Thursday Clinic Visit - Maintenance Round 12

Today's clinic visit consisted of the following:
1) Port access
2) a blood draw
3) Zofran (anti-nausea - increased dose because she had so much vomiting after the last lumbar puncture)
4) Lumbar Puncture
5) Vincristine (Chemo)

We thought today's clinic visit was going to be a rough one because both Nurse Helen AND "fun" Chris were out today. But, it ended up being OK. Rob, the director of childlife services, "subbed" for Chris and he did a great job with Katie. Nurse Donna took Helen's spot during Katie's procedure which was fine because Katie didn't seem at all phased by the lumbar puncture today. She didn't even seem to notice that there were needles in her back. I think they may have upped the dose of anesthesia along with the Zofran.

After her procedure, she was really tired, which was a good thing because she has to lay flat for 45 minutes after the procedure and today she really didn't want to move anyway. After about an hour, the nurse came in to administer her Vincristine and send us on our way. We were not even out of the parking garage yet when Kaitlyn vomited all over the place. I guess the increased dose of Zofran was not enough.

The good news is that this was the last lumbar puncture for a while. She was on a 9-week schedule, but now she starts an 18-week schedule. So, her next one will be in March and then her LAST one will be in July. SHE ONLY HAS 2 MORE LEFT!!!! I can't tell you how happy that makes me. As good as she does during these procedures, I still can't stand seeing her go through it.

We also pointed out a rash on Katie's face, so we have to bring her to a dermatologist tomorrow.

This cycle will consist of the following:
Vincristine - Day 1 (same dose as previous cycles)
Methotrexate (oral at home chemo) - Days 8 & 15 (increased dose from the last cycle)
6-mercapturine (oral at home chemo) - Days 1-14 (same dose as the last cycle)
Dexamethasone (oral at home steroid)- Days 1-5 (same dose as the last cycle)

Next planned clinic visit will be in three weeks, December 10.