1) Port access
2) a blood draw
3) Vincristine (Chemo)
It pains me to have to say that I have set the countdown clock back by 1 day :-( I knew this was coming, but I prolonged it as long as possible. The reason we had to move Katie's last 2 clinic visits (YES, I SAID LAST 2!) to Friday's is because she will be in school on Thursdays! They had no problem accommodating this request and noted that it will be a perfect transition because Dr. Keuker likes to see all his "survivor's" on Fridays.
We met with Nurse Practitioner, Chris, today and the change in her clinic schedule prompted some questions about "after treatment". We discussed when her port will be coming out and I told her that after Disney was preferable so that she can swim while we are there. The surgeons will be meeting with Katie on October 1st, her last clinic visit. They want to take a look at the bump on her neck and see what needs to be done to take care of that as well as examine her for her port removal.
She will also be scheduled for a heart "echo" on that day. They will be watching her heart for "late effects" of one of the chemotherapy drugs called Doxorubicin. A late effect of this drug is heart problems. They will perform an echo on her heart every 2 years to ensure that her heart is working properly. If not, they have drugs that can help it function properly. The good news is that Katie received doses in the very low end of the mid range (20 mg less and she would be in the low range). She also received a "heart protection" drug before the Doxorubicin, which should have also helped. We pray that she does not encounter any heart problems down the line.
Other things that she will be watched closely for include:
-- Neurocognitive Deficits (learning disabilities) - due to all the intrathecal chemotherapies.
-- Educational issues (memory loss and learning disabilities) - again due to all the intrathecal chemotherapies.
-- Dental problems (soft teeth and increased risk of cavities) - due to all chemotherapies.
-- Soft bones (osteoporosis and increased risk of broken bones) - due to Methotrexate & steroids.
She will go to the "survivor clinic" once per month for the first year. They will do both a physical exam and a blood workup, watching her closely for any indication that she is experiencing any of the above late effects.
This may be my denial talking again, but I am confident that Katie will not encounter anything serious down the road. I base this on the fact that her body has handled all of this treatment so well thus far. She has not had very many immediate adverse effects from all the chemotherapies she has been on and they have done their job quite nicely. Today, she is cancer free and I couldn't ask for more than that.
This cycle will consist of the following:
Vincristine - Day 1 (same dose as previous cycles)
Methotrexate (oral at home chemo) - Days 1, 8 & 15 (same dose as 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 (and one day), Friday, September 10th.
ONLY 2 MORE CHEMO VISITS LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment