Round 2 Treatment Is Decided!

Well, Patrick met with his oncologist yesterday, and the blueprint for round two has been laid out. There are pros and cons, as every treatment plan has, but the number one pro for this plan is that Patrick is ready to go! He's looking forward to getting started so that he's that much closer to finally putting this thing behind him, and he won't have to wait long.

Beginning Monday, Patrick will be admitted back into the James Center to begin a 21-day chemo regimen. While there, he'll be receiving 3 types of chemo, all with different schedules. The first type of chemo will begin on day 1 and continue through day 21. It's given orally and is currently part of a trial for AML. It has been approved for other types of blood disorders, but the AML specialist at the James believes it will be helpful in Patrick's case. The second and third types will be given intravenously and will be given days 5 through 7 and 5 through 8. Patrick's already quite intimate with one of these...the Red Devil is back!! (see "Day 1 - It's ON!") More red pee and unfortunately, more hair loss. And of course, he'll be dealing with the "normal" side effects of chemo...nausea, rashes, mouth sores and plummeting platelets and white blood cells. It's only after these side effects have subsided that he'll be released, and based on his history, the doctors have told Patrick to expect 7 weeks in the hospital. So, he'll be settling in for the long haul, and we'll be ready to update you and let you know how his mood and his health progresses.

Part two of the blueprint isn't quite as clear yet, but we should know more in the not-so-distant future. Patrick will be receiving a bone marrow transplant, but because his current oncologist isn't a transplant doctor, she'll be handing his case off to another oncologist who is. Patrick hasn't met with him yet, so we still don't know details, but here is what we do know.

After receiving the chemo, Patrick's cancer cells will be temporarily wiped out. It's during these follow-up weeks where his cancer cells will be nonexistent that Patrick will receive the transplant. We still don't know who the donor will be...if a sibling will be a match or if they'll need to turn to the public registry to find someone, but we'll definitely let you know when a match is found.

So, that's it for now. Round 2 - Day 1 is right around the corner, and we'll be doing our best to keep you in the loop. Huge thanks to all of you, again, for your support the first time, and we're asking you to keep it up this time too. Prayers and support go a long way toward recovery, and we can't wait for Patrick to get there!!