brycebelt.net Blog

Tuesday April 1st appt

We got his treatment plan and he is in the Standard Risk-Low Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia group. There were two choices within that group that he could have possibly got. His treatment was randomized by a computer into which group he would get. The only difference in the two were that one had extra doses of PEG Asparaginase (the leg muscle chemo injections). He got the one without the extra doses. So we were happy that he didn’t get that treatment and that he is in the lower group.

So on Tuesday it was the first day of his Consolidation Therapy and he got Vincristine (chemo through his port), Methotrexate (chemo by spinal tap), and a prescription for Mercaptopurine (chemo pills). He is to continue on his Bactrim and they took him off his blood pressure medicine. It looks like this phase will last 28 days and then he will move onto Interim Maintenance which is 50 days.

He has done very well with Tuesdays treatment and has not been sick at all and hasn’t slowed him down a bit. He is a tough one and he is not letting this get him down at all. He was amazing at his appointment and such a big boy. We left home at 7:30 that morning and didn’t get home until 4:30 that afternoon and he wasn’t even able to eat or drink until around 2:00 pm that day and never complained.

Bryce’s next appointment is next Tuesday where he will have another LP.

On the downside we were asked if we had been getting Blake tested for Leukemia and we told her no. We had asked several doctors and all of them said no unless he was showing any signs or symptons. We were told that since he was a fraternal twin they were not concerned. But Dr. Ayanaar told us on Tuesday that she recommended him having a CBC every 3 months because he was a twin. So we have scheduled him an appointment and he will have bloodwork done on April 17th.

Got some news today…

We got the results of his bone marrow today and he is still in remission and will be in the low risk standard group for his next phase (consolidation) of treatment. This is extremely good news and what we have been hoping for!! His next appointment is Tuesday and then they will give us his treatment plan. He will definately be having an LP (spinal chemo), Vincristine (push through his port), and will start taking chemo pills. He may, depending on the treatment plan he gets, have the chemo muscle injections into his legs also.

Michelle Raisor has been working extremely hard for our baby boy and has our baby in the newspaper. The news standard is having a community yard sale in their parking lot for him. A huge thanks go out to both Michelle and the News Standard!!! She is also working on a walk that will be for both Bryce and another 2.5 year old with leukemia. I will give more details on that when I get them.

Click here to view the newspaper article

Last Day of Induction

Click here to see a pic of Bryce
Today was day 28 of the induction phase!!! We won’t know his next treatment plan until next Tuesday April 1st. Then we will have the results from today’s bone marrow and they will know how to proceed. He also had his lumbar puncture w/chemo when they did his bone marrow. He also had his routine bloodwork done at the clinic this morning. His counts were really good and all is going extremely well. His ANC was 2100!!! Today was the last day of his dexamethasone (steroids) and the yucky zantac. So this week he will only be on his daily blood pressure medicine and Bactrim which is only 3 days a week. He was amazing today as always and didn’t cry once!! All the procedures, poking his finger, accessing his port, de-accessing the port, hooking up to monitors…. he was good with all of it. I guess he is getting used to the routine now and he just goes with it.

Appointment Today..

Everything went well today and his counts were really good. His ANC was 1500 which is a huge improvement from Friday’s being 400. He is such a big boy and handles everything so well. They had to poke his finger for his labs and he gets a little worked up and says no hurt the whole time but never actually sheds a tear and always looks forward to the band-aid he’s going to get. He lets them get his blood pressure, temp, and weights without any fuss. He lets another one listen to his heart, check his ears and mouth all without any problems. Then they have to access his port to give him his chemo through. The nurse wanted to know if we would need help to hold him and I told her no because I know how good he is. He just says says no hurt no hurt the entire time but never jerks or fights. At home he has to take several meds twice a day which is 2 or 3 syringes at a time and he now says “I will do it” and he takes the syringe and puts it in his mouth and pushes it himself. He is still in a great mood constantly laughing and playing. He is just so energetic again and really hard to even tell that he is sick.

His next appointments are Tuesday. He has his regular clinic appointment and then he leaves from there to go over to Kosair’s for his bone marrow and lumbar puncture (chemo). This bone marrow test is really important. It will be the one that will decide his next phase of treatment depending on the outcome. Everyone please keep him in your thoughts and prayers that this bone marrow test comes back clean and that he can be on a less aggressive chemo plan.

Hello world!

As much as I have loved caringbridge it is limited in what I can add. It will only allow 12 pictures and they have to be small in size and posting size was limited as well. This website will allow me to add more pictures and information. I am working on listing his treatment plan and medications that he is on. It will be under Induction Phase.