February 14th, 2005
Delayed Intensification #1
Today marks the beginning of Spencer’s Delayed Intensification #1 phase of chemotherapy. He is on Arm II of CCG-1991 phase III clinical trial.
Delayed intensification I (7 weeks)
- oral DM twice daily on days 0-6 and 14-20
- VCR IV and doxorubicin (DOX) IV over 15 minutes to 2 hours on days 0, 7, and 14
- PEG-ASP IM on day 3
- cyclophosphamide (CTX) IV over 20-30 minutes on day 28
- oral thioguanine (TG) on days 28-41
- ARA-C IV or subcutaneously (SC) daily on days 28-31 and 35-38
- MTX IT on days 0 and 28
The protocol does not call for specific dates for bone marrow aspirations, but Dr. Sharp thought the beginning of this phase was a good time for one. We merged the PEG-ASP IM (intramuscular pegasparinase) into today so Spencer could have the shot while he was unconscious. So that made today’s plan include
- an oncologist checkup
- a visit to day surgery to include
- intrathecal methotrexate
- bone marrow aspiration
- pegasparinase shot
- back to the oncology office for
- IV doxorubicin infusion over 2 hours
- IV Vincristine
- Home
Blood counts were wonderful. So far no problems. In 10-14 days, we expect Spencer’s immune system to crash and we’ll probably have to pull him out of school again. The last two weeks his hair has started growing back in, and it’s darker than it used to be. It will probably start falling out again.
The waiting room at day surgery was a long wait, but it went fast. Another couple we know were there for their daughter, who was having a lengthy surgery for scoliosis. We talked with them a lot. Spencer got motivated on giving away LiveStrong wristbands to all takers and collecting donations. He gave away a little over 30 wristbands and collected $52 in donations, plus he left forms with a few people. As of today, Spencer is over the $500 mark ($509.13) on fundraising for the Ride for the Roses. You can donate to support cancer survivors and Spencer’s participation in the peloton project. He only has $24,490.87 to go and we haven’t really gotten started on serious fundraising activities. Piece of cake.
