Today was the first day of DI, or Delayed Intensification. Like the name suggests this is usually the most intense phase for most kids with leukemia. Serenity had her blood drawn this morning and we held our breath until the results were back, hoping that her counts were good enough that she could start this phase. I was fairly sure they would be ok but when they told us I was secretly so proud of my girl. 4 days early and her counts were higher than the nurse seemed to think they would be. She had a lumbar puncture scheduled (when they inject methotrexate chemotherapy into her spinal column) and had this morning. The procedure went fine but it was a little scary (for me) because the anesthesiologist said she had had a laryngeal spasm, and he had had to massage her throat in order for her to start breathing well again. It’s uncommon and not a big deal and not likely to happen again, but very scary for me to think about.
After she recovered from the anesthesia we went back upstairs to oncology where they gave her IV Vincristine and the new chemo, doxorubicin. This one is a harsh one (ha ha, as if some chemotherapies were a walk in the park) so she is expected to be nauseated, lose her hair again, and have low immunity. So far though she is feeling pretty good. She played all evening with the 4 little ones and seemed to be her normal self. She was a little emotional today, but not too bad. We started her back on steroids again tonight. I’m really not looking forward to dealing with that again, but at least she is one week on and one week off, rather than taking them continuously.
We go back on Tuesday for a shot of PEG, yet another form of chemotherapy. She’s only had the shot once before but I think it was really, really painful.
I remember another time you mentioned that it took Serenity a while to wake up from the anesthesia. I’ll be praying about this as well as her lowered immune system. You’ve got virtual hugs!
Praying all the time for Serenity!
Thank you. We will take all the prayers we can get!