2005 Journal Entries

Archie is doing really well! He had his second clinic visit today since being discharged from the hospital following his second course of chemotherapy. Archie’s blood counts look good: His hemoglobin is holding steady; his platelets are dropping; and his white blood cell count and ACG is bottoming out. In other words, Archie is responding favorably to his chemotherapy drugs.

“Archie, you look great,” Dr. Stroud exclaimed. He must have meant hematologically great because to me Archie looks as if he’s been abused. Even the lightest touch leaves Archie’s skin bruised or freckled with petechia.

Because his platelets were so low today, Archie received a transfusion. In a child Archie’s size, platelet transfusions take approximately four hours to be completed. He is always given Tylenol and Benadryl before the transfusion is begun to aid in lessening any adverse side effects. The Benadryl normally lulls Archie to sleep, but today he stayed awake for the entire transfusion and repeatedly tried to pull the needle from his port. When we left the clinic Archie furiously signed, “Finished! No more!” and shaking his finger no, no, no during our elevator ride to the first floor.

That is par for the course these days, though, as Archie is so full of energy and just plain happy. I hardly know this baby, but I really do like him. He crawls everywhere, fast, and is trying to pull up on things again. When I think back now I can’t remember exactly when Archie stopped bearing weight on his legs, but I think it was sometime early last spring. Had I been honest with myself then I may have been able to admit out loud that Archie wasn’t acting quite right, that maybe something was wrong with him even if I wasn’t really sure what. I knew in my heart that something was wrong, that maybe it was the Big Something I’ve feared since Archie was born, but if I could ignore it long enough maybe it would just go away. Archie’s doctors say now that my hunch was probably right, that the unprecedented amount of platelets released into Archie’s peripheral blood following his first round of chemotherapy suggest that the cancer was probably hiding in Archie's body for a long time before it appeared in his blood cultures, stashing away cells in his spleen and liver. Whatever was happening then, Archie is doing very well now. He is so aware and so pleased to be who he is. We would all be lucky if we had the same outlook on life as my son.

Archie has another appointment at the clinic Thursday morning to check his counts and transfuse again if necessary. Maybe after his appointment’s finished he can visit me and his new siblings. Yes, Archie’s scheduled to become a big brother tomorrow afternoon when his brother and sister arrive by way of c-section. How fortunate these babies are to have such an extraordinary older brother!