The Conversation with the Doctor (Day Three)

Kay's leukemia is back, is the conclusion of the doctors. This means that she will be treated according to a relapse protocol, if that's the right English description. As we'd already gathered, this protocol is much more aggressive than a primary treatment. The induction phase will last four weeks. In the fifth week Kay's bone marrow will be examined for cancer cells. If there has been a sufficiently positive response to the chemotherapy then the remainder of the of the protocol will be based entirely on chemo. If there has not been a sufficently positive response, then she will almost certainly end up needing a bone marrow transplant.

The good news is that there are no cancer cells in her spinal fluid, which means that treatment is somewhat easier. Also, the fact that she had been cancer free for so long and that she is fit and otherwise healthy are all seen as being in her favour. The protocol does not need to be compromised because of any existing conditions or hangover from previous treatments.

Chemo starts tomorrow. The first week will be especially intense. So we have to complete our mental switch from living a normal life with normal horizons to living purely day-by-day, taking each day as it comes and treasuring each moment.

Kay's Daddy.