Good morning from H-town. Luke is continuing with chemo sometime today, he had an "off" day yesterday, no chemo just antibiotics and pills. He slept most of the day and slowly returned texts and emails---if you didn't hear from him, and it is urgent, feel free to reach out to any of the family, if he's napping he'll get to it eventually.
The always awesome, Mr. Michael Hannon, came to visit which seemed to perk Luke up. His runner-up mom, Traci, also stopped by, which always makes Luke smile.
We watched the announcement from the conclave in the Vatican, Luke decided that if left up to him, the papal name would've been Boris----it is also a great name (the Boris part, not Pope) for a new rescue dog (hint hint hint Dad).
The news this morning is that Luke should be (fingers crossed) discharged tomorrow!!!! He will have to be back at MDA every other day for chemo, but there is nothing better than being in your own bed and getting rid of beeping machines and blood draws at 4am.
Loads of gratitude for all of your love and support! In addition to everything that you do for Luke, MDA is always in need of blood---please donate at an MDA facility, there are two in the medical center (MD Anderson - How/Where You Can Donate Blood).
The Novick Fam
(EB)
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Tuesday.....an ok day!
The best news was the spinal fluid was clear, the leukemia does not appear to have migrated north. Over the months ahead they will continue to sample spinal fluid and give chemo in the spine to keep the cancer out of the brain. More good news was that for the first time since arriving Luke did not spike a temperature in the evening or during the night. Blood counts will start to drop with the start of chemo. For now counts are low but ok.
The best news was the spinal fluid was clear, the leukemia does not appear to have migrated north. Over the months ahead they will continue to sample spinal fluid and give chemo in the spine to keep the cancer out of the brain. More good news was that for the first time since arriving Luke did not spike a temperature in the evening or during the night. Blood counts will start to drop with the start of chemo. For now counts are low but ok.
Luke started on prednisone.
Appetite will pick up and with the water retention so will Luke’s resemblance
to the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
Luke is doing. For most
of the afternoon and evening the nausea kicked in. Not much of an appetite. He did occasionally check
text messages and emails which generated a few smiles. By late evening he felt well enough to
disconnect from the pumps and get into the shower.
The IV’s and pills are endless. Along with chemo he is getting deluged with
antibiotics, stuff for nausea and a lot of meds to enhance and address the adverse
effects of the chemo. It seems like a new IV bag is hung every hour around the
clock. Chemo wise he got Vincristine and Doxorubin Monday . Yesterday it was Erwinia. I think today the Erwinia gets repeated.
Ian, who heads up the Arts in Medicine for pediatrics, stopped
by. Luke and Ian share the common bond
of music. Ian was on the floor for a clinic
and invited Luke to drop by and hang out.
At the time Luke was feeling the chemo effect and had to pass.
Kendall is heading back to Denver today. Beth remains in Houston able to work here from her
laptop and phone. Kate will arrive on
Friday when her school starts their spring break. Gayle returned home for the first time since
Saturday morning. Hopefully had a good tub soak and a glass of wine. She'll be back down to MDA this morning.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Round 1.........
After speaking with Dr. Wells yesterday the family went down to the waiting area for guitar therapy. Luke played while Gayle and the girls colored (crayons and coloring books - just one of the benefits of the pediatric floor) .
Early evening Luke experienced a lot of pain and spiked a temperature. A Nurse Practitioner in the area stepped up and gave the attending a crash course in pain management (it is great to have those NP's on family staff). By 9 things were under control. Before the evening's chemical cocktails Luke had a hors d'oeuvre for nausea. The first chemo bag was hungby the chimney with care (whoops - seasonal mix-up), the second cocktail followed 30 minutes later. Nothing new with the cocktails, Luke has indulged in both on his previous stays.
Luke had a late dinner and retired for the night.
