I recently wrote about Nathaniel in a "
Then and Now", about how he had Burkitt's Lymphoma and was doing so well almost 2 years out. The picture was from January, and a lot has happened in these
past 2 mon
ths. He quit eating and has lost a lot of weight. His parents brought him back to see me earlier this week. Other than weight loss, I couldn't find any other symptoms to help me know what was going on. I thought maybe he had TB, HIV, leukemia (from the chemo), or a horrible infection - but all the tests were negative. In talking with Bill, we both agreed that his mental status was off. He seemed to be really frightened and on heighten alert anytime you came near him. Our concern was that his lymphoma had come back in his CNS (brain). Without any tests to determine this, we talked with the family, and now have restarted his chemo again. From what I read recurrent Burkitt's is often resistant to chemo, and CNS Burkitt's can be difficult because of the high levels of chemo you need to give in order to penetrate into the brain. Pray for Nathaniel that he might respond to the chemo, and pray for wisdom to know how we can help him.
