Day 2

Wednesday.  The results came back from the CT scan and chest x-ray.  They were negative.  The doctors explained that although leukemia is a cancer of the blood, over time and on occasion, the cancer cells can bunch up and form masses.  They were concerned because Riley's only symptom was the throwing up.  It happened mostly in the mornings.  They said that throwing up can occur beacuse he was lying down and if something is not right in your head, just the act of getting up could cause the throwing up.  They wondered if he had masses in his head or chest.  Thankfully he does not!!  This day would be full of tests and a surgery to insert a port in Riley's chest.  The port is where the chemo, IV's and blood withdrawls would come from, instead of being stuck constantly.  Firsts things first... Riley needed another transfusion of platelets because his count was still too low for surgery.  As they began the transfusion, a person came into the room to do an echo of his heart.  Chemo can mess with your heart, so they needed a baseline echo of his heart to be able to refer back to.  As the lady began the echo, Riley had a bit of a cough.  It got worse quickly and he also developed hives.  The nurses and doctors gather into our room and give him shots of steroids among other medication to calm the reaction.  They had an epi pen ready to use, and then he started to respond to the other medications.  I was standing at the far end of the room at the worst point because the doctors and nurses were helping him and I could hear him wheezing so loudly.  When things calmed down the doctors informed me that Riley had an allergic reaction to the platelets and he would always be pre-medicated with a heavy dose of Tylenol and Benydryl before receiving any blood product from now on. 
Today was a busy day for Riley, but it also was Bryant's 5 year old birthday party that he had been planning on for quite awhile!  We couldn't disappoint!  Vince was at the hospital for awhile and then left to go pick up a cake and get ready for the party.  What an amazing dad!  Nana came over to help Vince out and our neighbor Wendy helped and took pictures for me.  Vince took some video and sent it to me by phone.  I was thankful to see that Bryant was having an amazing day!  He was so happy!! In the meantime Riley was getting ready for surgery.  While they had him under for the port surgery, they also did a bone marrow biopsy and aspirate.   These tests would give them information on what kind of leukemia Riley had.  They also did a spinal tap to take out some spinal fluid to test it for cancer cells.  They replaced the same amount of fluid they took out with chemo.  They do this as a preventative measure in case there are cancer cells or to prevent cancer cells from crossing the barrier into the spinal fluid (which surrounds your spinal cord and brain).

Pre-op. 

After surgery

Riley was amazingly brave and I was so proud of him!!  He is a good sport too, allowing his mom to snap a few pictures.  (Or he just knows me too well :)

(going back to our room after recovery)

It was a big day.  Riley still handling everything so well.  As he chatted with another Eagles fan, you would of never known what kind of a day he had. 

Labs today:

White blood cells: 1.5 (normal 4.5 - 13.5)

Red Blood cells: 8.7 (normal 13.5 - 17.5)
Platelets: 63 (normal 150 - 425)  (1 unit transfused)
ANC: 150 ( < 500 = severely neutropenic)

Blasts:  10