Day 337 - Modification to Maintenance plan

     When it comes to cancer treatment for Evan the plan is anything but static.  Let's go back a couple days first.  On Tuesday of this week we met with the ID doctor for a routine checkup.  Overall she was pleased with how he looked and although a scan wasn't performed she gave him a good once over.  Cristy discussed if it was possible to change his anti-fungal medication because of the possible interaction with the Methotrexate, however she wasn't comfortable with that sort of switch yet.  The medication he's on is good for treating candida and aspergillus and if you recall Evan was stricken with both infections early in his treatment.

Mother's Day Dinner at Agave.

     Now let's come back to today.  Cristy took Evan for his monthly chemotherapy and consultation with his doctor.  Because of challenges we've had in the past with steroids and infections we inquired what the rest of his treatment schedule looked like and how prominent steroids were.  Unfortunately as we expected they are a fairly significant piece of most leukemia patient's plan.  Knowing Evan's history and having seen results from case studies elsewhere Evan's primary doctor elected to do steroids every three months instead of monthly.  There are obvious pros and cons to this approach.  On the positive side this should greatly reduce his potential for infection and give his body more time to heal.  The con is this slightly increases his chance for relapse.

Receiving his monthly IVIG.

     In addition to pulling back the steroid frequency the doctor also decided to pair his Vincristine treatment with the steroids.  The logic that was relayed to Cristy was this will give his legs more time to strengthen since a common side effect of Vincristine is numbing of the feet and there is a belief this may have stunted some of his recovery.

Just another day at the clinic.  This boy loves Ramen.

     Having pulled these two drugs today's appointment only lasted until 1:00.  Evan received Pentamidine and IVIG to help stave off any potential infections.  His blood numbers had dropped, but within decent ranges.  The medical team said they would still like to see them a bit lower during maintenance.  With his Methotrexate and Mercaptopurine working a little slower we should see his numbers continue to drop.

Thanks to Alan for this beautiful swing for Cristy's Mother's Day gift.

     This coming weekend Cristy and I are registered for the Make-A-Wish Walk for Wish 5K.  Thank you so much to everyone who has donated!  This being our first time fundraising we didn't know what to expect, but I am so thrilled that this money will be going to help families put a smile on a child's face.  Last weekend Cristy and I walked/jogged a 5K a little closer to home and it was painfully obvious how far our physical endurance has regressed.  We have several more walks planned over the coming months.  With any luck Evan can start participating in more of the walking portion of the races, but for now he's a reluctant passenger.

Getting our steps in.