Wow, we made it – Day 0! I cannot find the words to express how emotional I am today. My heart is filled with relieve, joy, happiness, love, faith, and perhaps most importantly – HOPE.
On Friday night William finished up with his last infusion of Busulfan and Topotecan. As you can tell by the wonderful goofy smile on William’s face in the photo, he was still coping well with the side effects. Actually, up to this point he was still eating and even managed to spend a couple of hours with the other transplant kids in the play room.
On Saturday, the dreaded Melphalan chemo was administered and even though William consumed plenty of popsicles and ice chips prior to receiving the chemo (minimizes blood flow in mouth tissue thus minimizing the blisters and sores) he was in absolute pain within a few hours of receiving this horrid chemo.
Yesterday, after the second day of receiving Melphalan, William not only struggled with the Mucositis (ulcers in mouth, digestive track and throat) but also diarrhea, constant vomiting, painful hiccups, and migraines. - - Sigh - -
Due to pain related to the act of swallowing, William is no longer eating and a IV nutrition is being given 18 hours a day. William has also been given a ‘Happy Button’ that allows him to infuse pain medicine at his leisure and need by simply pressing a little button.
To assist with pain management and decrease the Mucositis related inflammation in William’s throat, he receives 3 daily inhaler treatments of Decadron (steroids) William’s nausea levels are the worst I have ever seen, and he is currently being given Reglan, Benedryl, Merinol, Kytril, Scopolomine (patch stuck behind the ear) and a Promethazine. Unfortunately, none of these are 100% effective and William still struggles with near constant vomiting.
So, here we are on the morning of Day 0 and just a few hours away from the transplant! Just like June 22, 2002, today will forever be seen and celebrated as William’s birthday. Today, William will be given the miracle and gift of live.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers today!
I will update the blog again tomorrow.
This is William's journey and we will Keep on Keepin on' and Live Strong with God in our hearts and courage in our souls
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