Because we had caught this cancer earlier than most, due to Katy's continued blood monitoring, her team gave us a thumb's up for a short trip. This was decided on Tuesday. By Wednesday night I had made reservations at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, California. On Thursday, Katy received blood transfusions before the trip and on Friday morning we were off.
We spent 4 wonderful, bittersweet (mostly sweet) days on the beach and ocean enjoying life and each other. Katy got to try surfing, experienced a true spa massage, sunbathed, swam, looked for shells, went to the San Diego Zoo and relaxed. We stayed in a beautiful beach villa with our own hot tub. It was relaxing and beautiful. I wish I could go back to those 4 days.
Before we left, Katy had decided to at least start treatment. We arrived home the evening of Wednesday, October 5 and were at the hospital by 8am the next morning. Katy received more transfusions in the morning, and in the afternoon, she went into surgery to have a central line placed, another bone marrow aspiration for more testing, and a spinal tap to check for leukemia in her spinal fluid, as well as putting chemo directly into her spinal fluid. She came home that night. On Friday, October 7, Katy was admitted to Primary Children's Hospital to start her first 10 course of chemotherapy.
Katy receives 10 days of chemotherapy followed by blood count recovery in the hospital. The chemotherapy for leukemia wipes out your immune system completely. There is a high risk for serious infections, therefore Katy must stay in the hospital until her blood counts recover. This can take 2-3 weeks after treatment has ended.
Currently, Katy has been done with treatment for 4 days. So we are in the recovery period of her blood counts. The chemotherapy has caused terrible hand and mouth sores. It takes a toll on Katy's energy. Eating and talking are difficult for her right now. But overall, up to this point, she has done very well. There have been no serious infections, and for that I am thankful.
We will try to keep this blog up to date and full of information. Check back regularly. Katy has struggled much in medical challenges, but as a family, we are lucky she has a fighting spirit. We are also lucky to have so many caring people in our lives.
Christina
Some pictures from our trip...
It was so hard reading what Katy has already been through during this recent, awful diagnosis. I wish so much that I could give all of you a big hug. Thank you Katy for allowing this blog so that we can check in and see how you are doing. Love you so much! BTW...beautiful pictures of your vacation. So glad you all got to do that.
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