Thanksgiving and More Chemo

Kameron went to the cancer clinic on Monday. His red blood cells and platelets were doing better and he was no longer experiencing symptoms of anemia, but his white blood cells remained critically low. Too low to proceed with his 5th to last round of chemotherapy. We were told to go home and enjoy Thanksgiving together. And to come back on Friday to see if Kam's cells would bounce back by then, but we were cautioned it probably would still be too low. 

We spent the early part of the week getting groceries and setting up for Christmas. Kirby got us a real Christmas tree and she and Jesse got it set up in the living room. The stockings were placed, and the cinnamon pine cones really helped jolly the house up a bit. 

We enjoyed being home together as a family to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was just us, but it was warm, yummy, and I was grateful to get to be together and not in the hospital. Jesse is an amazing cook and roasted a perfect turkey. He also made Kameron's Thankgiving favorite: stuffing. Jesse, Kirby and I spent most of the day in the kitchen while the boys played games, and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, the National Dog Show, and a new Christmas movie. 

On Friday, Kameron continued to gain weight (inching closer and closer to his pre-treatment weight). Kam says, "4 or 5 meals a day keeps the dietician away!" He has been doing a good job of snacking throughout the day to avoid more weight loss. We also learned at that visit that his white blood cells had bounced back to a safe level to (finally) proceed with chemotherapy! He was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon and had his 5th to last round of chemotherapy last night. After this current hospitalization, he has 4 more treatments left.

Many have asked us, after that... then what? Kameron will then undergo numerous scans: a MRI of the leg that had the tumor, a bone scan or PET scan, and a CT of his chest to look for any more tumors. He will also be closely monitored by his oncology team. Once he is doing well and there is no evidence of active spread of his cancer, then he will be seen every 3 months for at least a year. Then every 6 months the next year after that. It will take his body 6 months to recover from the chemotherapy and for his immune system to be normal-ish. 

I say "normal-ish" because there are some long lasting effects from treatment Kam will always have. Such as, a degree of irreversible hearing loss. His cancer is a super aggressive type, and he will need to be monitored every year for any heart side effects or a resurgence of cancer for the rest of his life.

Please continue to keep us in thought and prayer. We've admittedly been, at times, discouraged. Thank you to those of you who reach out and check on us. It means a lot. We know Kam and our family are not battling this alone.