"There and Back Again"

Still nauseated and in pain.

Today, Erika will be discharged with a higher dose of pain medication, which helps alleviate a lot of the pain. Erika has never been this nauseated during her treatment until now. Her appetite has decreased significantly the past couple of weeks, which freaks out her poor Mom. Sprite, saltines, and broth have been her new favorites lately.

Since being admitted late Sunday night, Erika had a UTI which caused a fever and may have been the reason for her nausea, got blood cultures done which came back negative, and an MRI done on both her legs. The result of the MRI showed she also had bone infarcts near the knee area in the tibia, fibula, and femur. This is the reason why Erika has been dealing with leg pains.

We were told bone infarcts are similar to vascular necrosis but the cause is different. Necrosis is due to no blood circulation. Doctors believe the chemo PEG-asparaginase, the clinical trial medication, caused a blood clot near the area of the knee and the hip which blocked blood circulation. A combination of the steroid Dexamethasone may have contributed as well. She still feels neuropathy in her finger tips and the bottom of her feet due to the chemo vincristine.

PEG-aspsaraginase, dexamethasone, and vincristine will be eliminated from her treatment. This is good news for she will not deal with as many side effects. Yet, the chances of curing her has dropped as well. This visit has been very emotional for us due to not being able to know what's to come and why things are happening the way they are.We have been able to meet some wonderful people here that have relapsed recently and one passed away. 

Erika's next bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap will be done next week Tuesday to see if she has any malignant cells. Hopefully she is still in remission. So far, any scheduled chemo treatment has been put on hold until they get the results of the bone marrow and spinal tap.