Day 1, Chemo Round 3 :: Off to a Great Start

Less than 0.1% leukemia blasts detected in the April 10th bone marrow biopsy!

We started Round 3 off with that bit of great news.  Induction was successful! The first two rounds of chemo achieved their goal of bringing Jade's leukemia into REMISSION and giving us our cheerful, spirited girl back.  And Jade must have sensed that walking in; she was excited to be back in the hospital. Her new room directly across from the Playroom didn't hurt either! In fact, she was in the Playroom for at least twenty minutes before she could be convinced to check out her room.

The "less than 0.1%" leukemia blasts, however, is why we press on with the five-round chemotherapy treatment plan.  According to our attending physician, they actually did not find any leukemia blasts in Jade's latest bone marrow sample, but because of the limitations of the science/technology they cannot definitively say that there are absolutely no leukemia blasts present.  We need there to be zero leukemia blasts to reduce Jade's chances of the leukemia returning and wreaking its uncontrolled havoc on her immune system. And so, we proceed with the next three rounds, also known as "intensification," when they pull out all of the stops to rid Jade's body of any lurking leukemia cells.

Round 3 is expected to be the shortest of all rounds (by a few days).  Jade will receive high-dose chemotherapy for five days and then remain in the hospital until her immune system recovers from the treatment. What do they mean by high-dose?  Check out the difference in dosage between Round 1 and Round 3 for the Cytarabine, one of the chemotherapy drugs.

                Rounds 1 & 2                                Round 3
                100 mg/m2/dose                            1,000 mg/m2/dose
                15 minute infusions                         1 hour infusions

That's ten times the dosage strength as the previous rounds... But God is faithful; Jade will have an uneventful and successful Round 3. They've started Jade on prophylactic, or preventive, eye drops.  (I know so many more medical terms now.) The high-dose chemo is known for causing chemical conjunctivitis, among other things.  So every three hours for at least seven days, we'll wrestle with Jade to get the drops into her eyes and let them do their work. Anti-nausea, anti-fungal, two antibiotics, multivitamin, appetite stimulant, and Miralax (no poop for six days) continue.  As do our prayers... and yours, we ask.

'Til tomorrow my friends...