High - Dose is right!!

Yes, this part of Noah's treatment is called "High-dose MethoTREXATE" ( I copied the word from the bag and the capitals are just like that on the label. I know. Weird.) He certainly had a high dose!
That big bag of yellow stuff is the chemo they are giving him this round. He gets two bags like that over 23 hrs- 1.6 litres each - and then they do bloodwork to see how much is in his system. After that they super hydrate him to get it all OUT of his system. Hopefully his kidneys are working well enough that he can get it all out within 2-3 days, and then we can go home!

He is done the chemo part, so now his sole job is to pee. A lot. They come to remind him every two hours and even wake him up every two hours at night! I guess it can't sit in his bladder for very long, and they just want it out of him. It is a very strange thing. Pump him full of it as quickly as possible then get it out of him as quickly as possible, because it is toxic.

He was funny tonight - we were discussing how his urine is the same colour as the chemo and he said, "it practically is just chemo. I think they re-use it!" He said this because he has to pee in a bottle and the nurses have to test it to make sure he is hydrated enough (he probably isn't - he hasn't been drinking anything, either) and that it isn't too acidic or alkaline, etc, so he was imagining them just collecting all of his urine and, well, you get the picture....

We arrived yesterday in the morning and thanks to John Bakker, who gave us a ride to the hospital from the airport, we were way early for Noah's 11:30 appointment. As usual, Noah got sick while we were at home - it happens every time- so we had to sit out in the hallway with all of our luggage until they had an isolation room ready. It wasn't so bad, but every one who walked by had a comment, which I found strange, this being Vancouver and all, where no one even acknowledges you with eye contact, let alone speaks to you!

When we did get in to the clinic, they were getting ready for Noah's LP when the nurses realized the pharmacy had missed making the chemo. So they quickly got that together (as quickly as something like that can happen) but by the time he went in for the LP, it was about 1:30. Here is where his not having an appetite was a good thing - he needed to be fasting for 6 hours prior to the LP which was supposed to happen at 11:30, so he didn't drink or eat anything since the night before- he didn't care that it was late. In fact he was quite pleased. He is a bit of a brat....

Thankfully, we had a distraction. We had some pretty special visitors, all the way from Indonesia! Gregg and Sylvia Faddegon, Sharon Endacott's parents, came to see us at the clinic. They knew their way around the place because about 10 yrs ago, their daughter Jessica was diagnosed with cancer while they were teaching in India, and they rushed back to Canada so she could be treated at Children's. Some of the nurses even remembered them. It was a very nice visit; even though we had never met, there was a bond between us right away. And once more, I wish I had taken a photo.

I think about that every time someone visits. After they leave, of course.... : ( It would be so nice to have a physical record of each visit; there have been so many special people who have made a special trip to the hospital or to RMH to come and see us, give us a hug and pray with us. We love having visitors. So thanks to each one of you who has made the trip to visit us or just fit us in while you were here; we really appreciate it! (....and thanks for the IceCapp tonight, Uncle Ken and Aunty Helene. Yum!)
Well, I should probably get to bed before the nurse comes in to wake Noah up. It is almost time to pee again... oops, here she is... good night all!