClain and feel that he truly has Ace's best interest in mind.  Ace still seems to be tolerating the chemotherapy pretty well.  His white blood cell counts are low, so we have to continue to keep him away from places/people where he might get sick, and his liver enzymes are elevated to 121.  The elevated liver enzymes are a normal side effect of the chemo and we just have to watch them to make sure that they don't get too out of control.  So, we will follow up on the 18th.  

Ace has been doing great.  The medicine still upsets his stomach and he has had a persistent cough that doesn't seem to want to go away.  Last Monday, he was coughing and cruddy in general.  Tinsley was up most of the night crying and we were concerned that she might have a urinary tract infection.  So, off to the doctor we went.  Dr. McClain agreed to let Dr. Boecker check Ace and not make us make a trip to Houston since Ace was not running fever.  They RSV'd him and it was negative.  Dr. McClain did want us to take him for bloodwork and a chest x-ray.  The bloodwork showed that his platelet levels are high and there is a bit of crud in his chest.  He does not have pneumonia which he is at high risk of with the chemo.  They think he has a virus.  So, we will continue to treat the symptoms with Tylenol as needed. He can also have benadryl on an as needed basis, but the phenegren he is on for nausea also helps with the congestion.  Tinsley does not have a urinary tract infection.  It looks like she just has a yeast infection related to the antibiotic she was on for tonsillitis.  All in all, we spent about 5 hours at the hospital last Monday.  Fun day!

Thanks again for checking in on us and for continuing to keep Ace in your prayers.  We feel extremely thankful that he is doing so well and are still very hopeful that the oral chemotherapy will do the trick.

Below are a few pictures from the past couple of days.

Tinsley(and her dog) helped me get packed up for our trip to Houston

Loving on Ace before we left.

Getting dressed at the hotel before going to the doctor.

Mom sent me these two pictures while we were gone.  

Tinsley is obviously all about Eagan.  :-)

Mom and Dad kept Tinsley busy while we were gone.  Or, should I say, Tinsley kept them busy.  They are building a storage/changing area/bathroom at their house by the pool.  Tinsley was "assisting" DD with picking up.