It Begins

Wednesday evening at Children’s Mercy Kansas City…

Titus was admitted to Children’s Mercy in the late afternoon on Wednesday the 29th of February. We saw the pediatricians immediately upon admission and it was decided that he was to have an MRI Thursday, along with more blood work.

We had a restless night to say the least, not knowing what to expect, or what they would find.

Thursday….

Titus was NPO all day until his MRI in the afternoon…While waiting in radiology with Titus, the Hematology/Oncology Dr. came and spoke with me. He said that a certain blood test showed a blast cell, which is an immature cell, and many times signals leukemia. We were then told that after his MRI the Hem/Onc Doctor was going to perform a bone marrow aspirate/biopsy. This was more than unexpected and was the first realization that this was more than we realized.

Thursday afternoon….20-30 minutes after Titus was back in his room after the procedures.

The Hem/Onc doctors showed up at our room, and took my mom and I (Josh hadn’t arrived yet) to a conference room. The Dr. immediately said they found something unexpected, that he had leukemia. They were still unsure at to the certain type, but upon very first look of the aspirate under the microscope, it was clear what they were seeing.

It was told to us that Titus was to have a spinal tap Friday to determine if his cerebral fluid had any leukemic cells hiding out, along with his first dose of chemo placed directly into the cerebral fluid. Along with this procedure was was to have a port placed in his chest in order to have easy access to give his chemo treatments, draw blood etc.

Friday…

Josh and I spoke with our team of Doctors early Friday afternoon, we were told that Titus has Pre B ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). This type of leukemia requires approximately 3 years of treatment.

His port was placed under general anesthesia, and the spinal tap and chemo was done. According to first look at the spinal fluid, there were no red or white blood cells seen, which would be the first sign of leukemia cells being there. We are still waiting for the final word though. Whether or not there are leukemic cells in his cerebral fluid, he will receive routine chemo treatments there, however if there is no leukemic cells present, the treatment won’t be as aggressive, and more preventative. He also had his first round of chemo given through his port in his chest Friday evening. He has had no adverse reactions, or any reaction that I can tell from it.

Saturday…

Because the chemotherapy kills off leukemic cells fast, there is a chance of Titus to have Tumorlysis syndrome (TLS), which is “a group of metabolic complications that can occur after treatment of cancer. These complications are caused by the break-down products of dying cancer cells and include hyperkalemia, hyperphosphatemia, hyperuricemia and hyperuricosuria, hypocalcemia, and consequent acute uric acid nephropathy andacute renal failure.” (copy and pasted from google)

Because of this he is having very routine blood work done along with medication to help keep the uric acid down.

Sunday….
Titus is more his sweet happy self today. All of his blood work is looking very good, and his doctors said he looks like a different little boy today. With the chemo treatments, they said that his demeanor can change very quickly. His poor little legs had so many leukemic cells, that the pressure from them is what was causing his leg pain. He has not complained about leg pain since late Friday night. Although we have a happy boy right now, we are looking at a long road with
many ups and downs.

Monday…
The plan for tomorrow is to have another dose of chemo, a different med than Friday, and hopefully get more results back from the spinal tap. Depending on his reaction to this chemo, how he looks, if he continues with no fever, and his blood work looks good, he may be able to go home Monday or Tuesday.