Round 3

A nice visit from some good friends help make the hospital stay a bit more bearable. Freddie, Desi, and Tina stopped by on their way back home from a trip to Wyoming.
Cody and his cousin Bryton playing games

Cody just finished his 3rd round of Chemo in Salt Lake City. He went in on Friday May 28th and got home on Tuesday June 1st. Chemo went pretty well and Cody seems to be tolerating it well considering he gets chemo for 72 hours straight. He has to get up every 2 hours day and night to use the bathroom. If he goes any longer than that the nurses start to get worried. He does pretty good the first day or two and then he gets really nauseous and weak. Russ, his dad, was able to go this time. He had to miss the 2nd round due to work. That was so hard on him. Russ is such an amazing dad and having to miss that was probably one of the hardest things he has had to do. He has always been there for all of his kids so I know that was really tough on him. Cody also had the pleasure of several visitors. He had his grandparents, a couple of his aunts, uncles, and cousins visit as well as friends.

There has been a lot of confusion about the treatment plan. Oakland never had what they call a "Family Consult" where they go over the treatment plan and explain everything as far as what the course of action will be to treat the cancer and answer any questions the family may have. When they transferred to Salt Lake, Salt Lake assumed that this had already been done so here they are after 3 rounds not really knowing or understanding what the plan is. This is why there has been so much confusion and back and forth on where they are going, when surgery will be, how many rounds of chemo will be needed before surgery, etc. When questions were asked this time around the nurses at Primary Children's realized that a family consult never took place. The staff felt really bad and kept apologizing that this had not happened yet.

As of now the only plan they have is that they will have a CT scan done in Salt Lake just before beginning the 4th round in approximately 3 weeks, depending on Cody's blood counts. This will give them a chance to look at the tumors again to see if and how much they have shrunk. This will also give the doctors an idea of how well the chemo is working and if they need to make any adjustments. The next round of chemo will consist of two different chemos that have not been used during the first 3 rounds. So it looks like the next round will be a whole new experience. Let's hope he tolerated these new ones as well as he has the other 3.

While they are there getting treatment there will be a consultation with the Oncology team at Primary Children's in Salt Lake. During the meeting, that will include several staff members including doctors, social workers, nurses, etc., they will go over the entire treatment plan and lay out their course of action to treat Cody. From the sound of things now, surgery is still at least a few months away so the plan to go to MD Anderson next week has been cancelled, at least for now, partly due to the fact the Cody's counts will have dropped by then so he will not be able to travel at that time since chemo was pushed back a few days and partly due to the fact that they need to have a treatment plan laid out before they start meeting with surgeons, especially if surgery isn't in the near future. Hopefully after the meeting there will be a clearer plan and not so much confusion as to what will happen and when. A lot still depends on Cody and how he tolerates the chemo and how effective the chemo is at shrinking the tumors but at least there will be a more concrete plan and a better understanding of what to expect.

For now Cody and his parents are back home trying to recoup, regroup and regain some strength before they start the whole process all over again and head back for the next round. Cody continues to have a positive attitude and continues to stay strong through everything. Cody and his entire family are so grateful for all the support and prayers that have been pouring in and continue to feel overwhelmed by every ones concern and generosity.