First off, I’ve been dreading the Wednesday meeting. We are supposed to go in and meet with the oncologist in charge of our case and discuss the results of the last marrow biopsy and spinal fluid biopsy. Results of greater than 0.1% leukemia cells would get us another two weeks of induction and 0.1% or less would take us to phase 2 of the treatment. I have been a pillar of faith through most of this, knowing and believing in the outcome even if Angelica and I (and the rest of our family) have to walk it out, but we’ve had so many unexpected bad experiences so far that I kind of knew what the results were going to be… we were for sure gonna have two more weeks of induction.
Enter Monday Morning… Patti comes down the stairs as I am thinking about making coffee and says, Angelica has an infected toe. It was an ingrown toenail that had developed some redness and puss. A quick phone call to confirm… they want to see her at the clinic at Children’s. No fever, No other symptoms, but we head off to Children’s without coffee… and this all seems so ridiculous because we have to come in on Wednesday anyway for our meeting.
With a suppressed immune system, any infection can spread unchecked and any infection could be fatal, so even a toenail gets thoroughly checked out. At one point the three most senior oncologists that were in the clinic that day were all in our exam room looking at her toe… at which point I wanted to start a round of jokes with: “How many oncologists does it take to treat an ingrown toenail?”
They decided to double check her blood counts and prescribed some antibiotic pills that she can take at home and as soon as we got the results back from the blood and the script got filled, we could go home. This was amazing to hear, because I was sure they were going to tell me that she needed to stay for a couple days.
While we were waiting for the script to get filled, our ‘coordinating nurse’ came in all excited and said “Has Tim come and seen you yet, the marrow results are in?” (Tim is our senior onc) We were not expecting that they would be in till at least Tuesday. I said no and she informed me with great delight that Geli was MRD negative and then left the room. While I was happy that she was happy, it took me a second on my blackberry to google the possible definitions of “MRD“. It stands for Minimal Residual Disease. So to be MRD Negative means that there is not even a minimal amount of the leukemia cells in her marrow. It means that she is at 0.00% leukemia cells in her marrow.
A little aside here… There are at least four stages of leukemia treatment in youths. The first stage is getting to MRD negative or at least a low number MRD. Kind of like a baseball inning that does not end till the third out, they keep treating until the desired result is met. This means that we can go on to stage 2 and greatly increases her odds of never having a relapse. The other thing to note is that leukemia is mainly active in the marrow of the bones, but it can “hide” in lymph nodes, liver and a host of other places. The next stages are designed to “flush” it out and get rid of it in everywhere it is known to hide. So there are various drugs, and various chemo treatments that are administered in a specific order.
This news was a bit of a blessing, because it took what I was preparing to be a negative meeting and completely derailed it. Now we know what to expect, there is nothing to “brace” ourselves for, there is no Wednesday meeting to decide… it is all laid out and planned. At this stage of the process and our family and our lives, having some variables removed is WONDERFUL. There is chemo and there are side-effects that come with the various stages, but at least we know when they are coming and what to do to prepare for them. This road doesn’t become easier, just a lot more planned out.
We asked for prayer for the Wednesday meeting, for good results, for God’s hand and His peace on us. God has been on today, right from the beginning of getting us in there with a toenail. (and we did come home and she is feeling better) Thanks to everyone for the prayers and support.
Jon
Wahoo! Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus. Great progress! ~Doing the dance of joy~ Love you guys. I’m still praying with you too
Way to go…. Thanks God you do all things well. Love you all and praying for you.
Gel we love you bunches.
Papa and Nana
so glad it is going in the right direction! Praise God!
I think I would have paid $$ to see the Onc’s faces if you really did say “how many oncologists does it take to look at an ingrown toenail?” priceless! 🙂
praise God! i am so thrilled for you guys…..i love how God works!…still praying!
Deuteronomy 31:6 (Message) “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; He won’t leave you.”
Such a blessing and example of God’s hand in this all. Love you all.
Chelly
Praise the Lord. Our God is a great big God. Wonderful news.
WOW…I’m wordless…God is good.
This is wonderful news! God is healing Angelica with his powers and I am praying for your family continuously. I am hearing the worship song in my head “God is great, god is good…†I can’t remember the lyrics only the melody.
I had to have several oncologists too. More protections that way.
That is great news to hear. Thank you Jesus.
Will continue to pray.
love Debra
So happy for everyone. We serve an amazing God
🙂