Chemotherapy Begins – The Return Of Mayor Matt
We had a doctor appointment this morning with Matt’s primary oncologist mainly to see if his blood counts were high enough to begin another round of chemotherapy. And…his numbers were good! Hemoglobin was at 9.6, platelets at 196,000 and ANC (absolute neutrophil count) up at 1500. With these higher numbers Matt can begin his next round of chemotherapy treatment.
For this treatment, when Matt qualifies we begin treatment that day. As of this writing we finished Monday’s treatment and will be back for treatment Tuesday-Friday this week. Once Matt settles into the hospital bed and gets his port (a device that was surgically implanted under the skin to easily administer chemotherapy) accessed it’s about 3 hours of treatment. We try to arrive early for treatment so we can be done before lunchtime because…well… cafeteria food is tough to stomach five days in a row.
These past few weeks I’ve been taking Matt in for his appointments and treatment to give Jan a much needed break. She’s been doing the lion’s share of these appointments over the years. I honestly don’t know how we would’ve managed had she not been able to. This has actually been good for me as well as it gives me a chance to reacquaint myself with the doctors and the entire nursing staff who treat him. After taking Matt to these appointments the past few weeks I can tell you that he is undoubtedly Mayor Matt of St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.
On this particular Monday, it starts at the reception desk where the ladies greet him and welcome him back. Then a male tech comes out to bring him back for his blood test and vitals. Lots of guy talk and fist bumps. As they walk through the halls to get to the exam room there’s shouts of ‘Hey Matt’ from random offices. Assistants leave their office to greet him with a big hug and ask him how he’s feeling and what he did over the weekend. And we’ve only been there less than 2 minutes and haven’t made it to the exam room yet.
After Matt gets his vitals done we wait in the exam room to see one of the six oncology doctors who are treating him. Most of the time we see his primary oncologist, but the doctors do rotate and each one knows his case in its entirety. The doctor usually arrives shortly after the blood test along with the nurse coordinator to go over the blood test results. Again, they talk to him at length asking how he’s feeling, asking what he’s been doing lately, asking if he needs anything.
When he qualifies for the treatment like today it’s off to the infusion center for the actual treatment. We pass by the receptionist area to be let in and are stopped once again so they can chat with Matt. Then we enter the infusion center. And all hell breaks loose! We pass by the nurses station and a choir of nurses shout out ‘Matt! Welcome back!’. This is followed by an onslaught of questions by the nurses on how he’s feeling and what’s he been up to.
We make it through the greeting barricade and head to the infusion center room. Matt apparently has his own dedicated room. By dedicated I literally mean dedicated. Mayor Matt’s room. When Matt is on the schedule that room is reserved specifically for him. I would venture a guess that if a patient was in that room when Matt was walking in for treatment, that patient would be kindly asked to switch rooms.
The point of all this? These are not faceless healthcare workers trudging mindlessly through their job day in and out. These are trained professionals who are not only providing top tier point of care health care for Matt but are doing so with passion and compassion. The older nurses tell Matt they consider him a son. The younger nurses tell Matt they consider him a brother. The doctors all genuinely care about him and are using every tool in their belt to get him back to remission.
This is what great healthcare looks like, and we are truly thankful for it.
John, this blog is great! Put it right on my desktop to easily check updates! Thanks for resurrecting the communication piece! It takes you a lot of time but is soooo good to “hear” your voice!
Thanks Mary! I'm trying not to overshare on information but sometimes context is important. If you'd rather not have to check for updates you can also sign up for email notifications (underneath About Matt photo). The first email may go to your spam folder. If that happens there should be a way to mark as a safe sender so future emails go to your inbox instead.
I thought I had a tough day. (I am ashamed.) Wishing you all the best and that this round of chemo is the one that works for Matt.
John, thank you for the tip to check spam and unmark your emails as spam. it worked (i think… I'm here)
Thank you so much for the updates. You are all on a journey we wish you never knew. We are with you heart and soul. Praying every day for dear Mayor Matt and each of you.
Sending love from Alan & me.
Welcome Kim. Yes, you made it here! I'm still working out the kinks on the site but hopefully will be a better space going forward for updates. Thanks so much for keeping us all in your prayers.
Thanks John for keeping us up to date. Proud of Matt – Rod
Thanks Rod! I long for the times when the main concern was whether our boys would be winning their high school soccer game that night.
Thank you so much John for sharing this. We wish you didn’t have to go through this but tell Matt his family and friends are cheering him on every step of the way.