Speaking of next time....... we have a whole 6 weeks off this time (instead of the usual 3) before we have to go back again. Since she has passed the fourth round they now increase it to six weeks between rounds. And now she'll be doing two cycles of Accutane between each round. 2 weeks on then 2 off the 2 on again. She just started cycle three on Saturday. Also, since Lauren has completed 40 days (4 full rounds) of antibodies, if/when she gets a HAMA.... we are done... as in done with treatment!! (well, ok, she'll still have to finish her 6 cycles of Accutane but at least that's just pills at home LOL). But I'm not getting my hope up too high for a HAMA yet because I know a lot of kids that have had 8 or 9 rounds and are still negative. But then again if anyone can do it it'll be Lauren!
Assuming she's still negative, Round 5 is scheduled for July 9-20 and by that time she'll be due for her 3 month scans again too so we'll have to stay into the next week as well. One good thing though- starting with this next round Lauren no longer has to get gmcsf. That means no more shots the 5 days prior to the round (& the weekend in between) and no more 2 hour infusion beforehand each day. So instead of being in the clinic for at least 6 hours a day we'll only have to be there about 3.
More good news.... the results of Lauren's last PHA (immune system) test are much higher than the first one that was run in Feb. They were almost up to the low normal range (85% up from 25% in Feb). We ran another one last Monday but I won't have the results for another week or two. The doctors are pretty sure though that she's now in the normal range. And if that's the case then now Lauren has to start getting revaccinated. They pulled virus titers too last week to see if she still has any titers to the vaccines she got before treatment but even if she does she still has to get them all again. I'm sure that's gonna go over big! Ha!
We're definitely looking forward to these next six weeks off and have a lot of "stuff" on the calender. One of the biggest things Lauren is looking forward to is her birthday party! She turns 3 on Sunday, June 10th and that's when her party will be. We're keeping it on the small side, not too many kids, but I'm sure she'll have a blast.. It's going to be so much fun watching her run around doing normal "kid" stuff!
Well that's about it for now......
As always, Thanks for checking in and for all your thoughts and prayers!
