Sept 29, 2007

5th (out of 10) day of RT: Adrian is half way through the entire RT. No side effects as of yet.... His RT is scheduled earlier today at 11am because of Saturday and so both Mama & baby woke up early (Mama at 05:45 and baby at 06:15) for breakfast. We also met with Dr Chan discussing about options available for little Adrian regarding the leftover tumors in his liver. Conclusion is he's going to send the films to the PAED Ward doctors to take a look at to see if surgery is feasible or not AND talk to the radiologist about the option of MIBG Targeted treatment. Having gone through almost 2/3 of the treatment at this stage, Adrian will have the final assessment after BMT & 3 more 3F8s. Even though it's been considered as Mature cells, we are not taking the leftover tumors in his liver lightly because we want to minimize the possibility of relapse in future...

Sept 28, 2007

4th (out of 10) day of RT: Adrian seemed to be very used to the new daily schedule now. So the RT appointment has been running quite smooth and usually he wakes up around 3pm - that's when he'll have lunch and we'll head home after.

Sep 27, 2007

3rd (out of 10) day of RT: Our first day back at the Day Ward for more than 3 weeks... We were being assigned in a more isolated ward area because Adrian came from the outbreak zone in K8N and he still has a runny nose & cough... It's more quiet there and Adrian fell asleep in no time after having the oral sedation. Adrian practices hard on walking these days partly because I want to tire him out in the morning so he can fall into deep sleep for RT and also I was hoping he can walk before going for BMT in November where he'll be isolated in a self-contained room in K8N for at least 60 days!!!

Sep 26, 2007

Both Mama & Adrian had a break today without getting up early for the QM Trip. Baby, however, has a very poor appetite... He prefers to have fluid these days and Mama has been busy making different soups to accomodate him. We were looking at the old videos we took for Adrian (the tape was in our camcorder we brought along to the HK trip in Feb 2007) and it brought back a lot of the sweet memories!!! I always wonder what would our lives be if Adrian had no cancer... it would have been so nice....

Sep 25, 2007

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival and Adrian went for his 2nd day of RT. Oral sedation seemed to work so far and baby fell asleep during the whole process. MIBG result came in with more or less the same outcome as last time i.e. static lesion over baby's right lobe of liver. Though doctors kept on saying the remaining tumors in baby's liver have all been calcified, we surely hope there's ways to remove it. We will discuss the options with Dr Chan this Saturday if possible. Since tomorrow is a holiday and no RT will be done, we were being discharged from QMH!! We will return to the Day Ward on Thursday.

Adrian has 4 lanterns this year.... Buzz Lightyear, traditional paper lantern, Mama made lantern & traditional fish lantern.

Sep 24, 2007

Adrian is adapting to a totally new schedule today on his first day of Radiotherapy Treatment. This schedule will have to stay for the whole duration of his RT (i.e. 2 weeks' time). First, he got waken up by Mama no later than 7am and then he has to finish breakfast by 8am (i.e. 4 hours prior to RT for sedation). And as soon as we arrived K8N at 10am, I told the nurse about Adrian's cold symptoms. Surprisingly, doctors/nurses didn't do anything (I thought they were going to isolate us) simply because Adrian didn't develop a fever!!!

In preparation for Adrian's upcoming Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation, baby was required to leave a number of samples such as stool, urine, blood & nose serum etc to do some testing and determine if he is medically fit for BMT. We also met with the Dentist (to see if there's any cavities) and Dietitian (advice on diets during BMT). Apart from the RT at noon, Adrian also had Chest X-Ray, Bone Age & ECG today - all for BMT. RT ran smoothly than expected, baby fell asleep and the actual irradiation part took only 2 mins. We are approved for daily Home Leave so we get to go home everyday. Hope tomorrow will be as good as today's!

Sep 22 - 23, 2007

Adrian has been suffering from running nose & coughing throughout the entire weekend. Feeding him has become a challenge again as he lost his appetite for not feeling well. The temporary tattoo on his abdomen is fading even though we didn't wash that part of the body at the bath. Should baby refrain from bathing for 2 weeks just to make the tattoo stays?

Sep 21, 2007

It's a busy day today for little Adrian... he got waken up by Mama at 7am this morning because we had to head back to K8N by 8:30am. Adrian is fully booked this morning - He had the return MIBG scan followed by simulation (re-do... first one done on Aug 6th). Not sure if Adrian was well rested at home last night or what, he didn't fall asleep at the oral sedation. I took over an hour trying to make him sleep but with no success. Therefore, he was given a total of 4 needles including Ketamine and he passed out immediately. With baby in deep sleep, both procedures ran smoothly. RT will start next Monday for a total of 10 Treatments. We left K8N in the afternoon after Adrian has waken up and had some food and will spend the weekend at home!

