Alex's friends designed the squares for this friendship quilt. 88 squares of support and positive energy!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sorry we haven't been good about posting updates on the blog. When we were in the US, I guess I thought of the blog as a way of letting everyone in HK know what's going on with Alex but I suddenly realized all our family and friends in the US (as well as HK) are probably checking the blog. Sorry about that!
As I mentioned before, Alex is now in the Interim Maintenance phase of his treatment. This is a milder phase with mostly oral medications (still chemo drugs) and a lumbar puncture once a month. During this phase the body has time to recover and blood counts can come back up a bit. Alex has been to the hospital here in HK 3 times for blood counts (good and improving each time) and once for a lumbar puncture and to have his port flushed. We are finding that although we can continue his treatment here, the way things are done are a bit different. Nothing major but it seems like we spend a lot more time waiting around for doctors and results.
Although Alex should be feeling fine during this phase, he is actually still very nauseated and vomits frequently. The doctors are not sure what is going on as he has been on anti nausea meds and they don't seem to help. The doctor here has reduced the dosage of his chemo drugs hoping that will help. A lot of it is anxiety so that is tougher to deal with than simply reducing his meds.
Since being back in HK, he has met up with some friends and has gone out a little bit. For the most part he is at home resting. He will try going to school but is afraid he can't control the vomiting and he says he has difficulty with reading. Things seem muddled. He'll be taking two classes. This way he can have something to focus on besides his health and graduate! The school has been amazing in working with Alex. Hopefully, he can enjoy what is left of his senior year.
Delayed Intensification (Re-induction and Re-consolidation) will start on February 17th. This means everything we did in Utah will be repeated for another 7 weeks. He's been through it so he kind of knows what to expect. After that he will be on Maintenance for the rest of the 24 months from when he started chemo. We have been told Maintenance should be very easy. Life should be pretty normal. We just need to fix the nausea.
We'll keep you posted!
As I mentioned before, Alex is now in the Interim Maintenance phase of his treatment. This is a milder phase with mostly oral medications (still chemo drugs) and a lumbar puncture once a month. During this phase the body has time to recover and blood counts can come back up a bit. Alex has been to the hospital here in HK 3 times for blood counts (good and improving each time) and once for a lumbar puncture and to have his port flushed. We are finding that although we can continue his treatment here, the way things are done are a bit different. Nothing major but it seems like we spend a lot more time waiting around for doctors and results.
Although Alex should be feeling fine during this phase, he is actually still very nauseated and vomits frequently. The doctors are not sure what is going on as he has been on anti nausea meds and they don't seem to help. The doctor here has reduced the dosage of his chemo drugs hoping that will help. A lot of it is anxiety so that is tougher to deal with than simply reducing his meds.
Since being back in HK, he has met up with some friends and has gone out a little bit. For the most part he is at home resting. He will try going to school but is afraid he can't control the vomiting and he says he has difficulty with reading. Things seem muddled. He'll be taking two classes. This way he can have something to focus on besides his health and graduate! The school has been amazing in working with Alex. Hopefully, he can enjoy what is left of his senior year.
Delayed Intensification (Re-induction and Re-consolidation) will start on February 17th. This means everything we did in Utah will be repeated for another 7 weeks. He's been through it so he kind of knows what to expect. After that he will be on Maintenance for the rest of the 24 months from when he started chemo. We have been told Maintenance should be very easy. Life should be pretty normal. We just need to fix the nausea.
We'll keep you posted!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Happy New Year Greetings from Hong Kong!! That's right, Alex and I arrived back in Hong Kong on New Year's eve.
The few days from Christmas eve until just before we left were difficult for Alex as the nausea kicked in. He wasn't able to keep any food or liquids down and lost about 4 pounds in a couple of days. We checked in with the doctor on Monday, Dec 28th. His blood counts were okay enough to make the trip home, but he was a bit dehydrated so they gave him IV fluids to help him out.
It was a bit hairy at the airport in SLC as Alex was having a hard time so early in the morning. He said, " We should've waited. I can't do this." Our flight was just before 7am so that meant getting up at 4am and heading out of the house by 4:30am. There was a snow storm that morning so the roads were pretty bad. But he managed to get on the plane and slept on the way to San Francisco. Once at SFO, he parked himself in a chair and tried to rest. Gary, in the meantime, managed to get Alex and I upgraded to Business class. Once Alex heard this, he was all excited. For the first hour on the plane he was like a kid in a candy and toy store. He kept commenting on how roomy it was and how nice it was that the chair could be made into a flat bed. The distraction was a welcome respite from all of the nausea. For the first time in days, he drank and ate and was able to keep most of it down!
Since being back in HK, Alex has been able to meet up with a couple of friends and spend time reconnecting. School has started but everyone is preparing for finals week next week so Alex is not back to school yet.
We met with the doctors here yesterday and they seem confident about continuing his treatment here as outlined in the protocol from the US. Alex still has a hard time mentally with doctors, nurses, hospitals,etc. Although the nausea seemed to be getting better over the weekend, he had a hard time yesterday at the hospital. Once home, it was much better again.
Guess that's it for now. We are trying to get into a routine now that we are home.
Thanks again for all of your good wishes and prayers. We wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2010!
The few days from Christmas eve until just before we left were difficult for Alex as the nausea kicked in. He wasn't able to keep any food or liquids down and lost about 4 pounds in a couple of days. We checked in with the doctor on Monday, Dec 28th. His blood counts were okay enough to make the trip home, but he was a bit dehydrated so they gave him IV fluids to help him out.
It was a bit hairy at the airport in SLC as Alex was having a hard time so early in the morning. He said, " We should've waited. I can't do this." Our flight was just before 7am so that meant getting up at 4am and heading out of the house by 4:30am. There was a snow storm that morning so the roads were pretty bad. But he managed to get on the plane and slept on the way to San Francisco. Once at SFO, he parked himself in a chair and tried to rest. Gary, in the meantime, managed to get Alex and I upgraded to Business class. Once Alex heard this, he was all excited. For the first hour on the plane he was like a kid in a candy and toy store. He kept commenting on how roomy it was and how nice it was that the chair could be made into a flat bed. The distraction was a welcome respite from all of the nausea. For the first time in days, he drank and ate and was able to keep most of it down!
Since being back in HK, Alex has been able to meet up with a couple of friends and spend time reconnecting. School has started but everyone is preparing for finals week next week so Alex is not back to school yet.
We met with the doctors here yesterday and they seem confident about continuing his treatment here as outlined in the protocol from the US. Alex still has a hard time mentally with doctors, nurses, hospitals,etc. Although the nausea seemed to be getting better over the weekend, he had a hard time yesterday at the hospital. Once home, it was much better again.
Guess that's it for now. We are trying to get into a routine now that we are home.
Thanks again for all of your good wishes and prayers. We wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2010!
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