Back to the ugly treatments

We went down to Cooks on Monday to start the next phase of treatment, Interim Maintenance II. We left out of Seymour a little before 5:00 that morning and got to Ft. Worth about 5 minutes late. Briley is getting much better about getting her port accessed and blood drawn from her arms. She doesn't cry and throw the fits like she used to. As the nurses are preparing to stick her, she'll turn her head and say over and over again, "I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry......." And she doesn't (much)!
Her counts came back looking very good! So this time they decided to give her the two rounds of chemo before going down to the SPA (special procedure area) for her lumbar puncture with chemo. She got her nausea meds first, then the two rounds. They finished up pretty fast and down stairs we went. Of course she couldn't eat or drink anything the morning of the procedure, so it started turning into a long morning. Alicia and I agree that we won't eat or drink anything either until she can (except for my morning coffee that I have to have driving so early in the morning with 3 hours of sleep). She finally went back for the procedure around 11:45. All went well. She never once complained or cried. After the procedure, we were free to go, so we stopped in the new eating area at Cooks and grabbed some food for the trip home. Briley did not eat a bite. We should have known she was not feeling well because this was not normal. But we didn't, so we made a couple of stops and I had to bright idea to take a longer way home just so I could show Alicia a cool statue of Jesus by Poolville. About the time we pulled into Weatherford, Briley threw up. All over her, the car seat, the floor. Everywhere. Thankfully, I left Bryson's carseat in the car this time and she had an extra change of clothes. We cleaned her and everything else up the best we could, gave her some nausea medicine that helps her sleep, and drove on into Seymour. We got no more out of Weatherford and she fell asleep all the way to Seymour and slept another couple of hours at the house.
She was all better when she woke up and hungry! She made herself a peanut butter, jelly and ham sandwich! Actually 2 of them! Since then, she has been doing very good other than constipated from the vincristine. We were riding somewhat of a high after her counts came up and her hair coming back and the way she has been feeling so good. Only to come back down to reality. But we are still very thankful that she is doing as well as she is and able to move forward with treatment.
The other bit of bad news we got is the doctor will not release her or Bryson to daycare until about 3 months after maintenance chemo starts. Maintenance will start at the end of October, so that puts it into February when the kids can go back to daycare. At this point, I really don't know how we are going to manage work schedules. Last year mine and Alicia's moms were able to keep them. But my mom's work scheduled changed so she is not able to come in the mornings. That leaves Gloria driving from Munday to be here before Alicia has to get to work. I will be hard pressed to take on any extra shifts. Maybe we can find someone that is willing to watch the kids a couple days a week when I'm working primary. I can keep the kids on the days I'm on backup, but I have to have someone close who can come at the drop of a hat if we get called out. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you for your continued support and prayers!

Good news, good news!!

Briley had the CBC done on Friday. All of her counts were good! Hemoglobin - 11.1, Platelet - 345,000, ANC - 1150! What this all means for her is that it should be all downhill from here on out! Sure it will be a gentle slope downwards, but she's topped that hill! She can now start being a kid. I'm excited that she will be able to go to Church with us today!
Briley starts the next phase of Interim Maintenance II tomorrow. She is scheduled for 7:15 in the morning. We will leave out of Seymour around 4:30. She will first go to clinic for port access and blood draw and then down to the procedure area for a spinal tap and then back to clinic for more chemo. It's hard to imagine having a spinal tap done would be considered on the "downhill" side of things, but it has become so routine that she no longer cries about it.
The only thing we are worried about is the chemo she will be getting this phase and her walking. It's the same chemo she's gotten before that has affected her walking and running, making her somewhat prone to tripping because it turns her right foot inward while walking.
She will have 5 treatments during this phase, every 10 days. The phase ends towards the end of October and then she will be in Maintenance! Please continue to keep her in your prayers to help her through this phase of treatment.
Oh-yeah, her hair is really starting to come in! Looks like it may be blonde again! Thanks!

