The Next Steps

After delaying to see if they could get his throat to heal up a little bit, the doctors have come to the conclusion that they need to start their "induction" today. Beginning sometime tonight, they will give Tyler a drug called Cytarabine that is much more like the drugs you think about when you hear the term "chemotherapy". Their goal is to poison any fast growing cells in his body in hopes of killing off these cancerous cells.

The drug will infuse over a period of 3 hours. 12 hours later, they will give a 2nd dose. Then they will let his body rest for 24 hours before giving 2 doses on Friday and 2 final doses on Sunday. The side effects are supposed to be nausea, vomiting, mucositis, rash, fevers, and low blood counts. 7-14 days after we start, his blood counts will likely drop down to zero and he will be getting frequent transfusions of blood from the generous souls who keep our blood bank stocked.

I'm nervous for him to begin this next phase of treatment and wish that I had a guarantee that it will be the best path for us to travel. It seems to me that he regrets all of the previous treatments, since we now know they didn't work. While we couldn't have predicted the outcome at the time we started down each path along our journey, it would sure be nice to have some assurances we could trust.

Finally, please pray that he can finally be in the 1% of the population that has a good result. We get tired of doctors telling us that they don't know exactly why his disease won't behave the way it should. It would be nice if they told us that they don't know why, but he seems to have no adverse reaction to this treatment. While I doubt that dream will come true, we still appreciate the love and support of the many people encouraging us through this journey. We know that everyone has "stuff" in their lives, which makes it all the more amazing that you can show so much love to another at a time when they so deparately need it.

Pray, also, that his parents and I all stay healthy and are able to support Tyler fully. It's coming in to the season of sick and I can "ill" afford to lose several days by my husband's side as I fight a silly cold.

Much love to you all and many thanks for the encouragement you send our way,

Mandy