Starting Consolidation

Austin and I made the 5 hour trip once again to Primary's Children Medical Center in Salt Lake to start the second phase of Austin's treatment, Consolidation.  His blood counts were good so we were given the ok to start.  We went first to the Oncology clinic and met with the crowd of people that contribute to Austin's treatment.  Today it was a Nurse Practitioner, Registered Nurse, Fellow, Attending, Child Life Specialist, Anesthesiologists, Radiology Tech, Radiologist, Nurses Aid, and Pharmacist.  Yes we met with all these people in the span of 3 hours.  It becomes so overwhelming to keep track of what everyone is telling us.  Thank goodness for name tags or I would never figure out who is who.  

Getting checked by the Nurse Practitioner

The last couple of days Austin has been saying that his leg hurts.  It seems to be progressively worse and today he didn't want to walk on it at all.  From what I can tell the pain is muscle cramping like a charley horse and extremely painful.  We told the Nurse Practitioner about this pain and her concern was that it could be a blood clot.  She measured his legs and the one with pain measured slightly larger than the other. 

 So off we went to Ultrasound to check for a blood clot.  Austin got a kick out of the "goo" that was slathered all over his leg by the Ultrasound Tech.  The Radiologist came in and looked at the pictures and thankfully no clot was seen.  The conclusion was that it was a muscle cramp, though why it is only in one leg is a mystery.

Getting an Ultrasound to check for a blood clot

Then we were sent to the Rapid Treatment Unit or RTU for Austin's Lumbar Puncture and Chemo.  The Child Life Specialist brought in an Ipad for Austin to pass the time.  While we were waiting for his Chemo dose to arrive, Austin played "fruit ninja" while the Anesthesiologists cheered him on.  

Tired after his treatment

Austin got his Lumbar Puncture and Chemotherapy and we headed back to Orem to Grandma's house. He was wiped out and didn't feel well the rest of the day, something that we are finding is the trend after the sedation and Chemo.  He had a low grade fever that gave me a scare for a couple hours, but it settled down and we were able to return to St George.  His leg continues to bother him and I hope it will get better soon.