Wow! I can't believe it has been over a month since I updated. Time flies by with so much going on. I apologize for the delay. Christmas is almost upon us.
Katy started her 2nd chemotherapy round on Nov. 21 as scheduled. The chemotherapy was altered to give it the best chance of killing the leukemia cells, thus allowing Katy to move forward to bone marrow transplant. At the very end of the daily chemotherapy, Katy started having bleeding problems due to low platelets and an inflamed colon. She lost enough blood to need two units of blood transfused, within a couple of hours, so the oncology team moved her to PICU as a precaution. Luckily, they were able to stop the bleeding relatively easily and she only spent two days there. However, she did not receive her last dose of one of the chemo medications.
The rest of her 22 day stay in the hospital was uneventful. She did not get mouth sores this time, but her hands still got swollen, raw and peeled. But Katy was able to avoid the pain medicine drip and overall ate well. We decorated her room with Christmas decor and tried to make her stay as pleasant as possible (which is really not much). She got released from the hospital on Tuesday evening, Dec. 13.
Until yesterday. Katy started have bleeding problems again, this time in her stomach. Again, her platelets were very low. So she got admitted last night for observation. The platelet transfusion stopped the bleeding and she was able to eat and hold down food today. As I write this, we are awaiting a platelet count to see if she can go home this evening. I'm guessing we'll be able to leave tonight, but if not tonight, then tomorrow. Now we know we have to keep Katy's platelets higher.
Katy should be home for Christmas! Yeah!!! She will have another bone marrow aspirate done the week in between Christmas and New Years, or the first week in the New Year. This will measure the amount of leukemia cells Katy still has in her bone marrow. My understanding, at this point, is that if she has less than 5% leukemia cells left, they will take her to transplant. The lower the amount the better. So keep your fingers crossed, pray, send positive thoughts, hum to your higher power. We will appreciate any and all of it!
Happy Holidays to everyone. Please enjoy your friends and families. Life is so fragile.
Love,
Christina
