Sorry it has taken me a while to catch up. It has been a roller-coaster month for our family. I lost a very close friend in a free diving accident on the 6th. I'm still at a lost for words. I will always pray for his family.
Zoe is doing really good. Her neutropils(segment of her WBC that helps body to fight off infection) were low and her chemo was pushed back a couple of weeks until her counts came back up. We kept her at home the entire time. Fortunately her counts bounced back up just a few days before Christmas where she was able to get back on track with her treatment, and also be able to go outside to enjoy the Holiday atmosphere. She had an amazing Christmas!
Sallyann, my wife, has been a rock! Her love and strong faith continues to guide us through this journey. This challenge has made our bond even stronger. She and I along with our two daughters would like to thank each and everyone of you. It means so much to have those positive thoughts and prayers. Until my next post, live strong, love strong, and have a Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 28
Thursday, December 4
Interim Maintenance
Hi all. Sorry for the lack of update. We're still plodding along. Zoe just completed the consolidation phase. Her hair is coming off at a phenomenal rate but she's coping quite well with it. We're now in the interim maintenance block where she goes into the clinic every 10 days for chemo treatment. We'll keep you updated on how she is doing, but all is well at the moment. We had a great Thanksgiving, and looking forward to the Christmas Holidays. We would like to thank everyone for your continued support. I'm sure that all of the prayers and positive thoughts from everyone around us are making a difference and so for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please continue to find time in your day to include Zoe in your prayers. Happy Holidays!
Wednesday, November 5
Day 1 - consolidation phase
Zoe started her second phase of chemo yesterday, 10/4/08. The day started out early as she had an appointment at 7:20 AM. She had a spinal tap of methotrexate and a dose of vincristine given through her port. We left the hospital around 11:30 AM. Zoe remained in good spirits and was all playful throughout the the day, which we were very pleased to see. I love seeing her laugh and play so much it never fails to put a smile on my face.
Day one round 2 in the books, still have quite a ways to go. Please continue to pray for my precious bundle of joy and that she continues doing well with her treatment. Many thanks to everyone that has taken time to email messages of support and offers of assistance with various things as well as everyone that has taken time to post on the wall below. God bless you all.
Day one round 2 in the books, still have quite a ways to go. Please continue to pray for my precious bundle of joy and that she continues doing well with her treatment. Many thanks to everyone that has taken time to email messages of support and offers of assistance with various things as well as everyone that has taken time to post on the wall below. God bless you all.
Monday, November 3
Prep for Consolidation Phase
Zoe had her blood checked today. All looked fine except her hemoglobin level is near the threshold at 8.7. Blood transfusion is required if it falls below 8. The consolidation block of chemotherapy is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning if her blood counts are still ok, otherwise the treatment will be delayed. Fingers crossed and prayers.
Blood counts will be a hit and miss throughout the first phases of therapy, like a roller coaster ride. This is because chemotherapy damages any rapidly growing cells and not just cancer cells.
Please continue to include Zoe in your thoughts and prayers.
Blood counts will be a hit and miss throughout the first phases of therapy, like a roller coaster ride. This is because chemotherapy damages any rapidly growing cells and not just cancer cells.
Please continue to include Zoe in your thoughts and prayers.
Thursday, October 30
Treatment for Leukemia ALL standard(low) Risk
10/30/08
Basics on Treatment Roadmap
The treatment is usually divided into blocks/phases, generally as:
Induction therapy: This is the first phase of treatment. Its purpose is to kill the leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow. This puts the leukemia into remission. This is also called the remission induction phase. (28 days completed)
Consolidation /intensification therapy: Second phase of therapy. It begins once the leukemia is in remission. The purpose of consolidation/intensification therapy is to kill any remaining leukemia cells that may not be active but could begin to regrow and cause a relapse.
(Roadmap shows approximately another 28 days)
A delayed intensification block is required in some protocols, which adds another 4-7 weeks of chemo.
Maintenance therapy: The third phase of treatment. Its purpose is to kill any remaining leukemia cells that may regrow and cause a relapse. Often the cancer treatments are given in lower doses than those used for induction and consolidation/intensification therapy. This is also called the continuation therapy phase. (Usually 1.5 to 2 years and hospital visits gradually become less frequent, assuming all stays on track)
Please continue to find time in your day and pray that Zoe's treatment continues to go well.
Basics on Treatment Roadmap
The treatment is usually divided into blocks/phases, generally as:
Induction therapy: This is the first phase of treatment. Its purpose is to kill the leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow. This puts the leukemia into remission. This is also called the remission induction phase. (28 days completed)
Consolidation /intensification therapy: Second phase of therapy. It begins once the leukemia is in remission. The purpose of consolidation/intensification therapy is to kill any remaining leukemia cells that may not be active but could begin to regrow and cause a relapse.
