Treatment Update

So Aly just completed her Consolidation phase of treatment with her last chemo pill tonight.  She has been taking a pill called mercaptopurine (orally) for the past 28 days and has been such a trooper.  In order to ensure she takes the pill with no issues, we have been disolving it in water and giving it to her with an oral syringe.  We call it her "important" medicine and each night we have to pretend to give it to her Yoda doll and her Darth Vadar "build-a-bear".  Those poor stuffed animals have to get chemo.

Tomorrow we are back at the cancer clinic at 9am for the first treatment in the next phase of her treatment.   This next phase is referred to as "Interim Maintenance I" and lasts for 8 weeks and consists of two types of IV chemo treatment ( Vincristine and Methotrexate) that she receives every 10 days in addition to one more spinal treatment on day 31.  I hope this is a long 8 weeks, because the next phase also runs for 8 weeks, but has 2 separate weeks of the dreaded dexamethasone ( steroid).  I dread this, but at least this time it's only for 5 day cycles .... and apparently just as the side-effects kick in, they are beginning to decline and nothing like they were when taken for 28 days .... not sure I could survive that again.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month !