I wanted to start with an explanation of his treatment... a fellow cancer mom did an amazing job explaining it HUMAN terms. Explanation on Carson's Treatment...
The first 8 months (give or take, depending on if there are any delays) are very similar to other cancer treatments.
The initial goal is to kill the cancer. That happens during the fist 28 days, called induction. They call it that because the goal of induction is to induce remission. But because blood is such a fast growing cell, remission is not an end goal,
The first 8 months (give or take, depending on if there are any delays) are very similar to other cancer treatments.
The initial goal is to kill the cancer. That happens during the fist 28 days, called induction. They call it that because the goal of induction is to induce remission. But because blood is such a fast growing cell, remission is not an end goal,
like it is with so many other cancers. It's the first priority.
Then, for 7 more months, they kill off any residual cancer cells that didn't show up in scans, and they also repeatedly suppress the bone marrow, giving it time to recover in-between rounds. The goal is to re-teach it to make healthy blood cells, rather than just making new cancerous blood cells. It's almost like we're beating it into submission during that time. Sort of a reset process.
After that, we enter a Maintenance phase, which for girls, is 2 years beyond the beginning of phase 3 (not sure why...) and for boys it's 3 (because boys are more likely to relapse, so they get an extra year of treatment). Instead of the roller coaster ups and downs, the goal of the Maintenance phase is to keep the immune system suppressed, without tanking out the counts completely, for the entire period of this phase. They give a steady, low dose of chemo, supplemented by a second type weekly, monthly IV treatments concurrent with 5 day pulses of steroids, and every 3 months, intrathecal (into the spinal fluid) chemo, which prevents relapse in the central nervous system (one of the most common types of relapse).
Doctor say they didn't used to have such a long Maintenance period, but they had much higher relapse rates. I think it's worth the extra time, even though it feels like it'll be forever.
Then, for 7 more months, they kill off any residual cancer cells that didn't show up in scans, and they also repeatedly suppress the bone marrow, giving it time to recover in-between rounds. The goal is to re-teach it to make healthy blood cells, rather than just making new cancerous blood cells. It's almost like we're beating it into submission during that time. Sort of a reset process.
After that, we enter a Maintenance phase, which for girls, is 2 years beyond the beginning of phase 3 (not sure why...) and for boys it's 3 (because boys are more likely to relapse, so they get an extra year of treatment). Instead of the roller coaster ups and downs, the goal of the Maintenance phase is to keep the immune system suppressed, without tanking out the counts completely, for the entire period of this phase. They give a steady, low dose of chemo, supplemented by a second type weekly, monthly IV treatments concurrent with 5 day pulses of steroids, and every 3 months, intrathecal (into the spinal fluid) chemo, which prevents relapse in the central nervous system (one of the most common types of relapse).
Doctor say they didn't used to have such a long Maintenance period, but they had much higher relapse rates. I think it's worth the extra time, even though it feels like it'll be forever.
Thus why he is on this journey for 3 years! I hope it passes in no time for all of us!
We Celebrated Halloween! It was great. We were able to go to Make a Wish's Halloween party. they did an amazing job and were very kind to the boys!
We had to go to our "regular" doctor to make sure Carson's leg wasn't broke, it wasn't but of course I HAD to make sure. The boys love that they get special attention when we go there! Love Tri-City Medical and Dr. Corry.
Carson has been getting sick, nauseous the past couple weeks. He has had trouble sleeping. The ARAC and T- pill is wearing on him. As long as he has his Zofran he seems to be okay, sometimes we have to have to give him fenegran or benardyl with it. He is so tough. The one thing the child got from me is my determination, when he puts his mind to something he DOES it!
We were able to do some baking. Carson and Blake enjoyed it!
He is so good with taking his medication. He always likes to help push in the saline, and heparin. He is a great helper. Today I accessed his port for the first time, I was so nervous, and also excited to do it. I did it on my first try, got a blood return just like your supposed to, and was able to give him his chemo with out a hitch! I was very proud of myself, and Brant was also very proud of me. Carson didn't ever say it hurt. he wasn't scared at all. He is so brave.
Also Happy Birthday to our Blakers! He is 2 today!
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