A Bittersweet End

Well, he did it!  Brandon finished his chemotherapy treatments today!  Brandon will tell you that it has been by far the hardest thing he has ever had to endure, but he was a champ and persevered.  I am so incredibly proud of him.  He has taken each treatment with a smile on his face, even when he felt terrible.  If nothing else, this will be a great "life lesson" story for when our boys want to quit a sport or give up on any other dream of theirs.

So why the "Bittersweet" title?  Well friends, the chemo has done such a wonderful job killing cancer cells, that it also killed many other types of cells as well.  These cells are the ones that help a person's immune system fight infection and clot his blood.  So he's been label "neuropenic", which means his white blood cell counts have bottomed-out.  Neuropenia effects many patients of chemotherapy and is very common.  He's also a little congested and his temp is pretty stable at 99.0.  If his temp hits 100.5, we have to be cautious and call the doc.  So he's under careful eye right now.  The doctors ensure us that his counts should rise on their own within the next 4-5 days, but we won't be sure until his next check-up (June 2).  He's also having lots of nose bleeds, so we hope those clear up soon too.

Another speed bump - Brandon's hair started falling out today :(  He didn't notice it at first, but he wasn't feeling well and stayed home from work today.  After taking the boys to their grandparent's, he came home to get back in the bed and noticed the hair on his pillow.  He called to tell me at work, and I could tell he was bummed.  Today was supposed to be a happy day - his last chemo treatment, and somehow it was the same day his hair started falling out.  I came home early to take him to his treatment and he ran his hand through his hair - sure enough, a small handful came out.  He can also pull the hairs on his face out by simply rubbing them.  I tried to cheer him up, telling him it was no big deal and that we would just buzz it off, but alas, the neuropenia means no contact with hair clippers due to the risk of infection.  So in the mean time, he's bummed out and I am trying to clean the hair off the pillows before he sees it....