The Verdict

Do you ever have one of those days where you just can't remember anything that was thrown at you? I feel like we are in a one-day crash course of Advanced Studies in Leukemia. Information is coming at us from all directions, critical decisions must be made, and I still can't find my way from the cafeteria back to our room. (That's no joke!) This is by no means meant to mock or disrespect the work of the doctors and nurses who are doing amazing work that most folks like me could never handle. It is just the nature of the beast. There is a three year-old who is suffering, it's a complicated issue, and he's not going to get any better until we take some action.

I'm sitting here in the hospital room with Carson sawing logs only a few feet from me and I'm still processing everything that's happened today. Let me summarize events of the last 24 hrs:

• After I left last night Carson endured three more blood draws. These were all excruciatingly painful, his veins collapsing frequently, and the technician (aka vampire!) digging to find enough blood for the numerous tests.
  

• He received a platelet transfusion and a treatment for uric acid buildup. Don't ask me the name of the medication used to treat for the uric acid buildup...but nausea and vomiting are frequent side-effects. The important piece of information to take away here is that NEITHER of these treatments bothered him and BOTH were successful in accomplishing what they were meant to do. (One prayer answered.)

• The results of the type of leukemia came back - he has the A-L-L type! (Two prayers answered.) Within the A-L-L category, there are two subtypes - a B cell version and a T cell version. The B cell version is more common and the easiest of all to treat. The T cell version is slightly less common and somewhat tougher to treat. Carson has the T cell version. (Hey, why make this easy?)
  

• With the type of leukemia nailed down, we were able to proceed with surgery to insert a center line port. This will allow the nurses to draw blood and administer chemo (or other IV treatments), without having to dig for veins. Pretty cool, huh? I sure think so. During the surgery the oncologist took bone marrow samples from Carson's hip and fluid from his spine. While he was in there, he also treated the spinal area with chemo. Apparently chemo administered through the bloodstream doesn't come into contact with spinal fluid, so this was like an opportunity for one-stop shopping. The surgery only lasted about 45 minutes and went very smoothly. (Three prayers answered!) Carson had a few problems coming out of the anesthesia, but after a while was able to pack away a banana and some ginger ale.
  

So where do we go from here? Well, the typical treatment for A-L-L luekemia will last approximately 3 1/2 years. It will start out with a month of intense chemotherapy called induction. After that, they will do more tests (bone marrow, spinal fluid, etc) and decide on which therapy regimine makes the most sense. Given Carson's super high white blood cell count, they are viewing this as an aggressive cancer and plan to respond with aggressive therapy.

If we follow the typical treatment path (please pray that we do!), we will most likely be in the hospital for 7 - 10 days. After that, the treatments will be outpatient and the chemo will be in lower doses.

Day 1 of the 30 day "induction" period was supposed to start today...well, actually tonight. However, with the anesthesia taking longer to wear off, looks like we will be starting tomorrow.

I realize this is long and contains a lot of info...if you don't read anything else, I hope you see this: We need your continued prayers! We still have a long, long way to go.

Thanks!

Paul

p.s. Just want to put a plug in for the doctors and nurses here at Innova Fairfax...I realize we've only been here for a little more than 24 hours (which I can hardly believe!), but the staff here has been absolutely amazing! They are very much focused on Carson - curing him and comforting him. And that's our top priority.