Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Good night's sleep..

Last night was pretty uneventful. Cody was munching up a storm with junk food until I told him we were going to bed at 11:00. The nurse told me he gained a pound yesterday. That is a big thing... They started giving him supplements through his IV a couple of days ago and he seems to be getting his appetite back so we hope he will gain a little weight back.

He continues to have a very hard time dealing with anger. I continue to have a hard time knowing how to deal with it. I want to be sensitive to his situation but I also want him to know that it is totally unacceptable to act out in such a manner to get what you want. This is a real fine line we are walking here.

We should be getting a clearer picture on what is in store for him. We anticipate that they will be harvesting his stem cells in the next couple of days. There is a real small window when the body produces them. It happens when the body and blood is recovering from chemo. The harvesting process is actually very interesting. The doctor told me that she thinks they can use his central line for the procedure. They hook Cody up to a machine that runs his blood through a tube into the machine. Inside the machine the tube is like a jump rope. There blood runs through the line as it swings around. This process separates the platelets, red blood and stem cells. On the other side of the machine you see three tubes with yellow, red and pink fluid running through it. The yellow and red lines join and mix the platelets back with the red blood as the line returns the blood back to Cody. The pinkish fluid (stem cells) go into an IV bag. The stem cells are now frozen until they are needed. Last time Cody did real well during this procedure. They gave him a drug that made him hallucinate. He was trying to pick and eat the little colored dots off the blanket he was using. Sounds like me in my high school days... LOL.. Anyway, we should soon be heading to New York after this procedure. Then we will find out where we go from there.

Thanks for all the kind words the last few days. This is my way of venting. I may seem scatter brained sometimes but that is only because I am..


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Deck, I just wanted to say how sorry I am that you and Cody are going through this. Everyone on the Masters board misses your posts and is praying for you.

Hot Tub (formerly Badknees)

David

Anonymous said...

Mickey,
I spoke to Kaycee about his anger, and she suggested that you look for some way that Cody can express the anger. Video games like Space Invaders (shoot the cancers cells), Drawing, Modeling with quick dry clay (maybe make a cancer cell and wad it up or crush it). Anything to find an alternate outlet. Talk to you Doctor, she may have other ideas...

Kirk

Anonymous said...

Mick, I'm so sorry to read the status of Cody. Could any of his behaviors be directly related to the medications? I know it's so very hard for you & your family & no there is nothing that you have done to make you or Cody to deserve this!! We love you all & are praying for you. Enjoy the good days when you have them & hopefully when the bad days come then they don't last near as long. Please don't feel guilty for having to restrain Cody when he goes into these rages. You are doing it only to protect him from himself.

Teresa

Monica Cassier said...

The courage of you and your family stuns me daily. How you can keep so positive in the face of this is truly your miracle. You'll have some pretty down moments, but the net-net is you and Diane are so darn tough... you will see this through. wishing you all good things...
monica

Anonymous said...

we hear you everyday, >))):> chris&scot, st.pete, fla.

Kentucky USATF said...

I love Kirk's idea about finding a suitable outlet for his anger. He needs a voodoo doll. ;-)

Enjoy your time at home even if it's a short time. We'll be praying for all of you.

Hugs to everyone!

Dottie