Admitted: May 8

From the very beginning of our treatment here at BCCH, we have been looking forward to this day, "Day 29" of his treatment plan. The real 29th day of his treatment will be this Saturday, May 10th. The clinic is not open for procedures that day, nor will it be open tomorrow because the clinic will be closed for a department-wide conference/training/development day. So today, Day 27, he received his "End of Induction" procedures - a lumbar puncture (LP) to extract spinal fluid to check it for bad cells, and a bone marrow biopsy, to ensure that the first phase of chemo was successful to bring him to remission.

He has had 3 LPs in the past 4 weeks. The first one was on the very first day we arrived at BCCH. It was done to check his cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) for cancer cells, and to inject chemo (intrathecal cytarabine, IT-ARAC) directly into the spinal chord as a precaution, in case the cancer was present there. He had another of these procedures done on Day 8, this time receiving intrathecal methotrexate (IT-MTX). Both times, there have been no signs of cancer in his CSF. It is expected that this test will continue to show negative results. Today he received his second dose of IT-MTX.

As today is not officially the 29th day, he will need to have 3 more doses (morning and bedtime on Friday, and morning on Saturday) of DEX, a powerful cancer fighting steroid . DEX really does a number on kids emotionally and physically.

7:54 am
Clinic procedure appointment at 8:00 am, as planned!

8:42 am
His procedure just started, will be done in about 15 minutes. Some results will be available throughout the day, others by end of tomorrow.

8:46 am (Paul)
When we arrived here at BCCH exactly four weeks ago, we started off in Room 5 in the Oncology Clinic/Intake Ward. On this (hopefully) last day of "Induction" we are in the same room. Full circle. We sat in this room wondering what was wrong with him a month ago and today we're hoping to hear that the bad is gone!

The procedure went well. The first thing he said when he woke up was "NOW can I have some Rice Krispies?"

He's been having some issues with pooping since the onset of his dehydration. We were quite happy to hear that he pooped a bit during his procedure, as it showed that his "lazy gut" was awakening. He pooped lots today, though we are still waiting for more gas and stool to clear his system. Poor little bubs ... his itty bitty body has been through so much.