(Roadmap shows approximately another 28 days)
A delayed intensification block is required in some protocols, which adds another 4-7 weeks of chemo.
Maintenance therapy: The third phase of treatment. Its purpose is to kill any remaining leukemia cells that may regrow and cause a relapse. Often the cancer treatments are given in lower doses than those used for induction and consolidation/intensification therapy. This is also called the continuation therapy phase. (Usually 1.5 to 2 years and hospital visits gradually become less frequent, assuming all stays on track)
Please continue to find time in your day and pray that Zoe's treatment continues to go well.
Wednesday, October 29
Phase One - Completed!!
10/28/08
We took Zoe to Kapiolani Medical Center early in the morning for a bone marrow aspirate and a spinal tap. Doctors instructions required NOT to give her anything to eat 6 hours prior to this operation. As Zoe is on Dexamethasone (a steriod with side effects of high level of hunger and food obsession), she was most angry at me when I kept turning her plea for food down by telling her that the food hasn't arrived yet from the hospital cafeteria. I felt terrible and it broke my heart to say no. How do you deal with hunger at such a young age. Anyway, the bone marrow was checked for leukemia cells, and a chemotherapy drug was injected into her spine to stop any leukemia cells from getting into her central nervous system. This has become a new norm to us. The whole procedure was carried out under general anaesthetic and took 10-15 minutes. This marked the 28th day of the induction phase and results from the procedure should confirm remission, and will dictate how her treatment continues as she nears the end of the induction stage according to the level of bad cells still in place.
The results came back a few hours later and the news was good. Zoe is officially in remission! She will remain on the standard risk regimen treatment, as her tests results fell between low and standard risk. The only difference between the two categories is 2 extra weeks of chemotherapy during the next phase of treatment. We see this as a battle that Zoe has won, and another step, however small it may be, towards her recovery.
Please continue to keep Zoe in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you all for the kind words and support. Zoe and the rest of the family send best wishes to you all.
We took Zoe to Kapiolani Medical Center early in the morning for a bone marrow aspirate and a spinal tap. Doctors instructions required NOT to give her anything to eat 6 hours prior to this operation. As Zoe is on Dexamethasone (a steriod with side effects of high level of hunger and food obsession), she was most angry at me when I kept turning her plea for food down by telling her that the food hasn't arrived yet from the hospital cafeteria. I felt terrible and it broke my heart to say no. How do you deal with hunger at such a young age. Anyway, the bone marrow was checked for leukemia cells, and a chemotherapy drug was injected into her spine to stop any leukemia cells from getting into her central nervous system. This has become a new norm to us. The whole procedure was carried out under general anaesthetic and took 10-15 minutes. This marked the 28th day of the induction phase and results from the procedure should confirm remission, and will dictate how her treatment continues as she nears the end of the induction stage according to the level of bad cells still in place.
The results came back a few hours later and the news was good. Zoe is officially in remission! She will remain on the standard risk regimen treatment, as her tests results fell between low and standard risk. The only difference between the two categories is 2 extra weeks of chemotherapy during the next phase of treatment. We see this as a battle that Zoe has won, and another step, however small it may be, towards her recovery.
Please continue to keep Zoe in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you all for the kind words and support. Zoe and the rest of the family send best wishes to you all.
Monday, October 27
Treatment-Induction Phase
9/30 - 10/21/08
Zoe started her initial intensive 5 week phase of chemo therapy on 9/30/08. Since then she's had a port placed under her skin for blood draws and drugs/fluid infusions, a bone marrow biopsy and 2 bone marrow aspirates (where the bone marrow is checked for leukemia), and a spinal tap(test on central nervous system to see if leukemia has penetrated into the spinal fluid and brain barrier). Her spinal tap was fortunately negative, however she had a chemo drug injected into her spine to prevent and stop any leukemia from getting into her central nervous system. She also takes steroids as part of the protocol.
Zoe has responded well to her treatment and as of the 2nd week of chemo, she was officially stated to be in remission. She has endured so much in such a short period. Despite everything, she's still in good spirits and could easily teach us all a lesson on coping. I'm so proud of her, such a tough little cookie.
She's scheduled to go back on Tuesday 10/28 for a bone marrow aspirate and spinal tap. These will be the key ones as they will dictate whether she maintains remission and will determine the treatment regimen going into the next phase. Fingers crossed and prayers.
Again, please continue to pray for my precious one as you are all making a difference.
