Monday, June 1, 2015

Maintenance chemo begins

We are back at RCH this morning for the first day of Mark's first round of maintenance chemotherapy. He will be admitted to the hospital later today and will be staying until at least Thursday. This is so he can be monitored closely for how he reacts, to control his blood counts, fluids, nausea.
The treatment plan calls for six rounds of this, once a month. Depending on how well his body tolerates the chemo, his stays may be shorter or longer with each treatment.  If there are no delays, that puts his last round out to starting November 1. Some kids make it through no problem, but more typically there are delays with blood counts or illnesses, and sometimes the chemo is so hard that the full number of rounds is too hard on the body and they just don't finish them all. We know this is an all-Summer and all-Fall thing, and are hoping to be done by Christmas and Mark's 12th birthday.
Anyway, now that the treatment break is over, we will likely be posting more often again to keep you all up to speed on developments. Your prayers for Mark's health and well-being over the next few days are appreciated.

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