Admitted and good news!

The last 24 hours have been a blur but the long and short of it is, we are here, admitted in Brenner (with an ANC over 1000!), and Watts is currently snacking on early morning crackers with a side of chemo (HD Methotrexate). After a cranky day yesterday, I am hoping for a happier little guy today.

After getting his labs back yesterday morning, they sent him down to the sedation suite for his lumbar puncture and bone marrow procedures. While under, they gave him some chemo drugs and got the samples needed to test for remission. Watts and I moved up to Rm 912 and a couple hours later got the news: Dr Buckley's professional opinion is that Watts is in remission! The results have to be confirmed by the pathologist, but Dr Buckley seemed very happy and confidant. We are thrilled to say the least. This doesn't change anything for his course of treatment or even mean that he won't relapse down the road, but it does mean that his body is responding to the chemo and that it has wiped out all visible leukemia cells. The next two years will be spent killing off any lurking leukemia cells, because left alone, they can multiply rapidly. At least, that is my understanding of it. [Other leukemia mamas, am I understanding/explaining this correctly??]

So we are back. It is so different admitting this time round...Watts is happy, looks healthy, and I have all my bags packed and organized, complete with room air freshener and finger nail polish remover. Last time we came here in an ambulance and I was in a frantic here-take-my-boy-and-help-him state. Watts was so, so sick. We know now that he had a staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection which, in healthy people is very, very serious. In people with compromised immune systems like Watts', it is even more so. Yesterday I asked Dr Buckley more details about the early days of Watts' infection and he said that, if left untreated, it was probably a matter of hours before the infection would have killed him. Not days, but hours. This news, while sobering, also makes me feel like celebrating too. As the doctor said, 'Watts has come a long way,' so, in my mind, an ANC of 1000 is amazing (given where he started from) and remission is something to get up and dance about!

So, we are rejoicing over the news while still gearing up for the marathon that is Infant ALL chemotherapy...

Off to drink some more coffee and gaze at my now-sleeping warrior boy.