Emily was on hold from her medication this past week. While it's a worry therapy wise for me, it's also just part of therapy. You are on this treatment for 2 solid years and you are going to get a cold or two. Emily enjoyed the break for a few reasons. Firstly we have to give her the Mercaptopurine (6MP) at 11 P.M, which means every night, we have to wake Emily up at 11, enough woken up that she can swallow two pills, or on Thursday nights 10 pills. So, she really enjoyed some solid nights of sleep, she commented on it several times during the week. On therapy she also can't eat any food after dinner, so her stomach is empty at 11, it's very important. This week she got a kick out of having an after dinner snack. This points out simple pleasures we all take for granted. I asked her if she felt more energy or "better" when she was off her medication. She told me that her energy seemed the same, but she wasn't nauseous all the time. To this point I hadn't thought she was feeling nausea but apparently she has been. The Mercaptopurine is the medication that in larger adult doses makes you throw up and not be able to eat, the symptoms we all associate with chemotherapy.
Today was lab day and her ANC had increased from around 340 to 1100. That's still low, but high enough to resume chemo at %50. Starting tonight at 11pm she'll be back on therapy. When her N.P. reviewed the lab results she could see leading indicators in her neutrophils that she is on her way out of this virus. With an ANC of just 1100 and resuming chemo, we need to be on high alert that she could slip back into being neutropenic over the week. But in usual Pepper fashion we're just going to live our lives as normal as possible, minus trips to malls or movie theaters. We could pull Emily out of school but we try to limit how often we do that.
Right now Emily's two top priorities are, planning her 8th birthday party, and what to be for Halloween.
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6 comments:
If times were different, I know exactly what Em would be for Halloween: Wonder Woman. Glad the news is so good. I imagine you have increased awe (if that is even possible) at how well she handles all of this now that you realize she is dealing with nausea on a consistent basis.
I am looking forward to hearing about her birthday party plans.
Celia
I continue to always be amazed at the strength and grace Emily shows as she continues with her treatment. I sense that she will grow up to be quite an amazing person. I hope she will have a wonderful 8th birthday and a fun Halloween....can't wait to hear what she will be.
Mrs. Breit
Dear Chris -
I'm so glad to hear Emily had some respite from those 11 PM wake-up calls. I tried to wake her to give her those meds one night, and no matter what I did, she just stayed asleep until I got Tracy to do the honors. She just slept right through my attempts. I am amazed by all the things you and Tracy do to keep her on track.
Love, Grannie
Interesting about the 6MP. I have heard about giving it like this at 11 or 12, but our docs said that it didn't really matter. Crazy I know. They said the main thing was to NOT have it with dairy or within a couple of hours after having dairy.
But it seems that more people have heard what you do than what we were told..
hmmm.
10 pills OMG... that seems like a lot.
I love Emily's current priority list! It's a most excellent list in my opinion. :)
Emily and your whole family continue to humble and inspire me. With everything Emily has been through, she is almost always happy and in good spirits when I see her. She always brings a smile to my face! Belinda
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