Another surgery, and the begining of many hard times to come.

11:50:00 AM Atticus Army 2 Comments

Hey army,

Well, the week has finally arrived.  We got a call last Friday from the schedulers here at Seattle children's, and she informed us that we needed to check in Monday morning at 7 am and that we would be admitted for 5 days!!! 

This is not a place you EVER see your self having to stay

We, of course, are VERY happy that we ended up here at Seattle Children's, and have been so so impressed with the quality of care we have received.  Without it, we would not have our little Atticus with us today.  Having said that, the prospects of Chemotherapy is somewhat disheartening.  As many of you know, I am in Vet school so I feel like I have somewhat of a grasp on many things the doctors have come to speak with us about.  Having that knowledge has been a boon in many circumstances.  I think, though, that this is not one of them.  I am so grateful for modern medicine and the things that can be done are just miraculous.  I fully understand that we need the treatment that Atticus is about to undergo.  I don't know, I just think there are some hard times to come. 

Well, sure enough, Monday morning came, Emmie and I woke up pretty early to get our bags packed and get ready for the week.  We made it to the hospital shortly before 7 am to get checked in, and we of course were in the wrong area.  Those of you that might have been to Seattle Children's may know, but for the rest of us, it is a pretty big hospital.  We, of course, went to the wrong area of the hospital to check in!!! ARGG...  It may be true that we weren't told, or with all the phone calls we got last week, I very well could have forgotten.  In any case, we ended up on the surgery floor right around 7:15.  We got Atticus checked in and right around 8:30 they took him into surgery to get his Hickman Line placed and get an LP (lumbar puncture).

Momma getting loves before he leaves for surgery.

 Atticus was so funny after they gave him is pre-medication for the surgery.  It took about 10 or 15 minutes to start to kick in and we could for sure tell!!  Just prior to this Atticus had his full grump face out.  But slowly he started to get a little happier and started laughing.  We started to ask him to say things and the funniest one was Dad.  For some reason whenever Dad came up he had to yell it.  Everything else he would say normal but Dad had to be loud.  It was quite comical



The Hickman Line is what they will use for the duration of his treatment.  It will be used for the Chemotherapy drugs, fluids, and blood, plasma, and platelet transfusions.  The Hickman line is a little bit different that the typical port many people think about when you talk about chemo.  Our is what is called a dual lumen Hickman line catheter.  It is pretty nice in that it allows them to do multiple things at the same time.  It enters on the right side of his chest, and the surgeons tunnelled under his skin up towards his neck.  The line enters his right jugular vein, then travels down the vein and stops just above the base of the heart. (fun fact, the base of the heart is the top, or closer to the head.  The bottom of the heart is termed the apex)  Here is a fun little diagram that kind of explains it.








So, finally around 12:30 Atticus was back in our room after receiving his Hickman line, and doing the LP.  They are doing the LP so that they can see if there are any cancerous cells floating around in his spinal fluid.  As you may or may not remember, any primary brain tumor is restricted to the CNS (central nervous system).  So the only places we look for the cancer is in his brain and spinal cord.  So by doing the LP it gives us a good idea if there is a possibility of metastases down the spine.  Today (Tuesday) they will do another MRI - number 5 - and between the LP cytology and the MRI they will determine if there are any or the extent of the metastasis.  That will determine the intensity of the treatment we will start later this evening or tomorrow. 

The rest of Monday was uneventful as far as procedures.  We just got settled into our new room.  Atticus roamed the hallway, and we played soccer a bit.  We meet a few of the other kiddos here at the hospital receiving treatment and many of them have little cars or trikes they roll around in the hall.  It is actually pretty cute.  We are thinking of getting him a little car he can push around the hospital.

Playing soccer

Tuesday

Atticus did so well last night sleeping.  We were finally able to get a bed again and it is so much nicer to have him be able to sleep.  At first, he was having to stay in a crib, and he was up until like 3 in the morning every night screaming and crying.  Enough was enough!!! He is much happier laying next to mom or dad.  In fact, he slept so well last night he didn't even wake up for his vitals check, or when they drew some blood for labs.  It was great. 

This morning we had an audiology screening test.  Some of the medication that he will have to get for his Chemo treatment can cause permanent damage to his hearing.  So prior to starting Chemo, and prior to each of the 6 cycles he will go through they will do the same screening test.  If he starts to lose his hearing they may have to amend his treatment protocol a bit. 

I think that Emmie and I realize that there can, and possible will be some consequences to some of the treatments and medications that he has to go though.  But if you sit back and suppress the frustration, and at times outrage, it is much better to have a son with some hearing deficits, than to not have a son at all.  And quite literally that is the choice we are faced with every day.  There are very few if any things in life that can compare to that choice. 


That about sums it up for the morning, Atticus is laying next to me snoozing away.  They should be starting fluids here in an hour or so, and we will have our MRI this afternoon.  We will let you all know what happens.