Free Help For Cancer

Everything is technically fine. The anti-fungal and anti-biotics are working for the nail fungus and subsequent infection.  This is a huge relief.  There have been no side effects for the liver so the Milk Thistle must be working.  The lesson learned here is that one has to act right away when they see any nail abnormalities. Not wait and think it will resolve on its own, which is exactly what I did.

Thankfully, this past week we had family fly in from Puerto Rico for a visit of several days.  This was a welcome diversion from the last minute tension that accompanies the end of treatment.  We had a really good time together.  We have not seen them since 2005.  Noelia, my aunt, is like a mother to me.  I cannot tell you what a comfort it was to have this visit.  In essence we had a mini vacation and it was great.  The picture is of Kayla and Noelia swimming together.

Now onto a conversation with one of our nurses asking why we have to do the bone marrow aspiration (meaning go into the hip bone and take out marrow cells). Here is the conversation.

Question: Do we have to do this bone marrow, can I refuse to do it?

Answer: Well, you want to do the last bone marrow because the doctors need to verify that the marrow is clear of all leukemia.

Question: If it is not clear, what happens?

Answer: If there are leukemia cells present at the end of treatment then the patient is immediately sent for a bone marrow transplant. (Horrors of horrors!) If there is no leukemia present then treatment is officially ended. If there is a relapse later, the patient is put on chemo treatment. So you see, they have to know whether or not the marrow is clean and this determines the next step taken.

Okay, at least I understand what and why.  Kayla’s original bone marrows were pretty rough. Because these were done almost every week, and the drug Versed was used, Kayla felt everything that went on.  It was just unusually rough for both of us.  We can’t help but be nervous due to our past experiences as well as worrying about the results.  It is just par for the course to go through these mental antics.

Today I called the office to find out how long it would take to get the marrow results back. Then I burst into tears on the telephone. Here is what the nurse said to me: I know it is tough. End of treatment is much worse for most people because when one is diagnosed they are in shock, they do not know what the treatment entails. At the end of treatment the patient knows what the possibilities are, therefore it is much harder. But, you need to know that abnormalities will show up in the blood tests before the end of treatment, this is why the blood is monitored so closely through out treatment. Kayla’s blood work has been very stable, no wild changes, so I doubt that there will be any problems.

Thank goodness he spoke to me this way. I have been reassuring Kayla who is a nervous wreck also. Today she asked me about her bone marrow, which she dreads and I gave her a lengthy pep talk about her blood tests, cytogenetic report, (this is a cellular study that was done at the beginning of treatment. Per her cells she was given a very good prognosis.) How her lumbar punctures have been normal, etc. I also had to explain how the early marrows were rough because they were packed with leukemia cells making the draw very rough, this will not be the case with the marrow that gets done tomorrow.

So there you have it, we are all very excited about the end of treatment, while terrified (and pretending not to be) that something may not go as planned. It will take almost a week to get the results back from the bone marrow. In two days we will be given the results of the spinal fluid. I am chanting mentally that everything will be fine, but this is very tough.

Note: If anyone out there is reading this and getting ready to have their spinal fluid checked it would be a good idea to insist that the doctor replace the spinal fluid that was withdrawn with the same amount of saline solution into the spine. This action is a preventive measure for spinal headaches.

This Friday we are going to Cape Coral Florida for the Ernest Giving Weekend.  This is sponsored by  the 1Voice Foundation.  Kayla has no idea that we are going.  For more information about this group click on this link http://www.1voicefoundation.org/ Today I ordered Kayla a Cancer Victory Trophy and ribbon.  These will be given to her during our weekend trip.  I also told MaryAnn, the coordinator for this event that this will be perfect for Kayla to celebrate her end of treatment.  MaryAnn then stated that they would do something really special for Kayla.  Our schedule includes watching  NFL football players play basketball to raise money, dinners, bowling, night club for parents, etc.   Yippee!

As soon as I get the marrow results I will post it on the blog. Thanks for reading about us.