Oncology Appointment- The Chemotherapy Plan

The day after Rylie's MRI we were able to meet with Rylie's team of oncologist to discuss their plan for treatment. We were pretty nervous for this appointment. Although we knew Rylie was going to have to start chemo there were still so many unanswered questions- we just wanted answers and wanted to know what to do. Luckily for us Rylie's team of oncologist had already reviewed all of her test results and all of the recommendations from her other doctors so they were prepared with a plan. No wait= Happy Parents!

While we discussed Rylie’s treatment plan a specialist of Primary Children’s Child life department came in and played lego’s with Rylie- It was such a wonderful and welcomed distraction for her! 

On May 7th, two days after her 2nd birthday Rylie will begin a 12 month course of chemotherapy. On May 7th we will check into Primary Children's Hospital for an overnight stay.  Rylie will be taken into surgery to have a port placed and then after some recovery time they will begin her first round of chemotherapy. After the chemo is administered the doctors will watch Rylie for 24 hours and then we will be sent home to rest and recover. After that Rylie will have 2 more follow-up treatments in May and then we will move to once a month treatments for the next 11 months.

Luckily the 11 months will give Rylie a chance to live a somewhat of a normal life throughout the year. She will only miss 1 week of school per month and other than that the doctors are encouraging us to live a "normal" life with some modification and precautions of course.

Rylie will be on two outpatient chemotherapy drugs. Carboplatin and Vincristine. While the plan is for these drugs to shrink the tumor the also come with some very serious risks for Rylie...

Carboplatin has lots of risks but Rylie’s doctors will carefully monitor her throughout the year for any possible signs of distress or trouble. 

Carboplatin comes with the risk of:

-        - Nausea and Vomiting

-        - Fewer red blood cells and white blood cells and platelets in the blood… a low number of red blood cells can make you feel weak and tired, A low number of white blood calls can make it easier for you to get infections, and a low number of platelets can make you bruise and bleed more easily.

-        - Abnormal levels of salts (potassium and potassium) in the body

-        - Rash

-        - Metallic taste

-        - Hearing Loss

-        - Inflammation and/or sores in the mouth

Carboplatin comes with the most worry for us… After receiving her Carboplatin treatment Rylie will go on a lock down 7 days after treatment and will remain on lock down until day 14, or at least until her blood cell counts are back into what the oncology team feels like is an acceptable level.

Vincristine comes with the risk of:

-        - Hair loss

-        - Constipation

-        - Reversible nerve problems that can affect the way Rylie walks of the feeling in her fingers and toes

-        - Jaw Pain

-       -  Headaches

-       -  Muscle Weakness

-        - Numbness and Tingling

-        - Double Vision

-       -  Dizziness

-        - Low Blood Pressure

-       -  Liver Damage

Vincristine comes with the most visible changes for Rylie. She will lose her hair, a sure tell sign she is on chemotherapy.

And of course after a long day at the hospital we had to celebrate with a trip to Chick-fli-A!