Dr. Wells is going to hammer the asshat over the next 30 days. Luke is ready for the fight. Please let him know he is in your thoughts and prayers. Don't hesitate to comment on the blog, after completing 3.3649 semesters of college he reads very well. He is frequently on Facebook, if you see him there say hello. His email is lucasdnovick@gmail.com, drop him a note, a joke, a picture or any irrelevant information (the more irrelevant the better)....we love laugh out loud vidoes. If you would like to visit, please call first as the activities tend to change and with chemo starting he may not be up for company.
Dave
After speaking with Dr. Wells yesterday the family went down to the waiting area for guitar therapy. Luke played while Gayle and the girls colored (crayons and coloring books - just one of the benefits of the pediatric floor) .
Early evening Luke experienced a lot of pain and spiked a temperature. A Nurse Practitioner in the area stepped up and gave the attending a crash course in pain management (it is great to have those NP's on family staff). By 9 things were under control. Before the evening's chemical cocktails Luke had a hors d'oeuvre for nausea. The first chemo bag was hung
Luke had a late dinner and retired for the night.
Dr. Wells is going to hammer the asshat over the next 30 days. Luke is ready for the fight. Please let him know he is in your thoughts and prayers. Don't hesitate to comment on the blog, after completing 3.3649 semesters of college he reads very well. He is frequently on Facebook, if you see him there say hello. His email is lucasdnovick@gmail.com, drop him a note, a joke, a picture or any irrelevant information (the more irrelevant the better)....we love laugh out loud vidoes. If you would like to visit, please call first as the activities tend to change and with chemo starting he may not be up for company.
Dave
Monday, March 11, 2013
Bring on the drugs....
Dr. Wells came by and met with Luke and went over the plan. He will start chemo tonight. He will remain in the hospital until Friday, at least.
Luke has his phone and laptop and is texting, emailing and on Facebook. I have no idea how he will react to the different drugs this time, so feel free to contact dad, mom, Kendall or me as needed, keep in mind that he may not respond if he's resting or in the middle of treatment (or just sitting being awesome).
Much love,
EB
Luke has his phone and laptop and is texting, emailing and on Facebook. I have no idea how he will react to the different drugs this time, so feel free to contact dad, mom, Kendall or me as needed, keep in mind that he may not respond if he's resting or in the middle of treatment (or just sitting being awesome).
Much love,
EB
No real news yet. We meet with Dr. Wells at 4pm.
Dr. Wells did come by to say he was going to do Luke's LP and that coming back from vacation finding Luke here was not something he expected.
The LP was done and the PIC is in so we are waiting for Luke to return to his room. Coming out of the anesthetic it was reported Luke mumbled something about wanting 72 virgins and a coke---that is a soda or a pop for those not in Texas.
Patrick from the blood bank stopped by this morning. He summed leukemia up.....its a disease to which logic does not apply. Why Luke, why now, we will never have an answer.
Other than the chemo, that was given intrathecal (directly into his spinal fluid) when they did the LP, other drugs have not started. The first round is expected to start later today after we meet with Dr. Wells. If the protocol is the same as 2009 Luke will probably be resident at MDA until Friday or Saturday.
By the way Friday is National Asshat t-shirt day. Send Luke a picture of you in your shirt @ lucasdnovick@gmail.com
Dr. Wells did come by to say he was going to do Luke's LP and that coming back from vacation finding Luke here was not something he expected.
The LP was done and the PIC is in so we are waiting for Luke to return to his room. Coming out of the anesthetic it was reported Luke mumbled something about wanting 72 virgins and a coke---that is a soda or a pop for those not in Texas.
Patrick from the blood bank stopped by this morning. He summed leukemia up.....its a disease to which logic does not apply. Why Luke, why now, we will never have an answer.
Other than the chemo, that was given intrathecal (directly into his spinal fluid) when they did the LP, other drugs have not started. The first round is expected to start later today after we meet with Dr. Wells. If the protocol is the same as 2009 Luke will probably be resident at MDA until Friday or Saturday.
