Trip is doing great all things considered. Chemo isn’t going as smoothly as it was in the beginning, but it is only because Trip’s mind takes over negatively on chemo weekends. He takes numerous pills every single day and doesn’t bat an eyelash. On chemo weekends, his gag reflex takes over and getting the pills down is a challenge. He only has an issue with the methotrexate pills. The other pills go down easily, so I know it’s a mind thing for him (and I can’t blame him). He still makes it happen through tears - usually after 30 minutes of convincing him it is the best thing for him.
His port turned 3 on February 11. As a foreign device in his growing body, it is not holding up. At the beginning of the year, we had some testing done that showed the port should be working fine, but the nurses have had a terrible time flushing it and getting blood out of it.
We went in for a port flush and regular check up before chemo last week and the port wasn't working at all. Our wonderful nurse Amanda stuck her head out the door to ask Dr. Martin what he wanted to do. “It’s not flushing at all and won’t drawback. Do you me to try TPA or call it a day?” Trip, now full of hope, was standing on the bed in the office. He screams at the top of his lungs, “Call it a day!!! Call it a day!!!”
Luckily, Dr. Martin agreed since we have only used the port for blood draws in the last year. Surgery to remove Trip’s port is scheduled for tomorrow morning. We are all happy to see it go but still a little nervous about the surgery. We are risking another surgery in the future if he has to start intravenous chemo again, but we’ll cross that bridge if we ever get there.
We appreciate the continued prayers for healing and for a successful surgery tomorrow.
