Loving a "Plan"

Holding Buckeye, wearing her "cat" shirt and working on her 4-H project today.



PRAISE HIM! We have a plan! (Don’t know if it’ll work or not, but there’s just a good feeling about knowing what we’re going to at least try next!) As soon as I got home from OSU this afternoon I zipped Christi off to the hospital for her blood counts. An hour later we had the results and when her platelets were “96” I knew we were back in this fight! THANK YOU, PARTNERS IN PRAYER!
I emailed CHOP and could only wait for 45 minutes before I had to call and make certain they received my email with the numbers (smile). They did, and were in the midst of plan development. They told me the next step would be fenritnide; however, she didn’t qualify for it because she just had a stem cell rescue and you have to be 12 weeks out of that in order to get this drug and she’s only 6 weeks out. (ugh!) Because Dr. Maris feels this may benefit Christi he went to bat for her and she is now getting it on a “compassionate release” basis (just like her last treatment- BSO/LPAM). Of course this concerned me and led me to ask, “What is the dosing level going to be?” Well, they were hesitant and finally I learned only dose level “2” of the oral chemo, or we could wait a few more weeks and then have it be dose level “3” after it’s determined to be safe. (There is a 30% difference between dosing levels.)

Pat called back an hour later. Dr. Maris doesn’t believe she can go two more weeks without any treatment so he wants her to start this new chemo on Wednesday, July 19th. (If it comes in on time. It’s being ordered “rush” as I type.) It will be dosing level “2”, but after one cycle they will bump it up to level “3” pending there are no toxicities and that is not at all expected. Therefore, Christi and I shall fly to Philly early Monday morning as she has to be in anesthesia around 9:00 AM for her first of many tests. (The tests are to wrap up her BSO trial and in order to get clearance for her new chemo attempt.) Tuesday and Wednesday will be more tests and if all goes as planned, we will fly back to Columbus Wednesday night. Fenritnide is an oral chemo drink that is supposed to taste better than the irino she drank (and “tossed” on the floor) much of last fall. I do not know of anyone who’s experienced success with this oral attempt, but she’s too strong not to try to keep fighting. She will drink it for seven days and get fourteen days off before repeating the cycle again, pending no pain or signs of rapid disease progression. We should be able to experience a normal life while she is doing this treatment which of course means normalcy for all of us especially Shayla. Christi and I’ve gone over all of this and when she got up to leave she gave me a high five (God, how I love this amazing, spunky kid!! Thanks you for blessing me with her!).

Prayer Request: That the new upcoming treatment works to reduce Christi’s cancer while giving her a good quality of life. Thanks, friends!

BLOOD COUNTS:
LDH: 262 (100-190 normal, measures tumor activity) *This rising number had the nurse practitioner respond, “Time to get something started! Glad we have a plan now!”
10.8 hgb. (low)
6.4 white
96 platelets (low)

Meanwhile..........back to the 4H (cat) project with Christi working away at the kitchen table!