The Next Round Begins

Elle is back at Maine Med today with Beth for her next round of chemotherapy. We've moved onto the second round of treatment now with the VAC. VAC stands for Vincristine, Dactinomycin (or Actinomycin-D) and Cyclophosphamide. She needs to go to Maine Med for these and stay overnight. The reason being that while the time it takes to deliver the chems is relatively short, they cannot be allowed to settle in your system because of their toxicity. So she has to be hooked up to an IV and then flush the chems out through vigorous and constant urination.

The latter two chems are heavy hitters; Cyclophosphamide in particular is rough. Many people don't suffer from the side effects or have minor ones, but some of them including vomiting, diarrhea, darkening of the nails and skin, tiredness and joint pain. And, of course, the major side effect is that Cyclophosphamide can cause cancer in and of itself. The irony of using a potential cancer-causing agent to kill cancer hasn't been lost on Beth or myself.

But Elle has been so strong through all of this. Here she is at the hospital today waiting for her chemo to begin. Beth took the photo.

I know for a fact I wouldn't be smiling facing a round of chemo. The girl is tough as iron.

More tomorrow after I talk to Beth on the phone.

Attitude

Elle has it in spades. And it has been making a re-appearance over the past two days.

She has ordered around the nurses (with "please"s and "thank you"s, but they're still orders) and has demanded to be rubbed down with cream on her legs because...well, she's Elle and that's what she wants.

She has also charmed the pants off of everyone who has met her. One of the doctors let Elle play with her wedding ring while she rubbed Elle's back. The X-Ray lab let Elle bring a DVD upstairs because she like it so much. Remember that grouchy banker from It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Potter? Elle could get a loan from him at 0% interest.

All this is great news because it gets her that much closer to coming home. She is also taking short walks, which is impressive anyway and doubly so when you realize she has a drain tube in her chest. How many of us would want to walk with a tube in us? I'd be moping in bed. She is eating more food (including a McD treat last night) which is a big step as well. And last night she slept without the oxygen thing that goes in your nose for the first time and her O2 levels were great, which means that right lung is getting back to normal.

So it has been a good 24 hours. We find out about her bone scan later today and lay out the course of treatment, which will start as soon as tomorrow.

Many of you have inquired as well about whether we would be taking Elle to Boston. Right now both Beth and I are thrilled with the doctors we have here in Portland. They belong to a regional pediatric oncological group, which means they are regularly discussing issues and treatments with doctors from Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital and Mass General in Boston. Our doctors here have also assured us that if they think at any time Elle would be better served in Boston, then we're going to Boston. That said, I have contacted Children's in Boston through a referral from a family friend. They will be getting Elle's information to review and we'll have an appointment down there in the next month or two for a second opinion. It should reassure all of you to know that they are very familiar with Elle's doctor in Portland and speak very highly of him. Trust me when I tell you this; Elle is in great hands right now.