Days 11-17 - Just Waiting

The last several days have all started to blend together while we just sit around and wait. We’ve been waiting for test result after test result, and nothing seems to come back conclusive, or quickly for that matter. Patrick has had a lot of tests run recently, starting with a skin biopsy on his rash. It was done early last week, and we just got the results reinforcing the assumption that the rash is an allergic reaction, probably to one of his antibiotics. It’s uncomfortable for Patrick and the doctors have told him they’re going to keep him pumped full of Benadryl as opposed to pulling him off the medication since his immune system is so low. He can’t afford to be off of the antibiotic and risk infection. So all we can do it wait.

Patrick is still running a temperature on and off and the doctors are running test after test to try to find the cause. They put in another pick line, but this one is clear…no infection there. They’ve done blood work, but can’t seem to find anything there. They’ve done a chest x-ray to check for any infection hiding in his lungs, and nothing there either. The doctors are pretty stumped, and are continuing to tweak his antibiotics to hopefully catch whatever bug is causing the fever, but for now…of course, we just wait.

On top of the rash and the fever, Patrick is suffering from headaches, and this has really stumped the doctors. Headaches aren’t a common side effect of chemo and Patrick doesn’t have a history of them. They have tried using pain medication to knock them out, but all they do is knock Patrick out. They ran a brain scan to check for internal bleeding, but considering we’re still waiting for those results, we’re pretty sure everything checked out ok. So, again, with no medical reason for his headache, Patrick keeps getting knocked out with pain medication and we… just…wait!

Patrick also had a bone marrow biopsy done on Friday, day 14 of his treatment course. The lower the levels the better the results so that all the cancer cells are wiped out and all the good stuff can grow back normally. The result of the biopsy will have a large impact on the course of future treatments, so we’re really anxious to get them back. No word yet though, so we…say it with me…WAIT!

I wish I could say all this hasn’t taken a toll on Patrick, but that would be quite a large lie! (Love you, Patrick) He’s tired, he’s itchy, his head hurts, he’s nauseous, and all that makes him grumpy! Thankfully, though, he still knows this is all just a means to an end, and that end is going to be Patrick kicking leukemia in the face! No doubt it’ll happen, but unfortunately it’s not going to happen overnight so we all just have to wait. :)