Chemo today...

Oliver was supposed to start getting chemo every two weeks now, but his Doctors have decided to continue on a weekly dosing schedule for the next 4 weeks so Oliver is scheduled to get chemo this afternoon. He has been as happy as a little clam for the last few days...I hope he continues to feel this good after chemo.

He has decided he doesn't like his baths anymore, but he really loves the warm blankets and massage that follow the bath :) He is really starting to interact with the world around him. He smiles at everyone and enjoys looking at books. He also really likes being sung to...he doesn't know the difference between good singing and bad singing which is great since I am usually the one singing to him ;)

We are keeping a close eye on his PICC since it's been in about 6 weeks. Once a PICC has used a main vein that vein is destroyed and can not be used again. His right arm has already been used, and his left arm was attempted unsuccessfully...so now the PICC is in his left leg. That means the only limb left for a PICC line is his right leg. If they attempt to place the PICC in his right leg and can't get it he will have to go back to IV's. This is not desirable as they have to be changed every few days and I don't think the chemo can burn the vein if it's not big enough, but I'm not sure about that...anyway, we are all wanting a more long term access like a Hickman line but Hickman lines are placed surgically and Oliver would need to have platelets in the 50,000's to tolerate this procedure. Yesterday, 30 minutes after his platelet transfusion we checked his platelet levels-33,000. This morning they were down to 22,000. Not a big enough bump to get a Hickman line.

This is what a Hickman line would look like: