Tuesday - May 27th

Mathias was discharged from the hospital Sunday and we were able to have Monday at home before having to go back today for his next chemo treatment. They had some difficulty with his lumbar puncture and Mathias had a rough day. He took four hours to wake up and we didn't get home until 4:30, so it was a long day. He is happy now and is playing with his toys. It is now a little after 6:00 and I am so ready for bed right now since I couldn't sleep last night. Hopefully Mathias will want to go to bed early tonight since I work tomorrow. I haven't been to work in over a week, so I am really looking forward to a day out of the house.

Saturday - May 24

Mathias seems to feel better today, but he's still not wanting to eat or drink for me. He hasn't had a fever since last night, but I was just told that we will be staying in the hospital through the weekend. I'm a bit bummed by that, but we'll make the best of it. We'll see what happens on Monday...

Friday-May 23

Mathias is in the hospital. Wednesday night he got a fever and we rushed right in and they started IV antibiotics. His fever went has been going up and down since then. We thought we were going to go home today, but his temp went back up to 102 so they are running some additional tests to check for some possible viral causes (his blood cultures have all been negative so far). Mathias finally ate some McDonalds today after refusing to eat or drink for me for several days, so I was happy about that. Hopefully we will get to go home on Saturday, but we'll see....

May 19th - Monday

7:30 am....Mathias is still sleeping! Yeah! I think he's catching up from the lack of sleep over the last month. Today I have to stay home from work. Everyone that could watch Mathias is sick and we can't afford to expose him to anythig.... so I'll have to work from home. **If any of you out there reading this know of anyone who could help out with caring for Mathias temporarily until he is cleared to go back to his regular daycare, please let me know.** Anyway, tomorrow is Mathias' big day. He starts the next round of chemo. We'll keep our fingers crossed that he tolerates it well. Mathias still has his hair, but I decided this weekend that it is definitely thinning....I wonder if this week is the week it goes??

Friday- May 16th

Great news today! Mathias' bone marrow test from this past Tuesday was again clear and confirms his remission status. We now move ahead with the next phase of treatment. This next Tuesday (May 20th) will be the first day of the next round and it will be a big one. Mathis will receive four different chemotherapy drugs. One in his port, one in his spine, one shot, and one orally. One of these drugs is one that he has not received before and I am concerned how he will tolerate it since a test has revealed that Mathias has a very low level of the enzyme needed to help his body process the drug. For this reason, Mathias will receive a much lower than normal dose. The trick the doctor will have will be to find a dose to be enough for Mathias to obtain a level of the drug to be theraputic, and without giving him too much that would be toxic for his body.

Mathias information to date

April 11th- Mathias was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL).

April 18th-Mathias was discharged after spening 8 days in the hospital. He began receiving chemo treatments immediately. He has received chemotherapy intrathecally (in his spine), through his port, and by injection.

April 22nd-Mathias has a 7 day bone marrow aspiration to see if the chemotherapy is working. He still showed 8% leukemic cells (they want less than 5% to be considered remission), but it was still good news because the number had decreased. So far all Lumbar punctures have been negative for leukemic cells.

April 29th-Mathias has a 14 day bone marrow aspiration, which did not show any leukemic cells in the sample. This was great news and he was then considered in remission. This puts him in the 'early response' to treatment group, as long as his marrow stays clear on the May 13th check. The earlier a patient responds to treatment, the higher the likelihood of successful outcome/prognosis.

May 6th-Mathias has a chemo treatment of Vincrystine and labs drawn. He has one more week of Decadron left (steroid). I cannot wait for him to finish this drug because he has gained so much weight and become so bloated. He went from 27 pounds to 34 pounds in a matter of weeks...for a two year old, that is a LOT! The drug has caused mood swings, trouble sleeping, and a constant hunger. He is often up from 1 or 2am until 4 or 5am...which makes for a long day of work the next day.

May 13th-Mathias had a lumbar puncture today with a chemo treatment intrathecally, along with another bone marrow aspiration. I am hoping to get the results sometime torrow. Yesterday was the last day of the Decadron and I am curious to see when he stops eating everything in site. He still has not lost his hair...

May 14th-Mathias slept through the entire night for the first time in about a month! Most surprising was that he didn't ask for something to eat the moment he woke up. The Decadron is supposed to take about a week for the side effects to fade...luckily for me I have seen improvent in only one day. Mathias had a low fever today (100.5) and I was worried about him. I was told if it got to 101 that he would need to go to the ER for IV antibiotics, but so far it has stayed around 100, so hopefully it will go back down. No news yet on test results from yesterday's bone marrow aspiration. Hopefully they will call me tomorrow and give me some good news.