5-4-09 Procedure & Doctor's Appt.

Chase had Bone Marrow Aspiration & LP with chemotherapy today. We had a very tough night. He can't have any food or milk after 12 because of the procedure. We knew it's going to be a problem because of his appetite. We put him to bed and gave him milk just before midnight to make sure he is full & hoping that he will sleep through the night. He woke up at 2:30 and was crying till 4:30 am when it's just about time to get ready.

His counts were good & did not need any transfusion prior to the procedure. We can't wait to get the result this afternoon. Our doctor's appt. is at 3 pm. So, we grab lunch & came back in the afternoon.

The firsts words Doctor Freyer said to us was, I HAVE GOOD NEWS. CHASE IS ON REMISSION. Yay!!! Thank you God!!

Remission is when a patient's blood count return to normal & bone marrow samples show no signs of disease. (less than 5% of cells are leukemia cells) Remission can either be complete or partial. When cancer is complete remission, all the signs and symptoms of the disease disapper. Partial remission is when cancer shrinks but does not completely disapper. Remissions can last anywhere from several weeks to years. Complete remissions may continue for years and considered cured.

Chase still has about 2.9 years of chemo treatment because with leukemia there can be sleeper cells that are undetected that can "wake up". He will start Consolidation phase on Monday. This phase is to kill any remaining leukemia cells and extend remission period as long as possible. He has a whole week without Chemo! Finally, off with the dexamethosone. He will get new chemotherapy drugs by Monday.

Another issue we had to discuss with his doctor is regarding the next stage of the Clinical Trial. We agreed to enroll Chase in a Ccinical trial. All of the participants received the standard protocol in the induction phase. However, If we decide to enroll him again, there will be a randomization process in the next phase. He might receive either the standard or experimental protocol. The only difference is that there are 4 more doses of Peg-Asperigenase on the latter. Since the standard protocol does not heal all patients, the latter aims to heal all ALL patients and have longer remission. We have until Monday to decide if we will continue Chase with the trial.

Thank you for your continued prayers!