Chemo Summary
Mark your calendars
Pre-Op visit

A few people have been asking about his chemo schedule. Of course the doctors like to tell me to "pencil it all in" as everything can change at a moment's notice. It makes it hard to plan things some times, but really, what else are we doing besides focusing on getting better!

In an easy summary, here is what it looks like, and all chemo treatments are inpatient. We usually go in Tuesdays but we never really know when we will get to go home.

Week 1: Doxorubicin/Cisplatin; 2 nights in a row plus recovery.
Week 2: Off; clinic visits for blood draws and check ups
Week 3: Off; clinic visits for blood draws and check ups
Week 4: Methotrexate; one 4 hour infusion starting at 4pm, blood tests every day at 4pm until methotrexate has cleared from his body.
Week 5: Methotrexate again, same as week 4.
Start all over again.

We are currently in our second week 4, he was infused with his methotrexate yesterday at 4pm. Now he gets tested at 4pm every day until he clears. Because it took so long to clear the first time, now they give him even more IV fluids to wash it all out. Methotrexate is damaging to the kidneys, and they need to make sure all is functioning well before they send him home. Here is a super exciting twelve page essay on it if you want to read more on it.

Such a gross colour, after an hour or so, Atticus starts turning yellow as well. Quite unpleasant.

This week we also visited OHSU for the pre-op appointments for his upcoming limb salvage surgery. We saw the pre-op nurse practitioner who gave him the once over and asked a bunch of questions to make sure he was well enough for surgery, then we visited the surgeon himself. We always enjoy visiting with him, he is so gentle and kind and you can tell he really loves what he does. We have also heard such great things about him from one of the surgical nurses before Atticus' biopsy, and others who have worked with him. He never talks over our heads, explains things so we understand it, shows us pictures and makes sure we are comfortable with what is happening.

Save the Date! Atticus gets his new bionic leg!

I told you the chemo schedule above... but remember, I said write it in pencil! We are in methotrexate right now, he will get another dose next week Tuesday. Usually, we would go in the following week (which would be the first week of April) for the dox/cisplatin. However, it's easier to re-schedule chemo than it is to re-schedule a surgeon and operating room; so our case worker did some rearranging so that Atticus' blood counts would be up and he wouldn't be neutropenic by surgery date. The first week of April we will be going in to get new test results and scans for the surgeon to look at before his surgery. When the surgeon approves Atticus to continue treatment (they guess around two weeks) we go back into Randall and continue the chemo. More on surgery and chemo another time.

We have just been hanging in there. Atticus is still trying to work on some schooling, visiting friends, and just focusing on getting better. The outpouring of love on my family the last three months has been amazing - even if you think it's too small or "not much" it always means so much to us and we are so grateful. From the "small" (just even a text or a funny video sent to me) to the extravagant, gifts left by grocery angels, we appreciate it so much and hold you all so dear to our hearts.