Report from the last week

Week 8 of the treatment was a rest week. Initially Kay was very well. She went to school for a couple of half days and was generally very active. However, a check on Thursday showed that her blood levels were very low and that she needed a transfusion. The immediate consequence of this was that the chemo planned for Monday was postponed and a new check was arranged for the following Wednesday (yesterday).

Normally Kay brightens up, literally, from a blood transfusion. Her skin tone becomes pinker, she gets more energy and generally becomes more cheerful. This time the transfusion had little effect. On Saturday she was so tired and low on energy that she spent practically the whole day in bed, watching TV. She complained of being cold all the time. On Sunday she was a bit better, but still not very good and still cold. She was extremely short tempered with everything, tired, complaining and just not her usual self.

On Monday morning she got up with the idea of going to school, but once sat at the breakfast table she decided that she was so tired that she wanted to go back to bed. I was pretty concerned by the total picture presented. So I phoned the hospital and we were summoned for a check. Although her blood levels were low the doctor said that she was 'merely' suffering from the accumulated effects of chemo. Feeling the cold is apparently a typical side effect of chemo. So we returned home and during the next days she improved significantly. Yesterday she had the planned 2nd check and her white cell count was still low, but improved enough for the chemo to take place today.

So today we drove through the snow to Nijmegen. The Jag is pretty tricky when there's white stuff under the tyres, so I had my hands full for the 1:45 that it took to get here. By the time we arrived I was pretty damned tired. Treatment began pretty much immediately on arrival. A line was put into her portal and the first chemo, vincristine, was swiftly administered. A little later she was given a mild anaesthetic, which always makes her wonderfully funny and entertaining, and a spinal injection of methatrexate was given. Finally the first dose of a new-to-us chemo was delivered via infusion over a period of three hours. She will have this again tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night. If all goes well we will be home on Saturday.

However, as I write this, she's starting to feel the effects of all these toxins. She's complaining of pain all over and of being too warm. Nothing worrying so far. But we've still got a way to go yet.

Because of the delay, next week's chemo has moved up. In principle it should have started on Thursday and kept us here over Christmas. But the plan is now to start on the 26th.

Anyway the specialist has just arrived to talk to us about the MRD.