Brody had a rough time with his chemo this week

Brody went in to the hospital on Monday this week to get one chemo drug for this week (Vincristine) and labs done.  He did well on Monday and his labs came back OK on Monday.  But on Tuesday he was very nauseous all day and was throwing up everything he tried to eat or drink.  He was also very tired for most of the day.  No fevers though.  Brody tends to have a lot of nausea on the weeks that he gets 3 chemo drugs but this usually is not as problematic on the weeks he just gets the Vincristine.  So all of the nausea and vomiting on Tuesday was very surprising and upsetting too.  Then around 6:30pm on Tuesday he began to periodically start screaming that his belly hurt and then it would suddenly just stop hurting.  Around 10:30pm though Brody started screaming non-stop that his belly hurt and that he wanted to go to the hospital.  At 11:00pm I left with Brody for the hospital.  He was screaming and crying in agony the whole way there and throwing up too.  The pain continued once we got there too and kept going til about 3 or 4am in the morning.  Once we got to the hospital, Brody was quickly admitted and given a room in the pediatric oncology wing.  A Hospitalist promptly examined Brody and ordered an X-ray and labs.  A partial gastrointestinal tract obstruction was observed on the X-ray.  Brody was placed on IV fluids and Zofran (nausea medicine) right away.  The doctor also wrote and order for morphine for Brody too.  Fortunately, shortly after this though Brody's belly pain just finally stopped.  Brody's oncologist came in early in the morning to check on Brody.  She told us that Brody had likely experienced a side effect of the Vincristine.  It was likely that he had developed paralytic ileus (paralysis of the intestines).  Brody was also getting dehydrated because of the nausea and was not able to keep down fluids.  Nausea, vomiting, dehydration and paralytic ileus can cause low potassium levels.  Brody's intestines now seem to be moving (thank goodness!) But he does still have low potassium levels (very low potassium can cause very dangerous heart arrhythmias).  So Brody is still at the hospital right now receiving potassium, IV fluids, Zofran (nausea medicine), antibiotics (in case the ileus was actually caused by GI infection instead), and all his usual medications.  Brody also needs to produce stools before he will be able to leave the hospital.  His bowel sounds and symptoms are being regularly monitored.  Anyhow, Brody is feeling far better than he was last night but still needs to make some improvements before he can come back home. 

 

This evening Geordi and Jaden seem to have started to develop yet another cold.  It could be allergies too.  I'm not sure.  But to be on the safe side, Geordi and Jaden will be heading back to Grandma and Papaw's tomorrow morning til we can be sure they are not sick.   It seems that since Brody has started chemo that Geordi and Jaden have been more frequently sick than ever before in their lives.  I don't understand it.  We're obsessive about germ control around here.  Amazingly though, Brody has managed to not catch any of his brothers' recent aliments.  Hopefully this holds true this time.