Barring anything unexpected, this will be the last update until Chase goes in on Monday.

I really missed out not going to Chapel Hill today - I heard Chase's GFR was "awesome". They injected him with a radioactive marker, then he was in some half a million dollar machine that showed his insides while his kidneys gathered up the radioactive stuff and got rid of it. A "glowing" report (and no, not with the naked eye so don't ask to see anything).

Although he seems to have missed out on the cold the rest of the family passed around last week, we really want to make sure he's healthy going in to the hospital next week. Is it overkill to put of box of these by the front door? Maybe we'll just make him wear one. That'll go over real well.

I'm in charge of DVD entertainment for next week, but since he'll be home the following week, I have a special request for Buddy. Five bucks a month - try it, you'll like it! If not, you just turn it back in! (Does Buddy even read this blog?)

Tests done, Chase is home for the weekend. I asked him if he had any plans (Lexington BBQ Festival) for the weekend, but he said no, not really. (events) I'm sure anything his friends want to do (travel info) would be just fine with him!

Why am I craving pork all of a sudden?

So if Chase is the one facing Chemo, why am I queasy?

Maybe I've been reading a bit too much about the drugs on the list they gave him. Trust me, you really don't want to click on the links.

• Cisplatin - anti cancer drug; side effects can include nausea, hearing loss, kidney damage
• Etoposide - anti cancer drug; side effects can include nausea, temporary hair loss, temporary reduction of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, loss of appetite, taste change
• Vincristine - anti cancer drug; side effects can include abdominal cramps and numbness or tingling in the hands and feet
• Cyclophospamide - anti cancer drug; side effects can include nausea (I'm sensing a theme here), temporary reduction of all those useful blood cells, temporary hair loss, bladder irritation
• Mesna - given to counteract the above's side effect of bladder irritation
• some indecipherable antibiotic
• and finally! an anti nausea drug!

So today he signed the usual "medicine is an art, not a science, but we think we know what we're doing" form and last I heard they were trying to pry his dorm key out of his hand. That's gotta hurt. I hope he can take a course or two while he's in treatment. Look, Chase, they offer Spanish! and a bunch of other possibilities too.

Deep breath day.

Appointments yesterday, appointments tomorrow, but today, nothing major except a 7:45AM wake up call from Chase's oncologist to set up the rest of the week.

So tomorrow Chase will have his baseline hearing test and whatever else his oncologist dreams up, then Thursday he'll have a GFR as a baseline kidney test followed by a meeting with his academic advisor at UNC. I trust they can find a way to keep him busy - he's too smart to spend months with nothing but TV and some video games to occupy his mind!

Didn't I call it? He gets his way for the weekend - he won't be admitted until Monday when they'll put in that port and start chemo as soon after as they can. I expect all his friends will come by this weekend until he's ready to spend a week in the relative quiet of the hospital. Besides, y'all need to clean out those snack baskets before I get there next. Except any Hershey bars! They're still mine, right?

eta: Eeeeee! A visitor from New Zealand! :: waves ::

Stay Strong
(A song for Chase and all of us who care about him)
by Uncle Mitch

(v1)
When I heard the news it blind-sided me
Could it really be cancer?
You're just eighteen
And seemed all right last week
I got mad at God for a while
Prayed Lord, protect your precious child
And till I get there, give him this message from me
Chase, please.....

(chorus)
Stay strong inside
Face ev'ry turn one step at a time
Dig deep...believe
Carolina blue skies hold your dreams
It's two outs, two on...
Game's tied... it's Game on!!
Stay strong!

(v2)
Your mama told me that they'd started up a blog
So that people like me
Could keep up with
Everything that 's going on
Two thousand hits in just six days
All the comments read about the same
Seems in their own words ev'ryone just wants to say
Hey, Chase.....

(chorus)
Stay strong inside
Face ev'ry turn one step at a time
Dig deep...believe
Carolina blue skies hold your dreams
It's two outs, two on...
Game's tied... it's Game on!!
Stay strong!

(bridge)
On days when the race just seems too long
Know that we're here cheering you on

(chorus)
Stay strong inside
Face ev'ry turn one step at a time
Dig deep...believe
Carolina blue skies hold your dreams
So, race..press on
Yeah, Chase..
Chase, stay strong
Stay strong...

Ev'ryone, ev'ryone.. ev'ryone
Stay strong
Stay strong........

For those of you who are lost in the blogsphere, the archives of this blog are over there on the right. Might as well start the saga from the beginning, if you're interested, and blogger only displays a set number of posts before stuffing them into monthly archives. Apparently, I'm prolific. And verbose. (Judith, you can look those two words up here ;-).

Today was taken up with visiting his favorite ICU nurses Jessica and Ellyn, getting his stitches out (more permanent imprints in Judith's hand - ouch), making appointments for baseline hearing tests, kidney tests and other medical stuff I'm not sure you want to hear about. Since chemo wreaks havoc on many of the body's useful systems, they need to know how things are working now so they can tweak what they do to limit damage while still killing off all the cancer cells they can. At least that's my take on it.

The docs want him in on Thursday to start chemo, but he wants to be home this weekend since it's the intersection of State and Carolina's fall breaks, and everyone will be around. I'm such a freakin' adult sometimes...my every instinct is screaming "get it started NOW!" However, four days probably won't make a bit of difference in his treatment, and it'll mean a lot to him to have a fun weekend. Therefore, I'm betting this will be Chase 1, Doctors 0. Ya think?

Moving ahead - and quickly.

Chase had a meeting with his Oncologist today, and he'll be starting chemo as soon as Thursday - yikes! There are a few things that have to be taken care of, but then he'll start four approximately month long cycles consisting of 5 days of inpatient chemo followed by 3 weeks off. After that, he'll start in on radiation treatment.

Well, at least for 5 days a month he'll be in his beloved Chapel Hill...