And he is off!! By now Kevin should be somewhere over the Atlantic on the way to Madrid, Spain. 30 SJU and CSB students along with Kevin will be staying with host families in Valladolid (northwestern part of Spain) and attending the University there for May-term. They will also be touring and doing some fun stuff on w/e’s and throughout the month until returning on 6-20.
Kevin had a whirlwind last month with end of semester finals, term papers, projects, meetings for Spain and for fall study abroad in Australia. Even though his time was limited, he still managed to attend all the parties and social activities that were a necessity (according to him) for end of year bonding. Amidst all of that, he had numerous medical and dental apts since everything had to be completed before he left today.
His teeth took such a hit with the heavy chemo, it has taken the whole year to get them “fixed”. I think every tooth in his mouth is now filled—this for a kid who never needed a filling before high school. He also needed another bone scan, results aren’t in yet but the general consensus is the bone density in his hips and back is even more depleted after the BMT, meaning he’ll just have to continue on his heavy doses of Calcium and wrap his body in shrink wrap if he will be doing anything risky for fractures.
He had a physical by Dr. Dennis on Monday and received 9 immunizations—first round, 2nd round to be delivered upon his return. All immunizations were wiped out with the BMT and he had to wait a year before he could retake them. We are a month short of a year, but since he is going abroad, they wanted to start them before he leaves. No limb escaped as both arms and legs were poked.
He also was overjoyed to complete his last laser treatment for the planter’s warts on the bottom of his feet last Friday. For those of you who aren’t aware of this on-going saga, Kevin had 1 small wart on his left foot that had been there a long time and never bothered him until he started CA treatment January 2007. Usually the body’s immune system keeps the papiloma virus (which causes warts) in check and they resolve on their own. When Kevin’s immune system was totally wiped out with the BMT last May, the virus went rampant. By September, he had 28 warts on the bottom of one foot, and 10 on the bottom of the other one. They just kept multiplying (must be kin to rabbits) until he had over 40 on the left foot and over 20 on the right. Most of them were small, but the initial one had grown to the size of a quarter and was very deep. There were many visits between September and last Friday to the dermatologist for laser treatments (talk about painful!) after which the bottoms of his feet would be totally black necessitating a tottering wobble for mobility for a few days. The virus was no match for the laser beam and has finally been obliterated. I’m sure he is VERY glad to have that battle behind him!
On 7/3 Kevin will be going to Children’s for his 3 month battery of CA scans/tests as well as all of his cardiac and pulmonary tests. He has been feeling well and totally enjoying life! He will turn 21 while in Spain on 6-4-08!! How in the world did all those years fly by so FAST!!