Taken from original diary kept on Facebook
Charlotte's treatment if successful will be for the next 2 years. The first 9 months are more intensive with the latter part being more ongoing 'maintenace'
Her 1 st course of chemo lasts 5 weeks and I've been given a flow chart (its like being back at work at RBS! lol) of the various drugs & when & how they will be given. She'll be in hospital the first 2-3 weeks then we will come back on specific days for treatment. Her treatment consists of different chemo med's, steroids & antibiotics in the cycle. Some are given intravenous (unusual for me, had to find out how to spell this! lol), some orally and one is by injection into muscle...she has her 1st one today 23rd...soo not looking forward to it as she won't like it!
There are side effects with the chemo, the most obvious being she will lose her hair plus the nausea & maybe vomiting. The steroids cause big appetite, fat cheeks, behaviour changes & can cause high blood sugar.
At the end of week 1, 2 & 4 she will have another bone marrow biopsy to check how things are, along with a lumbar puncture at end of weeks 1 & 4. At the end of this cycle they hope all leukaemia cells will have been killed, her bone marrow is back to normal and she will then be in "remission". Both of these are done under a general anaesthetic but don't take too long. This will be a nerve-wracking time because I know obviously I'll be really disappointed & upset at the setback if the results aren't what they hope to see.
At the moment her IV is given through a canular in her hand but in the next couple of days she will have a central line fitted into her chest, under a General. For the first several days she has to constantly be on fluids to help wash all the toxins out of her systems...so lots of toilet trips at the moment! The staff are so great in getting children onside with everything that's going on. Her canular is Mr Wiggly, her drip stand & machine is Robbie Robot. When the nurse comes in with something for her drip Charlotte says "have you come to give Mr Wiggly a drink?" & they also have to clean & flush it through. However if she's not sure what they have come to do her immediate reaction is "I don't want her to do anything to me"
Once her central line is in it will be there for most of the 2 years. I have to learn to clean it & flush it through once a week for when we're home.
This weeks 'tense' moment I think is the last of her initial test results. It identifies the genetics of her particular leukaemia cells. It gives them more information on the make up of the cells and depending on that it can affect her treatment requirements.
Charlotte's already had a blood transfusion to help boost her red cells & last night had some platelets to help boost them.
Her 1 st course of chemo lasts 5 weeks and I've been given a flow chart (its like being back at work at RBS! lol) of the various drugs & when & how they will be given. She'll be in hospital the first 2-3 weeks then we will come back on specific days for treatment. Her treatment consists of different chemo med's, steroids & antibiotics in the cycle. Some are given intravenous (unusual for me, had to find out how to spell this! lol), some orally and one is by injection into muscle...she has her 1st one today 23rd...soo not looking forward to it as she won't like it!There are side effects with the chemo, the most obvious being she will lose her hair plus the nausea & maybe vomiting. The steroids cause big appetite, fat cheeks, behaviour changes & can cause high blood sugar.
At the end of week 1, 2 & 4 she will have another bone marrow biopsy to check how things are, along with a lumbar puncture at end of weeks 1 & 4. At the end of this cycle they hope all leukaemia cells will have been killed, her bone marrow is back to normal and she will then be in "remission". Both of these are done under a general anaesthetic but don't take too long. This will be a nerve-wracking time because I know obviously I'll be really disappointed & upset at the setback if the results aren't what they hope to see.
At the moment her IV is given through a canular in her hand but in the next couple of days she will have a central line fitted into her chest, under a General. For the first several days she has to constantly be on fluids to help wash all the toxins out of her systems...so lots of toilet trips at the moment! The staff are so great in getting children onside with everything that's going on. Her canular is Mr Wiggly, her drip stand & machine is Robbie Robot. When the nurse comes in with something for her drip Charlotte says "have you come to give Mr Wiggly a drink?" & they also have to clean & flush it through. However if she's not sure what they have come to do her immediate reaction is "I don't want her to do anything to me"
Once her central line is in it will be there for most of the 2 years. I have to learn to clean it & flush it through once a week for when we're home.
This weeks 'tense' moment I think is the last of her initial test results. It identifies the genetics of her particular leukaemia cells. It gives them more information on the make up of the cells and depending on that it can affect her treatment requirements.
Charlotte's already had a blood transfusion to help boost her red cells & last night had some platelets to help boost them.
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