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February 2, 2005 -- Maintenance #7 (Day 22-28) 18 days/nights to OT!! Remember that nasty chemo that Katie gets every 28 days that makes her legs and back hurt, and causes her a lot of fatigue? Well, Katie had her last 'nasty chemo' (vincristine - VCR) today!!! Yippee!!! She starts her last 5-day DEX (dexamethasone - steroid) pulse tonight!!! Wahoo!!! These will be the last achy bones, weak muscles, moodiness, and steroid-craving weeks of her treatment!! Katie had her last on-treatment CBC with differential today. As with every CBC, I worry from the moment the blood is taken until the doctor says "everything looks good". Her ANC was 1032. It wasn't quite high enough to jump her up to the full chemo dose, so for the remainder of her treatment, Katie's chemo will be at around 85%-90% of the full dose. She will take her last chemo pills at bedtime on February 19, 2005!!!! She will continue to take her Bactrim (prophylaxis antibiotic) until the end of March. We are so excited to be able to begin getting back into a normal, chemo-free, med-free life again. But, along with all of our excitement of her going off-treatment (OT), there is still a great deal of fear, anxiety, and worry. Fear/anxiety of the cancer coming back, and worry over what the 2 years and 2 months of chemo have done to her little body. Katie's journey through OT will consist of monthly CBCs, and many tests to determine the extent of damage the chemo has caused her. Katie's port removal is scheduled for February 22 and she will have a CBC on the 21st to make sure her counts are high enough to handle the surgery. The first OT tests -- CBC with differential and liver function tests, echocardiogram, EKG, and EKG holter (24-hour monitoring) -- will begin at her first OT appointment on March 15, 2005. We ask that you please continue to pray that Katie remains in remission, and also pray that she suffers NO long-term side effects from the chemo. Thank you for all the love and support you have shown our family throughout Katie's lengthy treatment. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives. We are very excited to announce that we have a celebrity recipe donor for KATIE'S COOKING! cookbook!! Christina Pirello, Emmy Award winning host of the national public television series, "Christina Cooks!" (airing on over 150 public television stations nationwide). At age 26, when after being diagnosed with terminal leukemia (AML), Christina decided to forgo conventional medical therapies and turned to a nutritional approach - whole foods - and cured herself. Katie is a huge fan of Christina's, so this is especially exciting for her. Thanks Christina!! We are equally excited and thankful to have Katie's preschool name KATIE'S COOKING! as one of their February service projects!! The response for this project has been wonderful. We still need a lot more to make this project a huge success. So, keep sifting through those recipes and feel free to send as many as you want! SEND YOUR RECIPES NOW!!! RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY!! Here is Katie's ANC, chemo/meds and schedule: February 2, 2005: ANC 1032. Got the last VCR IV push today!!! Increase chemo at home to 85-90% as follows -- nightly 6MP to 50mg (1 tablet) every Mon-Fri evenings and 75mg (1.5 tabs) Sat-Sun evenings, weekly MTX to 15mg (6 tablets) on Wednesday evening, 2mg DEX 2 times per day for 10 doses starting tonight, 1/2 tab Bactrim 2 times per day for 2 days (Friday through Saturday), 1 Viactiv daily, 1/4-1/2 tsp Zofran every 8 hours or as needed for nausea, 1/2 capful Miralax as needed for constipation/hard stools. Last chemo: Saturday evening, February 19, 2005 Continue Bactrim: through March Pre-surgery CBC: Monday, February 21, 2005 Port removal surgery: Tuesday AM, February 22, 2005 First OT visit: Tuesday, March 15, 1005 for CBC with differential and liver function tests, echocardiogram, EKG, and EKG holter (24-hour monitoring). |
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