May 18th, 2012 - Consolidation Day 2
The most beautiful news was delivered this morning, MRD NEGATIVE! That means there are no signs of Leukemia in John’s body.
Thank you St. Jude. Thank you Dr. Pui, Miss Martha May, Miss Justine, Miss Amy, A Clinic, Medicine Room and inpatient nurse! You all are miracle workers.
Thanks be to GOD. Thank you all so much for faithfully praying for John. The love, support and prayers have held Rich, John, Isabella & I up for the last 53 days. We love and appreciate all of you!
What’s next? A 2 3/4 year treatment protocol to make sure that the Leukemia does not come back. We began phase 2 (Continuation) of the protocol yesterday. This phase is 8 weeks long. He will receive 4 “high” dose Methotrexate chemotherapy treatments, 1 HDMTX treatment every 14 days. He will need to be inpatient (at St. Jude) for all treatments. In addition he will take 6MP a daily chemotherapy pill. John will be able to spend some time at home in between these treatments. If counts permit he may be able to sneak in some visits with friends :) Then, on to Phase 3 (continuation), 2 1/2 years of weekly chemotherapy treatments, daily chemotherapy (6MP) plus the dreaded steroids. The first 30 weeks of Continuation phase are going to be rough (we do the Induction phase over 2 times plus other aggressive treatments). We’ll need to be in Memphis for a large part of the initial part of phase 3. Whatever it takes! We’ll provide more details as things unfold.
We are bringing John home next week for a short visit. We can’t wait to reunite our family!
John Hagen you inspire me! UNSTOPPABLE DETERMINATION!
Love,
Kathy