By the way Friday is National Asshat t-shirt day. Send Luke a picture of you in your shirt @ lucasdnovick@gmail.com
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Sunday about 2pm Houston time. Overall a good night. Spiked a temperature but they able to get in under control. Head looked ok on CT scan. Chest fluid is there but chest pain has eased up. He was encouraged to walk halls laps (and did) to move the fluid in his lungs.
Luke started a med today in preparation of starting chemo tomorrow. What he got will minimize problems with the liver processing cell byproducts from chemo.
Tomorrow Luke will get his PIC and they will do the LP. Spinal fluid from the LP will tell the docs a lot. While they have the needle in the spine they will inject chemo in the spine to get at any leukemia cells that might be in the brain.
Won't know where we go from here until meeting with Dr. Well's tomorrow. Regardless the first step will be to get the cancer in remission with no blast cells showing up in his bone marrow. In the bone marrow taken Friday the blast cells were at 73%. Blast cells in his blood are around 4%.
In Luke's first go-round with ALL a bone marrow transplant was presented as the protocol if he did not respond to conventional chemo or relapsed a sort time after going into remission. There is literature out there that patients that stay in remission for an extended period after chemo respond favorably to second round of conventional chemo.
Dr.Wells failed to relieve Luke of all his hair follicles last time around. Will see if he is going to take that as a challenge and go after complete baldness this time...ha!
Luke's spirits are good. Brought a guitar down for him. Hasn't gotten the guitar out yet but he did convince his nurse to remove the IV line in his left elbow so he can play. Attending came in with residences and saw the guitar. Asked Luke if he knew "Alleluia" and said he would be back later with the expectation that Luke will play.
.
Luke started a med today in preparation of starting chemo tomorrow. What he got will minimize problems with the liver processing cell byproducts from chemo.
Tomorrow Luke will get his PIC and they will do the LP. Spinal fluid from the LP will tell the docs a lot. While they have the needle in the spine they will inject chemo in the spine to get at any leukemia cells that might be in the brain.
Won't know where we go from here until meeting with Dr. Well's tomorrow. Regardless the first step will be to get the cancer in remission with no blast cells showing up in his bone marrow. In the bone marrow taken Friday the blast cells were at 73%. Blast cells in his blood are around 4%.
In Luke's first go-round with ALL a bone marrow transplant was presented as the protocol if he did not respond to conventional chemo or relapsed a sort time after going into remission. There is literature out there that patients that stay in remission for an extended period after chemo respond favorably to second round of conventional chemo.
Dr.Wells failed to relieve Luke of all his hair follicles last time around. Will see if he is going to take that as a challenge and go after complete baldness this time...ha!
Luke's spirits are good. Brought a guitar down for him. Hasn't gotten the guitar out yet but he did convince his nurse to remove the IV line in his left elbow so he can play. Attending came in with residences and saw the guitar. Asked Luke if he knew "Alleluia" and said he would be back later with the expectation that Luke will play.
.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Luke has been checked in to MDA. He is dealing with multiple issues. They are doing a CT of his head and chest today to confirm and/or rule out potential issues. His pain meds were upped and he a bit more comfortable.
His oncologist is out of town so treatment is on hold until Monday. He will get an LP first thing Monday to see if any cancer cells are in the brain and then we will meet with Dr. Wells to figure out where things go from here. Kendal and Beth are in town so Luke is not lacking for attention and nagging.
On February 26 Luke posted on his Facebook page "in remissions 4 years".... who would have thought he'd be in MDA two weeks later.
His oncologist is out of town so treatment is on hold until Monday. He will get an LP first thing Monday to see if any cancer cells are in the brain and then we will meet with Dr. Wells to figure out where things go from here. Kendal and Beth are in town so Luke is not lacking for attention and nagging.
On February 26 Luke posted on his Facebook page "in remissions 4 years".... who would have thought he'd be in MDA two weeks later.
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