"Just cause we needed a bit more drama"

Good afternoon,

Before anyone panics, this week's drama does not involve me going into early labour in the middle of the night. Rather, it refers to Dane + a tennis racket + lost teeth + trips to the ER and pediatric dentist. Here are the details of the past week ...

Monday through Thursday unfolded very smoothly. Given Dane didn't have any appointments at the Clinic or Hospital, he went to school all day for all four of those days and didn't complain at all of fatigue. He really got back into the routine of classroom time and enjoying recesses outside with his friends. On Tuesday his class went for a long community walk and he fared great.

On Monday and Wednesday we enjoyed visits with Auntie Karen from New Brunswick. Ashley and Dane were very sad when it was time to say good-bye but we reassured them that Uncle Scott, Auntie Karen and Marshall would be here again soon (early July).

On Thursday after school he and his best buddy wanted to play for a bit so they came to our house. I decided to let my guard down and allow them to play tennis in the driveway and as you can likely figure out, this is where the drama unfolded. They had only been playing for a few minutes and must have been a little too close when the accident happened. I heard quite the scream from outside and then they came to the door - Dane with one tooth in his palm, blood on his face and another tooth pushed back in his mouth but still hanging on. They both calmed down very quickly and then it was my turn to panic. I called Dirk and as he later told me, very incoherently told him to get home because there had been an incident involving Dane's face and a tennis racket. So much for my communication skills at that moment! His poor buddy felt so bad and Dane felt bad that his friend felt bad - after the fact it was very touching to watch them react to one another's feelings.

After consultation with the oncology nurse, we headed for the Children's ER for a check-up. Dane was given a dose of antibiotics, his blood was drawn and the decision made to see the dentist on Friday to remove the tooth. The ER was a zoo, but fortunately we by-passed the line and were in and out in about 1.5 hours. We called back later to find out Dane's blood counts, and as suspected, his hemoglobin and platelet counts were just fine. However his neutrophil count was very low, in fact the lowest it had ever been so that was concerning given the mouth is a major potential source of bacterial infection.

We visited the Cancer Clinic the next morning and more blood was drawn. He neutrophils dropped a bit more from the night before, so a decision had to be made whether it was safer to leave the tooth until his counts went up a bit or remove it on Friday. Ultimately the doctor said to have it removed so off we went to visit Dr. Cory for an "extraction". I was dreading the procedure, but it went off without a hitch and Dane didn't complain at all about the freezing. The good news in all of this was the two teeth that were knocked out were baby teeth and on the way out anyways. Dane has continued to take the antibiotics to prevent an infection and we've made it through three days with no sign of a fever at all. If he were to run a temp right now, we'd be back at the ER pronto and there would be no option - he'd be admitted for at least a couple of days. That is the last thing any of us want or need right now, so we're watching him closely.

Dane's energy remains really good and this morning our entire family participated in the MS Walk. The route this year is 6 kms and he walked probably close to 4 kms before he opted for a ride in the wagon. He has rested up the past couple of hours and is now playing his dad Wii NHL 2K9 and likely kickin' butt as usual.

Given how low his neutrophils were this past Friday, he could not start the next round of chemotherapy. He returns to the Cancer Clinic this coming Friday for another check-up, but we are not optimistic he will be ready then either (his neutrophils have to climb from .1 to .75 and that's a pretty big jump in one week). We'll have him at school as much as possible again this week as long as he feels well.

I saw my OB this past Monday and am now really in the home stretch. I'm in my 37th week and he is going to do one last fetal assessment this Tuesday. Our "negotiations" have been very productive and it's highly likely baby "H" will be here within two weeks. If I were not so tired after my 6 km hike earlier today, I'd be doing a happy dance right about now. The time is passing fairly quickly and my pregnancy "purgatory" will be over soon. I know that everyone in our household is looking forward to our little gal's arrival.

Have a good week everyone. I'll post an update after Friday's check-up (barring no more drama occurs in the meantime).

Take care - Janie and Dirk