Alyson’s Journey

We’ve been mostly coasting through the last few months. Chemo at home M-W-F, 5 days of steroids each month and up to Clinic every 2 or 4 weeks. Alyson’s hair has been growing which we all find very exciting.

Playing on the Couch

The only thing to mention is that we’ve been making monthly trips to the Emergency Department. Alyson runs a fever, we drive north, she’s otherwise fine and we go home. I hadn’t really thought much about it because that’s just how it goes with Leukemia.

Here’s the pattern bit:

• December 23 – at Clinic for CBCs
• December 24 – Fever (no ER visit because we had just been to Clinic)
• January 23 – Fever with ER Visit
• February 22 – Fever with ER Visit
• March 26 – Fever with ER Visit
• March 29 & 31 – Follow up to fevers because it’s still here

So, what’s going on in this kid such that she has no other symptoms? Is this even treatment related? Do her counts drop at a certain point in the month and make her susceptible to an infection? As with most things cancer related, the answer seems to be, “Heck if we know.”

Alyson’s start of Interim Maintenance was December 8th, 2008.

Each course of maintenance proceeds as outlined below. Courses repeat every 84 days for a total of 2 years from the start of interim maintenance therapy for female patients and 3 years from the start of interim maintenance therapy for male patients.

• vincristine IV on days 1, 29, and 57
• oral dexamethasone twice daily on days 1-5, 29-33, and 57-61
• oral methotrexate on days 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 50, 57, 64, 71, and 78
• oral mercaptopurine on days 1-84
• methotrexate IT on day 1

Shazaam! We are in the final year countdown.

Otherwise, I apologize for not updating the site as frequently. I went an entire month – which is good because it’s just that nothing else was going on medically. In happy news, Halloween was fun although I’m looking forward to being able to actually take the kids somewhere that isn’t the hospital for trick-or-treating.

1. Face Glitter
2. Getting Ready to Go Out
3. That’s Some Serious Facepaint
4. Down the Hallway
5. Trick or Treating
6. Arrr, Maties!
7. Looking for Treasure
8. Dark and Scary Water Dragon
9. Anything Good to Eat?
10. Frothy Water Around the Mermaid
11. Mermaid and Her Pirate
12. Pirate Chasing the Mermaid
13. Quetzal the Pirate
14. Hide Those Shoes!
15. Side of a Dragon

I need to talk with our insurance rep once more before I divulge details.