Some of life with childhood cancer

More childhood cancer awareness.

If you click on this picture, you'll notice a few things that tell about living with childhood cancer.

First, you'd notice Anthony's two straight, horizontal lines on his chest.

Those are pockets where Anthony has had/still has a port-a-cath under the skin.

Anthony is on his 3rd port right now. 

His first port lasted 18 months, then broke.

That was taken out, then replaced with a new port that only lasted 2 weeks before causing a life/death infection.

Because of that infection, Anthony developed at least one serious clot in his neck.

To treat the infection, I had to administer IV antibiotics every 8 hours for 6 weeks.

Plus, to shrink the clot, and to help prevent future clots, I have to give Anthony shots of anti-coagulant (anti-clot) medication TWICE A DAY until he doesn't need a port anymore...in about 2 years.

Next, you'll maybe notice the wrap on Anthony's arm.

That is from the twice-monthly labs that Anthony needs.

We go to the lab when Crystal is there. 

She is an expert on Anthony's hard-to-find veins.

He loves his pretty Crystal.  :)

Labwork is necessary to make sure Anthony's immunity levels are at the right level, not too high, not too low. 

When the counts are high, chemo can be increased in dose.

When counts are low, chemo can be stopped, and anytime Anthony develops a fever, he'll be admitted to the hospital for a minimum of 2 days.

Third, you may notice Anthony's open-heart surgery scar. 

That's not related to his leukemia.

But, it is affected by the leukemia.

The chemotherapy that is saving Anthony's life can be toxic (hurtful) for Anthony's fragile, fixed heart.

No additional damage there so far, but Anthony's right ear has severe to profound hearing loss because of the chemo.

Lastly, you might notice Andy's sticker.

Andy gave blood the day this picture was taken.

When cancer patients go through treatment, they OFTEN need blood or blood products.

I really don't know how many times Anthony received transfusions of red blood or platelets.

Besides the typical medical staff, Anthony's life has been saved over and over...by those who have donated their blood.

Thank you if you have donated.

Ok, a few more things about childhood cancer.

With Anthony's cancer, we travel to Seattle (3 hour drive each way) every 4 weeks, like clockwork. 

NOTHING short of a natural disaster should interfere with this schedule.

While in Seattle, Anthony gets his labwork checked, sees his specialists, and gets chemo injected into his port.

Every three months, Anthony is also sedated so they can INJECT chemo into his SPINE, to protect his central nervous system from developing leukemia.

I didn't take a picture, but we have a FULL shoebox of medicines for Anthony.

Some are chemotherapy that we administer here at home.  Those are in pill form that I crush and mix with cherry syrup.

Some are vitamins.

Some are medications to alleviate possible side effects of chemo medicines.

One is a calcium supplement.

Did you know that one kind of chemo strips the calcium out of your bones? 

If you don't replenish that calcium, it is so simple to have a broken back just from bending over or picking something up...true story, but not us.

One last thing, when I'm waiting for counts from labwork, I am sometimes a wreck.

I overanalyze, and worry when Anthony's counts don't stay stable.

I worry that when he can't have chemo until his counts go back up because of a cold, that he'll relapse.

Then, I worry because his counts shoot sky-high, and I wonder what that means.

Cancer has taken its toll, but we are all so grateful to have our baby still with us.

We are the lucky ones.