Day of diagnostics

We heard yesterday that Kay’s leukemia is the same cell type as before and most likely it’s the same DNA problem as before. Last time she had extra chromosomes (55 instead of 48) in the cancer cells. This is a pretty treatable form of leukemia, but the fact that it’s a recurrence after 7 years is something of a puzzle. The doctors are debating whether to treat it as a primary or relapsed leukemia. In either case the treatment will be longer and much more aggressive than before, with a higher risk of infection. It’s possible that she will be in hospital for 6-8 weeks initially, but we have yet to hear about the treatment plan.

Fortunately we seem to be quite early with the diagnosis. There’s no sign of leukemia cells in Kay’s lungs and the rest of her blood chemistry is ok at the moment, meaning that the cancer cells haven’t yet had the chance to depress the production of red cells and platelets. I asked the doctor whether a check in the summer would have spotted the cancer, but he told me that it has developed very recently, within the last weeks.

This afternoon Kay has had an operation to remove bone marrow and spinal fluid and also to install a portal in her chest for chemotherapy. Daddy held her hand as she was put to sleep and Mama was there as she woke up. The operation was successful and Kay is now lying in bed feeling a little tired and sore from all the needles that have been poked into her. Tomorrow we will get to hear the plans for her treatment and what we can expect in the coming weeks.

Kay has a laptop from the hospital and skype & messenger – she’s been video conferencing with Aunty Alison in Aus and other friends and family this morning. If you want to email Kay you can reach her at her firstname surname at hotmail.com.

Kay's Daddy