May 31, 2007

Adrian didn't pass the test as expected. His blood test result showed that he's still low on Neutrophils (at 0.14 only) and Platelet (at 65). So his 4th cycle of chemo needs to be postponed until his Neutrophils reaches at least 0.50 and Platelet of 75! Apart from the GCSF shot he had today, the plan is we have to go back to K8S tomorrow and Monday for two more GSCF shots in hopes to trigger the growth of his Neutrophils. Let's hope he can reach the ideal level by next Tuesday the latest.

May 30, 2007

Talked to Dr. Tsui (baby's pedi back home in TOR) briefly last night and she gave us the contact at Sick Kids so we can discuss with about the possibility of bringing Adrian back for further treatment. We are still contemplating whether to continue treatment in HK or Canada and ultimately, all we want is the best treatment for our son. We'll have a better idea by the end of June when results of MIBG, Bone Scan & CT Scan become available. Another month to go...

May 29, 2007

Another day at QMH for routine blood work and check up. While we all thought Adrian was recovering well this time, his counts showed that he's still at the trough. He needed a unit of platelet transfusion as his platelet was only at 19; Neutrophils at 0.1 and so doc prescribed him a GCSF shot today. On the bright side, he did weight more at 9kg. I don't know if he's able to recover fast enough for the next chemo on June 1st but we'll have to be back to the hospital again on Thursday for another blood test and by then we'd know.

May 26 - 28, 2007

It's been a "normal" weekend for the three of us. I never thought a simple weekend would be such a blessing! I so wish it was all a dream.... Like the fairy tale, Adrian was a healthy little baby and never need to go back to the hospital again, the three of us live happily ever after...

May 25, 2007

We brought Adrian back to K8S for routine blood work and check up today. It was a short stay since baby's blood result came back OK. Neutrophils seemed to be rising at 0.16 and platelet at 50. Will be back again next Tues for regular blood work as the 4th chemo is due on June 1st.

May 24, 2007

It's Papa & Mama's 4th year wedding anniversary today! Adrian behaved well while grandma was babysitting him at home so we can sneak out and have some "private" time to celebrate. Wish baby get well soon and we can all celebrate next year!!!

May 23, 2007

Adrian broke the record of staying home longer than a week!! He was discharged last Wed and he's been doing OK so far (Thanks God!!!). Like Dr. Chiang said, the possibility of getting mucoscitis this time is less because of the different chemo drugs that were used (VP16 & Cisplatin VS Cyclophosphamide & Adriamycin). Baby has gained back a bit of his appetite but still can't sleep for long and wakes up a few times at night...

May 22, 2007

Adrian was happy at the hospital today for blood work and check up. He likes to socialize with everyone there and the staff in the Day Ward like to play with him as well. All his counts are dropping as expected. His platelet was very low and doctor has agreed to give him 2 units of platelet transfusion. We didn't leave the hospital until 19:00. Will be back again on Friday for another blood work and check up.

May 21, 2007

Baby seemed to have stopped diarrhea but continued to have a poor appetite. He felt tired and slept most of the day which gave us a well deserved break. We are going to bring him to the hospital for check up tomorrow.

May 19 - 20, 2007

Instead of vomitting, Adrian suffered from diarrhea in these 2 days. Docs said it's quite common to have diarrhea as the mucus linings in the intestine may wear off because of chemo. Therefore, he was quite fussy the whole weekend. Papa even asked me to start packing as he foresees Adrian may need to be hospitalized again.

May 18, 2007

Adrian spent the day at the hospital today for routine blood work, check up and chest x-ray. The chest x-ray is in preparation for the upcoming cardiac assessment on May 31st. His counts are dropping and he weighted less with only 8.3kg. Docs have also booked Adrian a Bone Scan & MIBG on June 11st and CT Scan on June 26th.... the results will determine whether the surgery can take place or not.

May 17, 2007

Adrian is so tiny and everyone says he doesn't look like a 13-mths old baby. His size remains as a 10 months old baby boy - that's when he was first diagnosed, and never grew. Papa assembled the new crib and we transformed the old one into a "play pen/bed" in the living room.

May 16, 2007

Adrian threw up again while sleeping last night! Because of the fact that he's already finished chemo, the nurse had stopped his anti-nausea medication. So the side effects are coming into surface... Baby got discharged from the hospital this morning. His new crib was also delivered today! He's home now and enjoys playing with his beloved new toy - Teletubbies Po (thanks to Auntie Wini who hand delivered it to him from the UK!!).

May 15, 2007

Blood test today revealed that Adrian is low in haemoglobin and so he needed blood transfusion after post hydration at around 16:30. He is supposed to be discharged after blood transfusion but he was suffering from Shock shortly after starting the blood transfusion. Docs said it's best for him to stay one more day for additional monitoring. He may be suffering from anemia which causes Shock....

May 14, 2007

Today is the last day of Adrian's 3rd course chemotheraphy, post hydration runs another 24 hours and Adrian can be discharged tomorrow after 16:30 if all goes well. Dr. Ho advised me of Adrian's urine test results on HVA & VMA and both showed big improvements after the 2nd course of chemo. Let's hope baby continues to respond well on chemo. There's another baby in the ward who was diagnosed the same disease as Adrian recently. What a coincidence that the baby shares the same Chinese name as Adrian but in reverse order! I shared my story with the mother and hopefully she can stay strong in this battle.

