Thursday, November 13, 2008

Chemical Warfare Against Mast Cell Tumors: Day One

I just got back from dropping Bailey off for her first chemo treatment, so today is "Day One" of her fight against the mast cell tumors (well, she's been fighting them with multiple surgeries already, so technically this is day one of her chemical warfare). 

She's already been taking prednisone for almost a month, which is just a steroid pill. The "cocktail" of prednisone with her chemo drug, vinblastine--which is administered intravenously--is supposed to do the trick on these tumors. Our goal is to simply slow down the growth of the tumors and prevent additional ones from growing. There is no cure. They pop up so fast and grow at an amazing rate...doubling in size about every 3 weeks. And we do not want to put her through another surgery. 

Her doctor does not expect her to have side effects, but if she does, there are some drugs he can give her to offset those. But, Brent and I decided that if she experiences major side effects, we'll end the treatment. Right now, she doesn't even know she is sick, and quality is more important than quantity. She turns 13 in March and we want to keep her feeling good to the end!

Thanks to everyone for keeping her in your thoughts! I'll try to post updates often.