2nd chemo week ends....

Renee completed her second week of chemo, and did not experience any real problems. The treatments were much faster, with only a small bag of anti-nausea, and then a small bag of chemo needed. (Renee might not think they are that small)
Renee had a heplock inserted into her arm, and kept it there all week so it could be used each day. Since it is wrapped in a bright colored wrap, the baby tries to grab it when he gets a chance.

All the children have adjusted well to this "new lifestyle."(We know that prayer has much to do with this! Thank you!) Charity (8 yrs old) understands the most, but wants to know the least details! She is very squeamish when it comes to blood and needles. However, Faith (6 yrs old) likes to investigate, as she wants to be a Dr. someday. She has wrapped Renee's arm in the coband to cover the heplock. Hope (2 yrs old) is most sympathetic, as she questions: "mommy does it hurt...did you cry and cry?" , "mommy, you get shot?" Josiah has bonded with grammy, which has helped with all of Renee's appointments.

Renee will be going in for her procrit shots each Tuesday ongoing for now, and she will be scheduled to have a bone marrow sample taken in the next month. This sample will tell us how she is progressing, and hopefully will be clean of cancer.
Please pray for God's healing.

2nd chemo week begins......

Renee had another blood sample taken, and the new white blood cell count was up to 1.6 (1600). The Lord is good, and this allowed Renee to start her second week of chemo.

Renee is eating mostly raw fruits and vegetables, to help her body become stronger. Her mother is staying with our family, and juices a lot of carrots, broccoli, apples, and other assorted foods for Renee to drink.

2nd chemo week delayed....

Renee was scheduled to start her second week of chemo, and we met with Dr. O to see how her blood levels looked. Renee's new white blood cell count was up to .6 (600), but they needed to be around 1.2 in order for her to be given chemo. We would delay this week, and check next Monday.

Renee's Igm (protein) level was down to 1602, praise the Lord. This is the indicator of the cancer, and the effectiveness of the treatment. When the chemo began, the level was 4055, with normal levels being between 40 to 230. If the treatment was not working, we would expect to see the IgM going higher.

Rituxan treatments end....

Renee took her last rituxan treatment, completing 4 weeks of one shot per week.
Her blood was also checked, and her levels had dropped. She was given a drug called procrit, which helps to increase the red blood cell count.
Her new white blood cell count was .2 (200), and this was dangerously low in regards to catching any sickness. Her IgM level was also being checked.

First week of chemo complete....

On Thursday - April 12th, Renee had a blood transfusion since her hemoglobin was low.

Renee completed her first week of chemo, and did not get sick during the treatments. She did experience nausea about 1 week later, but was fine after taking an anti-nausea pill.

Chemo and rituxan begins.....

Renee's schedule was for 4 complete weeks of chemo, spread of 4 months. She also was to take 4 treatments of rituxan, one day a week for 4 straight weeks. These treatments work independently of each other, so they did not need to coincide.
The chemo would be adjusted to give 5 days worth in 4 days, as we were starting on Tuesday. Renee was to take both on this day, and the rituxan would take a long time, since it has to be given very slowly at first, to determine if Renee may experience any dangerous side effects.

Renee had to take some benedril first, for fever like effects of the rituxan. The benedrill made her drowsy, and Renee fought the drug, since she was nervous and did not want to go to sleep, as she knew the rituxan could have bad effects. This put her into a "fight or flee" mode, as described later by a nurse, with her adrenalin kicking in. She got over this, and was able to relax.
Everything Renee took was administered intravenously, including the benedrill, anti-nausea medicine, chemo (fludorabine), and rituxan. It was a long day, and the rituxan did not have any bad side effects. The day lasted between 6 and 7 hours.

I kidded Renee later telling her that she did fine with the chemo and rituxan, but had trouble with common things like needles and giving blood, and taking benedrill.

Blood phoresis (dialysis) before chemo.

Renee could not start the rituxan and chemo without having a blood phoresis to clean her blood. The cancer also has the hyperviscosity condition, which means that Renee's blood had an enormous amount of a protein called IgM. Her level was 6383, and a normal amount would be between 40 and 230. This is why there were hemorages in her eyes, as the blood vessels are very small there.

Renee started the week with this blood phoresis. Renee was nervous and sitting up, and almost passed out when they started taking her blood. She lay back helping the blood pressure, and was ok. The phoresis lasted about 2 hours, and was successful. When Renee's IgM level was checked, she was down to 4055.