Adrian was playing with his Buzz Lightyear lantern.

Sep 20, 2007

We are home today but Adrian seemed to have some cold/flu like symptoms. He has a "mild" runny nose and starting to cough late afternoon. I'm starting to get worried if he caught the virus from the outbreak at the ward. Talked to baby's buddy's mum and apparently this virus has no cure. Our immune system would have to fight the virus on our own but unfortunately cancer patients have weak immune system which makes it harder for them to be cured. Let's hope Adrian be the real fighter and get away from the symptoms ASAP.

Sep 19, 2007

Bone Scan result came in today and Adrian is clear! (Thanks God!!) Returned MIBG only lasted 35 mins, however, we have to return for another MIBG on Friday!!!! The technician & Dr. Chan said the reason why Adrian has to return the day after tomorrow maybe a good news!!! It may mean the colour didn't get soaked too much (only cancer cells absorb the colour) and the doctor wanted to make sure if this is the case so he suggested us to wait another day to confirm. We'll see how it goes... The recent blood counts showed that Adrian is in full force... his Neutrophils finally climbed up to almost 1 (at 0.96) and Platelet at 103. Simulation will take place on Friday and RT will probably start next Monday. Since there's nothing to be done tomorrow, we had home leave later today and tomorrow and will be back to K8N again Friday morning.

Sep 18, 2007

Despite the fact Adrian had 3F8 late yesterday and his tiredness, poor baby got waken up by the nurse early this morning because he had to fall asleep at 9am for the MIBG test. The test was ok and we have to go back for a return scan tomorrow morning. It's been pretty quiet in the ward since the outbreak and almost everyone (except the babies) wear a mask!! Mama handmade a lantern for Adrian today (Arts & Crafts 101) with the materials provided by CCF.

Sep 17, 2007

We arrived K8N around 10am this morning getting ready for the Bone Scan & 3F8 that follows... The Houseman only did it once and the block was secured on baby's right hand for the radioactive isotope injection. Bone Scan ran smoothly and finished around 16:00 and the last day of 3F8 started right after. The usual routine started with Morphine, Valium & Piriton. On the bright side, both Adrian & Mama received gifts for Mid-Autumn Festival from the sponsors. Baby got a very cute Buzz Lightyear Lantern!!!!

Sep 15 - 16, 2007

We left the hospital Saturday night after finishing the 4th day of 3F8 for home leave on Sunday. Adrian felt better than the day before, at least he didn't need the extra Valium needle to release the pain. While Papa stayed with baby during his treatment, Mama went to a talk on "Food/Diets for Cancer Children" hosted by a Chinese Medicine Professor from HKU. The talk was very informative and we are now more knowledgeable on what's best for Adrian in terms of what he eats. Apparently there's a small outbreak in the ward and unfortunately Adrian's best buddy caught it (she got a runny nose). She was transferred to an isolated room on another floor and we hope Adrian didn't catch it. We will be back to K8N Monday morning for the last day of 3F8 and a series of tests are waiting for Adrian.

Adrian was holding tight on the bed rail to release his pain/itchiness.


Adrian woke up after treatment with a swollen head.

Sep 14, 2007

Today is the 3rd day (& counting) of the 3F8 treatment. Usually Adrian's swollen head subsided after a night of sleep but surprising, baby woke up this morning with a big & swollen head. His head got so swollen to a point that I can hardly recognize him. Everyone asked me what happened to my little Adrian. He was given a needle to deal with his water retention and as soon as he got better, the treatment was all ready to start at 13:00. Baby continued to experience severe pain upon treatment and the rash came out not only on his face but his whole body for the first time. He felt very itchy and that annoyed him very much. Tomorrow is the 4th day and we can have a break on Sunday where the lab will be closed and the last day of treatment will be on Monday. We were hoping Adrian can have home leave on Sunday.

Sep 13, 2007

2nd day of 3F8 Treatment didn't run as smooth as the 1st day. Adrian was in so much pain that he had 1 extra shot of Morphine when compared to yesterday. His head got so swollen at the end of the day that he was so fussy and he needed another shot of Piriton to release the allergy. All the drugs have caused him drowsiness and so breakfast & lunch were the only meals he had today. The CT Report came back today - the remaining 2 "small" tumors in the liver now measures 2cm x 1cm and 3mm respectively and they are heavily calcified. The doctors said it's good news as baby continued to respond well on chemotherapy & immunotherapy treatments. But I honestly don't know what would happen if the tumors are still there at the end of ALL treatments... Doc said BMT is scheduled approx. 6 weeks after baby finishes Radiotherapy.

