Facing Childhood Cancer - Throwback from 2004

When our son, Ryan Tomoff, relapsed for the second time in the spring of 2004, a bone-marrow transplant was his "ace-in-the-whole" for battling and slaying the same leukemia that kept coming back. With so much chemo on board to get him into a solid remission, to even have the bone-marrow transplant, his blood counts were down to nothing (mostly on purpose) and that meant he couldn't fight any bug.

Wearing these "fashionable" gowns and gloves due to low, or pretty much non-existent ANC (absolute neutrophil count), was thought of as a layer of "protection" to possibly stave off any type of infection that could find its way to Ryan and wreak havoc.  We did not want, of course.

Depending on circumstances, sometimes whoever came into his room had to gown and glove for a visit, or even the nurse to perform her duties. This was each time they entered his room by the way. Sometimes, when Ryan left the room, he needed to be gowned and gloved, and this is what my photo today is of Ryan and his nurse taking a walk outside his room for a bit.

Notice his IV pole? It has three different drugs/blood products/flush and maybe an antibiotic going into his small body...at the same time! Yikes!

BSoleille! The bright side of Ryan taking a walk with his nurse and getting a breath of "fresh air."

Terri