Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Update July 28

Tomorrow (Wednesday) Luke finishes up with the third week of part A of the consolidation 3 phase. Next week is an off week. Possible start of the next phase the following week, but we have been told to plan on a couple of weeks for counts to recover.

The good news is the steroids Luke is on have given him an appetite and he has busted through the 140 lb weight threshold. Getting the erwinia injections in the thighs is getting old. Needle may have gotten close to a nerve a couple of times and Luke came off the bed when he got the erwinia. Don't know if the needle or the chemo going in hurts more. After the last two injections the muscle around the injection site has twitched for several minutes.

Some bad news is that with all the meds Luke has gotten for so long there have unfortunately been some nasty reactions showing up. One of the meds in particular has affected his facial muscles and mouth. It's not for the faint of heart but the picture is Luke at his worst.





Blood counts are dropping. White cells and ANC were down to 1.8 and 1.25 on Monday. On the 22nd white cells and ANC were close to normal at 3.9 and 3.16.

Gayle and I are Luke groupies - following him to Rudy's the last three Saturdays. I'm not 100% sure but I think he his going to play at Rudy's again this Saturday (6:30-10:00). He's also going to play at 6:00 this Friday at Wine Styles (north side of Louetta just west of Cutten road). It's a wine tasting that anyone can attend - cost is nominal.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Things are Good

The new round of chemo started Wednesday with spinal and IV doses. Wednesdays chemo was followed by erwinia (via harpoon) on Friday. Luke slept most of Wednesday and seemed to be doing fine Thursday.

Having a week between the end of the last round of chemo the beginning of this round Luke's blood counts came back but they are still lower than normal. Luke will be at MDA for chemo Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next few weeks. Will just wait and see how quickly and how much chemo drops his counts. We think Dr. Wells has given up on getting Luke's hair. Luke's hair thinned out but he is no where near being a cue ball!

Luke is taking a steroid during this round and that has already improved his appetite....who knows he may break the 140 lb. weight barrier. Thought the crawfish was over for the year but we dropped by the Ragin Cajun Saturday and they still had some.

Luke played at Rudy's again on Saturday. Chemo had little impact as he played straight through from 6:30 to after 9:30. Buffy and Eric had a front row seat. Don't know if Luke is going to play again at Rudy's next Saturday.

Model building continues. The air brush painting and detailing are getting pretty involved. The current project is a WW II tank PJ sent.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Luke update - at Rudy's Saturday July 11 6:30-9 pm

Luke finished up the Consolidation 2 phase last week with the maximum dose of methotrexate along with erwinia and vincristine. This week is a recovery period with no chemo.

Counts this week were down a little from last week (for those keeping track white cells 1.7, hemoglobin 8.6, platelets 73 and ANC .88). With no chemo this week expect counts will bounce back. To start chemo next week ANC needs to be above .75.

The next phase of chemo is Consolidation 3 and has two stages (A & B). This phase will be rougher than the last phase. The good news is it's the last round of intensive chemo. Part A chemo includes vincristine and Doxorubicin given IV in weeks 1,2 and 3; Dexamethasone given orally for seven days during both weeks 1 and 3; methotrexate given as a spinal injection in week 1 and erwinia via harpoon in week 1.

Part B is four weeks long. Drugs are Cycloshosphaminde via IV in week 1; cytarabine via IV for four days in weeks 1 and 2; 6-Thioguanine orally for the weeks 1 and 2, vincristine IV in weeks 3 and 4 and Erwinia (via harpoon) in week 3.

Expect Consolidation 3 will finish up around October 1. After that it's maintenance for two years.

Luke is doing well. We are not aware of him inflicting any damage to life, limb or property over the 4th. We went to Traci and Jim's lake house on the 5th. Luke enjoyed the sun and got up on water skis.

Hey, for anyone interested Luke will playing and singing at Rudy's Cantina and Grill this Saturday (July 11) from 6:30 until 9 PM. He will be playing inside. Hope to see some of you there.