I know, it's been a while since.......

our last post. I had a complaint about that tonight, so I figured I'd better write an update (thanks Alice)! Briley is doing wonderful! She's been getting weekly CBC's done to check counts. Her hemoglobin and platelet counts are wonderful! Her ANC is doing better. It is slowly creeping up. Her last CBC was on Tuesday. ANC then was 630. It has to be over 750 to start the next phase, so she is close. She will get another CBC done tomorrow. Hopefully it will be over 750 and she will be able to start the next phase of treatment on Monday. I consider a ANC of 750 to be a major milestone for Briley. #1 - she will have conquered the worse phase of chemo treatment without complications or running fever and being hospitalized. #2 - at 750, she will have topped that mountain! From there on out will be all downhill! No more "expected" Ronald McDonald House stays. No more very low ANC's. She has been couped up in the house since June. She will finally be able to go outside to play. Go to the grocery store. Go to church and CCD. Take dance class. Play with other kids. Sit in the stands at football games. I am super excited about all of this! She has missed out on so much this summer, but the isolation is about to end! Thank you Jesus! That's good, because I've get back outside myself and lose the 25lbs that I've gained since June!!!!
Most kids end up hospitalized at some point during Delayed Intensification phase that she just went through. She was not. We stopped praying for her counts to go up. Instead we prayed for bone marrow recovery and had faith God would heal her as He sees fit. And He did.

fundraiser

I was asked to get on here and post info on a Team Briley fundraiser. A Ruger Red Label over/under 26" barrel shotgun will be raffled on September 10th. Just in time for dove season! Tickets can be purchased at Vita Auto Parts, Hostas Insurance, or Shumate Taxidermy. The gun can be seen at Shumates. $10/ticket or 6 for $50. The gun is very nice and retails for $1900. We thank everyone that made this possible!
Briley is doing very good. She is still in isolation. She will get another CBC on Wednesday to determine if she can start the next phase. Thank you for all of your support!

Just waiting for counts to go up!

Not a whole lot has changed since the last post. It seems that with every passing day, the better she looks and feels. She had a CBC done on Monday. Her hemoglobin (9.5) and platelet (64,000) counts were ok and her ANC was still very low at 170. So, she is still in isolation right now. She is staying fever free, so that is great! She is scheduled to start the next phase on the 18th, but we don't expect her ANC to be high enough to be able to start. I imagine she will be delayed a week or two before moving on.

The next phase is Interim Maintenance II. The went through Interim Maintenance I before D.I. The phase seemed to be fairly easy, with only a couple of spinal taps and chemo every 10 days for a month. Once that is over, it's into the Maintenance phase where everything will almost return back to normal. I forgot what normal is.

Briley is starting to get a lot of "fuzz" on her head. She is super excited about her hair coming back. Looking back at pictures and her long blonde hair, I'm ready to see that again!

We have been very blessed that she has not ran a fever during this time. Most kids during this phase end up admitted to Cooks. Any fever is life threatening at this point. We are going to keep on doing what we're doing. We know that Briley has almost topped the hill. Once her counts start coming up on their own, it will be all down hill from there. Another week or two and we'll be rolling down the hill! Thank you for the support and prayers!

She feels great!

I'm sorry for not posting lately. Briley had a CBC done at the Seymour Hospital this past Friday. Her ANC is still very low and her platelet count was low also. So we had to take her to Cooks for a platelet transfusion. All went very well and we came home that night. Briley is feeling very good. She is finally starting to recover from the last round of chemo. She even has a lot of "fuzz" on her head! Since her ANC is very low, she is still in isolation at the house. Her counts should begin to come up in a week or two. We are ready for her to be able to go back outside, go to church, eat at a restaurant, and just back to doing normal stuff. The hardest chemo is now behind her now! We thank the Lord for no complications during that time! She will have another CBC tomorrow to determine if she will need another platelet and/or blood transfusions.

Briley's Thank You!!

Briley was talking about her blog, and she wanted to thank everyone for praying for her and she also wants everyone to know she loves them!! She also wants everyone to pray for her!!