Wow - What an amazing turnout at the Blood Drive this past Saturday.  Central Jersey Blood Center was overwhelmed by the generosity of so many, as each donation has the potential of saving three lives....With the severe shortage in our area - every pint counts - Thank You!!!!!!  And a shout out to Jake and his family (Derrick, Suzie and Colton) for taking the time to not only donate, but to share their time and lessons learned with us.

We learned a little more about the reasoning behind the possible change in Mya's chemotherapy protocol.  When the bone marrow aspirations are taken, the percentage of cancer "blasts" not only determines the cancer stage, but it is also helps in identifying the type.  In Mya's instance, she was diagnosed Non-Hodgkins Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, Stage III, T-Cell - and a treatment protocol was determined.  With others, the diagnosis is Leukemia...With Leukemia patients, it is recommended, if the patient can handle the increase, to increase the chemotherapy dose to 125% of the recommended protocol treatment.  Doing so has proven succesful in finding/conquering radical cancer cells.  But again, it is only possible if the patient is responding to the traditional protocol, and has sustained ANC counts (ability to fight infection) within the 1500 range.  In Mya's case her ANC has been high consistently, AND she is responding very well to the traditional protocol.  The "if" part in increasing her to the 125% allowance, is that the trial that published these results was for Leukemia, NOT Lymphoma, despite their being very similar and the chemotherapies being very similar.  So, Dr. Nataly has indicated that the Valerie Fund is consulting with other Pediatric Cancer institutes on their opinions, their practice, and their thoughts on the potential (or known) benefits of using the increase chemo with Lymphoma patients.  If they decide to recommend this for Mya, they will first increase her 6MP daily doses...if she continues to respond well, and her ANC does not drop too low, they will then increase her weekly dose of the MTX.    Mya goes in tomorrow for her bi-weekly blood draw and physical, and she will also receive her monthly VCR push - but the FUN part for us is that she also starts her 5day Prednisone treatment...Quite sarcastic about the "fun" aspect of this stage - you may recall the steroids have consistently been Mya's WORST treatment side-effect.

Need your Prayers and Love for Stephanie Harvey - a local mom battling esphogial cancer, who is in ICU at Monmouth Medical.  While battling cancer she has also become an advocate for all woman battling - her efforts will be realized this Friday night at the Fundraising kick off of Mary's Place by the Sea (Ocean Grove, NJ)....a non-profit dedicated to the healing and sustainment of quality of life for woman...If you have an opportunity and want to learn more about the organization or this event - check out their site  www.marysplacebythesea.org

One last shout out to Tori - Hang In There...You CAN DO IT!!!

Love, Kelly