Revised schedule

Hi everyone.. many of you have asked for some clarification on mom's schedule.  Unfortunately nothing can be set in stone with ALL.. everyone responds differently, so anytime I do post about this type of thing I am very hesitant.. things can and do change often. 

When we came out to Buffalo at the end of July, we thought mom would be here for course 1 (induction phase, which she's in now), go home and rest for a little while and come back for the 105 day stem cell transplant. 

We have since learned that every patient on this protocol also go through course 2 (56 days) and 3 (49 days) before the stem cell transplant. Also, patients still showing greater than 5% blasts in the day 29 bone marrow will go through course 1A, a 14 day extension of the induction phase.  

How does this translate?  Here is what we know... Mom is on day 23 of 29 for course 1.  She will have a bone marrow biopsy on day 29 along with her intrathecal (in the spine) chemotherapy drug which prevents/treats leukemia in the central nervous system.  Once Dr. Wetzler receives the results, he will let us know if there are any blasts in her bone marrow.  At day 14, she had 1% blasts.. that's a good sign, but not a 100% prediction so we need to keep praying and staying positive.. if her bone marrow looks good and she is eating, sleeping, able to take care of herself, etc.. Dr. Wetzler will make the determination of how long mom can go home for to rest.  He also will decide when she needs to come back to start course 2.

Here's where things can get fuzzy... During course 2 (56 days), mom will continue chemotherapy but with some different drugs than course 1.  She will spend some time inpatient and some outpatient at the Hope Lodge or Kevin Guest House (both places close to Roswell, both for cancer patients and their families).  She will need 24 hour care from a family member while out of the hospital.  Course 3 (49 days) will be similar to course 2 in that she will spend some time inpatient and outpatient.  We do not know if she can come home at all between course 2, 3 and stem cell transplant.. if there are ever any complications, the courses will be stopped until mom's well enough to continue.. we just don't know what to expect and how she's going to respond.. 

Looking at all this information, we are hoping that mom will be done with her stem cell transplant in April.  She will need close monitoring after that..but we'll worry about that part later!! 

Is there any good news in this all?  YES!!  While all courses of chemotherapy are tough, we have heard that course 1 is the worst because they are trying to kill all the leukemia cells and in the process, kill healthy cells too... mom's acing this course with flying colors!!!  She's been tired, but I really do think that has as much to do with the constant traffic in her room as it does the chemotherapy.  We know the rest of this process will be challenging, but we are hoping that she can breeze through it just like she has in this first course. 

keep praying, keep sending cards, letters, emails and comments... keep reading this blog.. keep the positive energy flowing in our direction!  You are all helping us to get through this.. and we appreciate every single one of you. 

Friends are like flowers in the garden of life... and since she can't have any flowers right now.. she needs her friends.

(or as loo would say.. friends are like the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life... they make it soda licious.) 

will write more later...

love.