A rough start to the 2nd round of chemo

The last couple of days were busy, as Austin had to complete some tests before starting his next round of chemo. It is nice to have his grandma and grandpa here for a visit, although they have seen very little of him because of visitor restrictions on his ward (no visitors allowed!!). However, they were able to accompany us in "the waiting game" during Austin's eye exam and hearing test. The hearing test has shown some high-frequency hearing loss - but nothing overly concerning at this point. We also had a visit from Shelly and her daughter Danica (who has completed treatment at Sick-Kids for a Wilms tumour). Austin is not feeling very well, though, so he does not like leaving his room. This makes visiting short and difficult for him to do as he has to actually go out of the ward to see anyone. Of course this is only when he is not in an isolation unit.

Today marks the first day of Austin's second round of chemotherapy. It began with the cisplatin bag of chemo breaking and leaking during infusion, which caused a bit of a panic on the ward. Today was a bit more difficult compared to first round, as Austin experienced some breathing difficulty and a drop in blood pressure. He also had a spike in fever which put him right back on antibiotics. Austin's TPN (IV food) was restarted today because severe nausea from the chemo drugs does not allow for any nutritional intake on his part. He even throws up (bile) when he hasn't eaten, which is very unpleasant to say the least. He is on 4 different anti-nausea drugs to try and make things more comfortable for him. This high-dose chemotherapy really is horrible - I would never have imagined it would be this bad!!! I can tell when the drugs hit his veins because of the way his body reacts. Hopefully tomorrows chemo will be a bit easier for my little soldier (so he can keep fighting and destroying those cancer cells)!!!!!!

Shelly and Danica visit