Treatment Update

Kate is doing well still. I realized that I hadn't posted much on her progress for the last month and decided to get to it. Kate went to the clinic two weeks ago and her ANC was an astounding 2300. Her Hgb and platelets were normal as well so they kept her chemo at the %75 dose. (Remember, they cut her chemo in half after her last hospitalizations when her counts were so low and are slowly building her back up).
Today we went for her long treatment day. Kate'sANC was lower at 1100 but that is still great. I think it might be lower because she has some diarrhea and junky cough (always) so she's fighting a little with those cells. Today she had a Pentamadine transfusion (antibiotic), Vincristine (chemo) transfusion, and IV Ig (immunoglobulin) transfusion. It was a long day but the premedication with Benadryl and Tylenol (so she doesn't have a reaction to the IV Ig) helped her to blissfully sleep several of the hours away. Because her counts came down they are going to keep her at the %75 strength chemo dosing and see how things look next visit.
One kind of scary news today was that her last spinal tap revealed 1 blast in the cerebrospinal fluid. The blasts are bad cells and in large numbers mean that she has relapsed. Our doctor and nurse told us not to worry about it because it is mostly likely just a precursor cell and not a bad thing but it is SO hard not to worry. I am comforted that they don't want to do another spinal sooner than scheduled and that she is asymptomatic. I am trying to remind myself that if they aren't worried then I needn't stress. So, the next LP will be on July 17 and we'll check out the CSF then. If you are so inclined, a special prayer couldn't hurt!