Last Week of Induction

We are rounding the corner for the last stretch of “induction phase” during treatment.  This is probably the hardest phase because no matter how sick or how low the “ANC (immune system)” counts are, you still plow through with heavy doses of chemo and Haley is really suffering through the side effects.  During the time her “ANC” was the lowest, she contracted the cold sore virus, which if any of you have ever suffered from a cold sore, it is miserable and for those immune compromised patients, well it is about 100 times worse.  This virus has kept her from eating and drinking for about 4 days now.  It was not until last night that her fever finally broke and her counts were back up to 500 so she can start fighting the virus on her own.  We are hoping that today she will start eating on her own so they do not have to use a feeding tube.  Other side effects she has suffered is bloody noses and nerve problems in her shins and finger tips, mild in comparison to the cold sores.  Yesterday was a good day because she was coherent and most of what she said made sense.  She had very little recollection of the last three days.  The mixture of her sleep aid and pain medication did cause some hallucinations, spiders on the walls, flies coming out of her cup, that sort of thing.  To make matters just a little bit worse, her closest and dearest friend, Dare Bear is down with tonsillitis.  I know right??  Get better soon Dari!! J