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August 29, 2006.
Almost 40 months after being diagnosed with leukemia, Patrick completed his course of chemotherapy last night when he took his final 1½ pills of 6MP, one of several chemo drugs he was still taking. No more chemo! He will continue to take the antibiotic Septra, the antiviral ganciclovir & get monthly infusions of IV IgG until we're sure his immune system is back to narmal, but no more nightly chemo, no more restrictions on what he can eat and when!
As shown on the above flyer, Patrick is now a leukemia survivor. The flyer was made by the IU Cancer Center for distribution at its tent at the State Fair a couple weeks ago.
Thank you everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers, and we look forward to our lives returning to some level of normalcy.
Welcome to Patrick's Web Page!
It has been provided to keep family and friends updated on Patrick's progress during treatment for leukemia. Patrick was diagnosed with Pre-B ALL on May 12, 2003 when he was 5 years old. He is being treated with a high risk protocol (CCG 1961-arm C), which includes more intense chemo than the standard risk.
He is scheduled to go off-treatment on August 28, 2006!
Patrick has been a real trooper throughout his treatment--those first 6 months were no fun at all! He was hospitalized in October '03 with methotrexate toxicity because his body could not flush the chemo out of his body and it lingered too long causing neurological and kidney problems. Then in December '03 we had quite a scare when shortly after receiving his last intense dose of 2 chemos (Peg-Asparaginase and 6-TG) he went into fulminant liver failure. By all accounts, his survival and recovery from liver failure without a transplant was a miracle. He was discharged from Riley on January 1, 2004 and managed to stay out of the hospital for 18 months (kind of unusual for a kid on chemo!).
As often happens with kids with ALL, the months of chemo took a toll on his immune system and in the fall of 2006, we finally figured out that his persistent fevers were due to extremely low immunoglobin (IgG) levels. Patrick started getting IV IgG to boost his immune system in October, 2006, but before it had a chance to do much good, he became very ill with what turned out to be a CMV infection. It was a relief to know what the problem was and that there is an effective anti-viral medicine (ganciclovir) to remedy the problem.
We are blessed to be part of an incredibly caring church/school community. Thank you everyone who helped our family through the hard times. We have come so far with your prayers and support.
Please visit some of our friends' websites and don’t forget to sign their guest books.
Melissa and Baby Donovan: www.caringbridge.org/in/babydonovan
Cecilia and Dustin Kenna: www.caringbridge.org/in/dustinkenna
Beth and Kyle: www.caringbridge.org/in/kylefacts
Jenny and Mickey: www.deputyfamily.net
See Journal entry dated March 10, 2005 for entries regarding the first part of Patrick's treatment.
Our favorite web links:
http://www.rileykids.org/story/view.asp?id=100470
for Patrick's Riley Story
http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_chap
for the leukemia lymphoma society
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Journal
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 4:20 PM CST So many germs going around! Up until January, Patrick had perfect attendance at school. Then he missed day for a cough in January and missed all last week because he first had the high fever/headache bug that was going around and on the 3rd day the fever went away and the diarrhea started. He seems to be slowly recovering and is down to one episode per day (poor kid would love to know that I'm broadcasting his bowel habits). Unfortunately, he has lost about 4 pounds down from an already skinny 66 lbs to 62. I have a call into Peds GI to see if he needs to be seen because he's had frequent tummy aches for months. I will be fine if they tell me to wait and watch.
We're just all so ready for spring around here!
Until next time..no news is good news.
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