Round 2 starts tomorrow
Round 2 Tomorrow
I thought Lucas’s procedure was going to be the hardest part of the day last Thursday. I was next to him when they put him under with a team of doctors in their gear all around him. I ran to the chapel and cried. Little did I know that was not the worst part of the day. While I was packing up Lucas’s things for his break home, the nurse came in and said the doctor would like to see me in the conference room. I knew that couldn’t be good. I walked in and Brian was on speaker. The doctor looked at me clearly concerned and said ‘it’s not good-we saw lots of blasts (the term for tumor cells)'. The news knocked me to my knees and took the wind out of me. Brian shared in the last update the news we heard.
Our amazing doctor was clearly concerned and sad as well. The 1st round of chemo didn’t work as well as we had hoped and the treatment plan changed that moment. He told us round 2 of chemo was going to be much harder, more intense and involve targeted FLTK 3 chemos, adult level chemos that have only been used on trial with some kids, and overall a more aggressive plan. He warned us that in the second round Lucas will be much sicker (and I still don’t have my head wrapped around how that is possible), his risk of infection will be higher. But, we have no choice we have to do this to save him, remove the cancer cells and get him into ‘remission’ meaning no tumor cells in his body. The next phase after this will be the stem cell and bone marrow transplant which will involve him being in lockdown for on average 100 days in his room. Our doctor encouraged us to take Lucas home as he will not have a break like this for awhile and we need to give him mental strength to get thru this. My dad went thru this 9 years ago, I know what this looks like and I won’t lie, Brian and I were a mess Thursday night and Friday. I was full of anger, fear and anxiety.
BUT, Lucas again has given us all the strength we need. This weekend he was elated to be with Jack and Dylan and be ‘home’ in the new apartment. He was so happy to be free of the IV stand. He did the monkey bars at the park, played basketball and watched the NBA games with us. Dad, Debbie, Cathy and Jack came in for a visit. Mom comes soon. We’ve decided to contain the family so that the grandparents are the ones rotating to take care of Jack and Dylan to minimize exposure risk to Lucas since Brian & I have to alternate shifts at MDA.
Lucas gave us light and this is what we need as we move forward. We explained to him that ‘round 2’ is comparable to the Celtics being in round 2. We have to get thru the rounds to get rid of his cancer forever. He seemed to get his head wrapped around this —sort of.
Prayers for a successful round 2. Please remove this cancer from his body, let him handle the chemo without impact on his organs, and no infections. Prayers for a perfect 10-10 match for his forthcoming stem/bone marrow transplant down the road that ‘takes’ and is not rejected. It’s going to be a road, but we have faith that this kid can do it! Go Celtics….let’s win Round 2!!!!! -Erin
