We Have A Plan!

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And now it is time to get in fight mode! Ok so the beginning of the week started out terrible, but each new day brought some good news. We sat and talked with his doctor for an hour and his nurse gave us a copy of the protocol. This one is going to be a tough one. But it will be well worth it and it has worked well for others. I have always been happy with the Children's Oncology Group, but lately I just love them! With out them and all the work that they have done we wouldn't be here now, with a new plan and hope. So this protocol starts out just like the last one with 28 days of Dexamethasone, Vincristine and IT Triple Therapy (which is different instead of just Methotrexate he'll be getting that, Ara-C and Hydrocortisone) weekly, and 3 once weekly doses of Daunorubicin AKA the red devil. The doctor also said that usually remission is when induction is over and the CSF and marrow are clean but since his marrow isn't involved he will technically be in remission once we get a clean LP back (which we are hoping will happen on Monday) So he starts this round on Monday. Fevers are likely with the Daunorubicin. Stage 2 is Consolidation from weeks 5-10, he will be hospitalized for days 1 and 2 as well as 22 and 23 of this round for IV Ara-C. That will be when things get tricky because the Ara-C will drop his counts too. The rest of the plan I still don't understand completely. I know that he will need to have an ultrasound of his heart and EKG because of the Daunorubicin, and that at 1 year radiation begins but I'm not completely sure how often he will be getting radiation or for how long. The up side is though we are starting over it is only 2 years instead of 3 1/2. I will explain more when I know it.

Through all this my main concern is always Donavynn, but in the back of my mind I was also devistated about having to quit school again. This was where I was before when I had to quit. My family and teachers have been telling me all week to wait and see and that they will help and work with me. That we can't afford for me to quit for many reasons. The doctor agrees. So the plan right now is to try the best that I can and get as far as I can. With the support group that I have in all of this and only having classes 2-3 days a week depending on the week I think we can do this. But if things get rough I know that school will always be there. I am just going to pray that he stays strong and that the chemotherapy and radiation do what they are supposed to do and not what they shouldn't. A fear with all of this is secondary cancers and heart problems. So please continue to pray that we aren't ever faced with that and that when this remission is declared it stays that way once and for all.

So basically we are in for a long road, but with the support that Team Donavynn has from other family members and the fantastic friends around us as well as the wonderful medical team that we have I know we'll all be just fine. I don't want people caring for my child that don't actually care about him. And I never for one second doubt that they care about him. Through all of this they have become sort of like family. And to see how his relapse affected them touched me, because it proved that they really do care for him and are willing to fight just as hard as we are to fix this as well as to treat him with kindness and support to help him get through this with out fear.

I was reading KCC's bulletin tonight. It has been a rough week for our fellow warriors as well. We lost one warrior and today another little boy relapsed as well. I will be reposting that bulletin, please take a look and add them and their families to your prayer list. Thank you for the prayers and please keep sending them up!