Chemo Schedule is Set

We've got our groovy backpack and are ready for Choo!

Today we met with Dr. Choo to get our official Oncology diagnosis and to learn about the treatment schedule ahead.  They've given her the status of Stage 2 Wilms' which is the absolute best of a worst case scenario.  This also means that between the two standard treatments associated with her diagnosis (EE4A = mellow vs DD4A = not so mellow, for those that may care and/or are in the know) we will be getting the less toxic and more mellow (a relative term) chemo.   We will be starting the chemo a week from tomorrow.  (We also learned that the tumor was over 900 grams... that's nearly 2lbs!!)

The treatment goes in 3-week cycles with the first session of the cycle being the heaviest dose.  There will be a minimum of 7 cycles so were looking at 6-months of treatment.  Dr. Choo made the point that there is absolutely no chance of completing the treatments faster than that but there are many, many reasons that treatment could get delayed.  The quick reason as to why things may take longer is because before every "big dose" she gets blood drawn to check her platelet levels and if they're too low for her body to accept the chemo then they'll have to postpone for at least a week.  If we start stacking too many of those days together we could be looking at March before Liv can get back to school.

Dr. Choo then started to tell us about the side effects to be prepared for.... :-/  Chemo targets all "rapidly dividing" cells in the body, because that's what cancer does, but guess what else rapidly divides?  Hair.  She said that we can expect to start seeing hair fall out in the first 3-4 weeks after the initial session.  However, she also made the point that every child/body is different in its reaction to the chemo and that, on the scale of possibility, she may lose very little hair or she may lose all of it.  For me (Max) that gave me hope because, for those of you that know Carlie, these girls have some serious hair!  Still, the thought of combing out her hair (easily the highlight of my day) and seeing chunks of hair in the comb is terrifying.

We also learned about the things to be on the look out for and situations we'll need to avoid.  Another rapidly dividing cell factory is bone marrow, which churns out both red and white blood cells.  This means that exposure to crowds is a potential disaster hence the "no school" but this also means no movie theaters or other public places.  Fever is the biggest "oh no" sign to watch out for.  While the fever may be caused by just a common cold, they can't take the chance that it's a bacterial infection of some sort and as such, we should expect to be hospitalized for at least two days as she receives IV antibiotics.

Needless to say it's going to be a long 6-8 months but here's the thing... It could be worse.  Sure it sucks and we'd give our own kidneys (and more) just so Liv never had to feel an ounce of this pain and inconvenience but the reality is... this is our new reality.  This is our new normal.  I am confident that there will come a day that we'll look back at this experience and use phrases like, "remember when..." or, "man that was a crazy time in our lives!"  We certainly aren't the only ones who have a lot on their plate right now.  We're fully aware that things could be much worse and in some ways we take solace in that.... but damn it if it doesn't feel like a lot sometimes.


I love her ;)

"You're not funny, Max.  In fact, I'm now dumber for having listened to you."