Tom's Story Part III

We had been told that after the induction phase of the chemo, Tom would be going home and just have chemo in a clinic unless he developed other issues. I had thought I would be home in that first month. Little was I to know that every complication possible would arise. Tom had the worst reaction to the chemo. He would throw up for twelve hours continuously. There was a "chemo cocktail" given before hand but that didn't work on him. It contained benadryl and when he took it he was not only sick but then felt disoriented so he refused to take it at all. He was getting high doses of some of the most potent chemos. Idarubicin, donarubicin, adriamyacin, I could never remember all the names. During the early phasse he had a central line put in. He hated it but it kept him from getting stuck constantly with needles. When he finally got home from the hospital he came into the kitchen after a few days. His arm on his left side was horribly discolored and he said he had no feeling in it. My immediate thought was blood clot. I called his doctor who told me to bring him to the ER. I had to remove my chicken from the oven and go. Tom wanted to negotiate about this, reluctant to return. Fortunately my husband was home and he drove us. When we arrived there was a team of doctors waiting by. They told us a venagram was necessary but if there was a clot it could push it into his heart and kill him. I agonized and told my husband he needed to give consent because I was not feeling rational. He did and the procedure went okay but did show a clot near the central line and right outside of his heart. This was critical. Many calls were made to other pediatric oncologists to see if this had happened and what had been done. They discussed surgery but felt it too risky. It was decided he would be on bed rest for thirty days, inpatient of course, with heparin to dissolve the clot. We were told if the clot moved it could result in a heart attack, stroke or death. We made it through the next thirty days and later learned that the clot had been sealed off by Tom's body and his body had made new blood supply to compensate. Our bodies are amazing and wondrous things. Once again God brought us through a crisis.