May 13, 2007

Maybe Adrian knew today's Mother's Day, he was in good mood on his 3rd day of chemo which made my life a lot easier... His motor skills seems to be developed at a slower pace because of his illness (e.g. he's lack of energy..) and today I noticed he can return to sit up position when lying down for the first time!

May 12, 2007

2nd day of chemo ran more smoothly than yesterday that at least Adrian didn't threw up as of yet... but baby was very fussy and it's hard for him to fall asleep even though he's very tired. After an "extensive" search, Papa & Grandpa have finally bought him a much bigger crib today and it will be delivered next Wed - hopefully baby will be home by then.

May 11, 2007

While Adrian has resumed most of his appetite, his 3rd course of chemo started today! It's the day he had the VP16 & Cisplatin drug. The nurse has already warned us that vigorous vomitting is inevitable and I've already brought an extra T-shirt to change in case this happens. Cisplatin infusion only lasted an hour and finished at around 8pm which followed by IV post-hydration. Baby was so tired that he slept early but he got waken up and threw up once already!... there's 3 more days to go...

May 10, 2007

Adrian is back to his second home, QM Hospital, again today for blood test and the BAEP Test (i.e. Hearing test). The BAEP test took only 20 mins to finish this time as baby was in deep sleep. Preliminary result showed he's ok as expected. Baby's platelet count is good at 109 but Neutrophils is at margin of 0.51. Dr. Chiang confirmed Chemo will start tomorrow as planned because the minimum Neutrophils threshold is 0.50. Mentioned our worries to Dr. Chiang on the possibility of ototoxicity and hearing loss at high frequency and unfortunately nothing can be done other than regular monitoring!! On the bright side, all mommies in the ward received a "big" gift today from one of the sponsors for Mother's Day!

May 9, 2007

It's been 3 months since we left home (i.e. Toronto) and it felt like YEARS!!! Today is the last day we have to submit a date to Air Canada for our air ticket extension but we've decided we'd surrender the remaining of the ticket. Partly because we have no idea of a "date" of return and second, I don't want to risk paying CDN$300 for a date that we don't end up flying. Adrian will be back to the hospital tomorrow and I've uploaded some more pictures that we've taken during his stay last time.

Sleepy Adrian - taken on Apr 28, 2007


Adrian likes to play with his blanket - taken on May 1, 2007

May 8, 2007

Today we took Adrian back to K8S for routine blood work and check up. His platelet count is on a rising trend and is now up to 65 but with Neutrophils dropped to 0.49. They have scheduled Adrian to return to K8N this Thursday and chemo will start on Friday which runs for a total of 5 days. Talked briefly to Dr. Chan about the potential ototoxicity that Cisplatin may cause and he said no protectant will be used...

May 7, 2007

Don't be surprised if you see a bigger version of Jenn or Derek the next time.... Other than playing with new toys or watching Teletubbies, Adrian enjoys seeing Papa or Mama eating the same time while he eats. So we've been having finger food when we feed him and he seems to imitate what we do (i.e. eating) and then he'll open his mouth and eat. It requires a lot of patience and we tried to feed him as much as possible whenever he has the appetite.

May 5 - 6, 2007

Adrian behaved well at home this weekend. He can tolerate time alone with the grannies. Mama & Papa were busy shopping for his baby crib at his napping time. We still haven't found one that we truly liked. On the other hand, Papa did more research on Cisplatin & VP16 - the drugs that will be used in the upcoming chemotheraphy. We were both quite worried as Cisplatin may result in hearing loss at high frequencies and this may affect baby's future learning capacity. He may have difficulty hearing the "s" sound etc. We are taking Adrian back to the hospital on Tues for blood test and will have to mention our worries to Dr Chan. I guess these are trade-offs and are totally worth it if he does get well the end of the day.

May 4, 2007

The blood test came back ok with neutrophils finally above 1. However, platelet level is still low at 19 and he needed another platelet transfusion today. The minimum requirement for platelet is at least 75. So Adrian got sent home today and he has to go back next Tuesday for another blood test to see if his platelet is ok by that time. If so, chemo will start on Wednesday.

May 3, 2007

Adrian is officially off Morphine today but I think he's going through the "Morphine Withdrawal" phase. He was very fussy the last time when he's off Morphine after the first chemo. It wasn't easy for him to fall asleep the whole day and yet, I don't think it was the mouth that bothered him and he just wasn't feel comfy. Anxiously waiting for the blood test tomorrow to see his blood counts and that determines if he can be home this weekend.

May 2, 2007

Adrian had his hearing test (BAEP Test) this afternoon. Despite of the fact that he's taken the sedation fluid, he woke up in the middle of the test!! Have to take second part of the test again next Thursday. Dr. Chiang said Adrian may have home leave this weekend if blood test is okay on Friday. He's resuming most of his appetite and hopefully will go off Morphine tomorrow. However, without much rest - the next chemo is awaiting for him... it's due next week!

May 1, 2007

It's a quiet Tuesday as it's Labour Day in Hong Kong. There's less than 20 patients in K8N. Adrian had his 3rd platelet transfusion in a week because his platelet count was only at 17! Neutrophils is rising @ 0.12. He ate well today and at the same time, he's getting all the necessary nutrients through TPN, he weighted more today at 9kg vs 8.7kg last Friday. However, he continued to have low-grade fever ranging from 37 - 37.6 C which means he'll continue to have antibiotics... Morphine dosage has been reduced in half.