Sep 12, 2007

Adrian is back to his 2nd home, K8N, this morning for his 3rd 3F8 Immunotherapy Treatment. Baby was assigned in a semi-private room when we got there because the wards were completely full!!! Later in the day when some patients were discharged, we got transferred back to the big ward with Adrian's best buddy as our neighbour! The treatment started around 13:00 and lasted about 1.5 hours. I think Adrian has grown bigger and stronger for staying home in the past few weeks, he seemed to tolerate the pain better. Despite a few shots of Morphine, Valium & Piriton, he woke up around 17:00 and was able to have some soup and dinner whereas he basically gave into exhaustion the last time. Let's hope he can be the same for the remaining 4 days...

Sep 11, 2007

Tuesday is the day Adrian goes back to QMH for blood work and line maintenance. Originally as we were always told, Adrian was supposed to be well recovered from his counts and then Radiotherapy starts. However, Dr Chan was doing the Ward rounds today and apparently he's the specialist on NB. He asked if Adrian was due on his 3F8 treatment.... Then all of the sudden, everyone realized Adrian can have 3F8 treatment while waiting for his counts. Apparently, 3F8 Immunotherapy treatments are not chemos and it can be done in 28 days interval and his 3rd one was due Aug 30. Therefore, baby will have 3F8 tomorrow and RT will start right after. Doc said as long as Adrian's counts are in a rising trend, RT can start anytime. His Neutrophils is at 0.59 and Platelet at 80 today. Baby was very grumpy today at the Day Ward and he'd cry out loud whenever Mama went to the washroom or downstairs to buy stuff. He wasn't in a good mood at all or maybe he knew he has to be back to K8N tomorrow?!?!?!

Sept 8 - 10, 2007

Adrian is completely BALD with literally NO HAIR!!! Papa decided to hand picked the THREE remaining hair on Adrian's head this weekend...

September marks the 7th months that we got "stuck" in HK... it also meant that both Papa & Mama are one year wiser!! Mama finally found time to chop off half of her hair so it's easier to handle for Adrian's upcoming BMT and she doesn't have to blow dry it anymore. Papa also had his haircut and both of us got a chance to take a break and meet with some old friends.... Our ONE & ONLY wish this year - Our little Adrian, please get well soon!!!!!!

Sept 7, 2007

We spent the day at QMH today on blood test as well as a CT-Scan Appointment. The CT is the first one since Adrian had the surgery in July. In fact, this is part of the regular check up every 3 months to see the progress (mIBG is scheduled on Sept 17). There's not much change on Adrian's blood test result on Neutrophils (at 0.58) and Platelet rose a bit to 55 - still far from the requirement. Our CT Scan appointment was supposed to be at 14:30 but the scanning department didn't call us to get ready until almost 15:30. Baby was so tired (nap time) and I kept annoying him just so he could fall into deep asleep for the test. The test ran smoothly and we'll know the result next Tue.

Here's some snapshots on Adrian while he's playing the drum set today at the Day Ward.




"What d'ya looking at????".. says Adrian

Sept 6, 2007

Adrian has been pretty strange in these couple of days... He cried in the middle of the night and when Papa rushed to his room and found out that he's squeezed himself to the corner of the crib leaving no space for him to stretch and turn!!!!! Lucky that he'd fall back asleep once you move him back to a comfy position. But it has happened during his afternoon nap and at least 2 times at night. We've tried to put him in the middle of the crib but then you'd find him at the corner when he's awake. Strange Strange.. maybe he was dreaming of "walking" at night that he slowly pushed himself to the corner??? We have no clue...

Sept 4, 2007

Adrian has been eating and sleeping well at home this past week. His weight surpassed the 10 kg mark and is now at 10.1 kg - that's close to how much he weighted when he was first diagnosed over 6 months ago. I felt like he has stopped growing since 10 months old... At 16 1/2 months old, not only does he not know how to walk, he doesn't even know how to chew (though he has lots of teeth) or how to use a sippy/straw and keep refusing bottles. But I guess these are minor as long as he can regain his health! His counts are still low with Neutrophils at 0.59 and Platelet at 44. I wonder when he's going to make it for RT???