Zoe started her initial intensive 5 week phase of chemo therapy on 9/30/08. Since then she's had a port placed under her skin for blood draws and drugs/fluid infusions, a bone marrow biopsy and 2 bone marrow aspirates (where the bone marrow is checked for leukemia), and a spinal tap(test on central nervous system to see if leukemia has penetrated into the spinal fluid and brain barrier). Her spinal tap was fortunately negative, however she had a chemo drug injected into her spine to prevent and stop any leukemia from getting into her central nervous system. She also takes steroids as part of the protocol.
Zoe has responded well to her treatment and as of the 2nd week of chemo, she was officially stated to be in remission. She has endured so much in such a short period. Despite everything, she's still in good spirits and could easily teach us all a lesson on coping. I'm so proud of her, such a tough little cookie.
She's scheduled to go back on Tuesday 10/28 for a bone marrow aspirate and spinal tap. These will be the key ones as they will dictate whether she maintains remission and will determine the treatment regimen going into the next phase. Fingers crossed and prayers.
Again, please continue to pray for my precious one as you are all making a difference.
Leukemia - research
9/22 - 29/08
Since the initial diagnosis, I went online and read anything and everything about Leukemia. I believe that the best resource to surviving and coping with this new norm is knowledge. You have to be able to pull the trigger, stalling would only make matters worse. Though some of the information is scary enough to read, we have to pull our heads out of the sand to be able to ask intelligent questions about our daughter's care.
Overview
Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), also called acute lymphoblastic leukemia, is a cancer that starts from white blood cells called lymphocytes in the bone marrow (the soft inner part of the bones, where new blood cells are made). In acute lymphoblastic leukemia there is an overproduction of immature lymphocytes, called lymphoblasts (sometimes referred to as blast cells). There are two different types of lymphocytes: B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes. These immature cells fill up the bone marrow and stop it from making blood cells properly. As the leukemia cells do not mature, they cannot do the work of normal white blood cells, which leads to an increased risk of infection. Because the bone marrow is overcrowded with immature white cells it cannot make enough healthy red cells and platelets.
ALL, however, is one of the most curable types of childhood cancers, approaching near 90% cure rate.
We would like to thank our families and friends for your unconditional love and support. It means a great deal to us as it gives us strength and helps us to stay positive. Please continue to lift up Zoe's name in your prayers.
Since the initial diagnosis, I went online and read anything and everything about Leukemia. I believe that the best resource to surviving and coping with this new norm is knowledge. You have to be able to pull the trigger, stalling would only make matters worse. Though some of the information is scary enough to read, we have to pull our heads out of the sand to be able to ask intelligent questions about our daughter's care.
Overview
Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), also called acute lymphoblastic leukemia, is a cancer that starts from white blood cells called lymphocytes in the bone marrow (the soft inner part of the bones, where new blood cells are made). In acute lymphoblastic leukemia there is an overproduction of immature lymphocytes, called lymphoblasts (sometimes referred to as blast cells). There are two different types of lymphocytes: B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes. These immature cells fill up the bone marrow and stop it from making blood cells properly. As the leukemia cells do not mature, they cannot do the work of normal white blood cells, which leads to an increased risk of infection. Because the bone marrow is overcrowded with immature white cells it cannot make enough healthy red cells and platelets.
ALL, however, is one of the most curable types of childhood cancers, approaching near 90% cure rate.
We would like to thank our families and friends for your unconditional love and support. It means a great deal to us as it gives us strength and helps us to stay positive. Please continue to lift up Zoe's name in your prayers.
Biopsy
9/26/08
Zoe underwent a series of blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy. The results came back positive and concluded that she has Acute Lympoblastic Leukemia(ALL) and not Acute Myeloid Leukemia(AML), which she was initially diagnosed with in Majuro. Her blood counts were low and needed blood transfusion scheduled for 9/27/08.
Please continue to include Zoe in your daily prayers
Zoe underwent a series of blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy. The results came back positive and concluded that she has Acute Lympoblastic Leukemia(ALL) and not Acute Myeloid Leukemia(AML), which she was initially diagnosed with in Majuro. Her blood counts were low and needed blood transfusion scheduled for 9/27/08.
Please continue to include Zoe in your daily prayers
Diagnosed
On 9/22/08 my wife and I received the devastating news that our 4, soon to be 5, year old daughter Zoe has Leukemia. We felt as if our world had collapsed, but we knew that we desparately had to be strong and be hopeful. HOPE is not a way around, it is the way through.
God bless you all, and please find time to pray for our little angel and that the road ahead will be kind to her.
God bless you all, and please find time to pray for our little angel and that the road ahead will be kind to her.
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