Ori is in the hospital this weekend for one of his scheduled chemo admissions. It was supposed to happen 3 weeks ago, then 2 weeks ago, then last week. But each week it kept getting delayed due to his body not recovering enough from his previous chemo hospital treatment.
Solidly healthy this week, we figured Ori would be in better shape to handle this round of chemo that started last night. But overnight he got a fever (which isn't uncommon with this type of chemo). That fever got as high as 104.5 today and they brought in some ice packs to cool him down. And the fever should subside after his last dose of chemo clears his system (midday tomorrow).
He's slept for just about the entirety of the day, and has eaten nothing. This chemo, called cytarabine, is rough. Not only does it cause high fevers, sap your strength and kill your appetite, but it can cause conjunctivitis. That means Ori has to take preventative eye drops every 4 hours (including at 2:00am).
And then there's how this chemo makes Ori feel. Just now, as I propped him up a bit in bed to brush his teeth, I asked him if he needed anything to feel better. He didn't say anything.
So I tried to help explain, asking him if any part of his body felt bad, cold, hot, icky, achy, sore. His response was quiet, but powerful.
"I don't know what to say."
I clarified, "Do you mean you don't know what words to say to describe how your body feels?"
He shook his head, "Yes."
And at that moment, I didn't know what to say, either.
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