Jack is still in the hospital...the poor child has a bladder infection right now. They did the MRI which still shows clear on all those spots he had in May...yeah!!!! The one gray area they aren't sure about is smaller, so that is good news too. Monday they put a C-line in his chest in preparation for the next step. I will explain this as best I can, but I'm not sure that I have this right. They want to put him on a machine where they filter his blood for stem cells. This will take a day. If they can't get as many as they need this way, they will withdraw some of his bone marrow to get more (very painful, I hear). They will take his stemcells and grow them in the lab. Then they will kill off his bone marrow and put the stem cells back into his body. By doing this, they are hoping to trigger his brain fluid to produce more fluid, hopefully without cancer cells. I don't quite get this...but I do know that Jack will feel rotten during this and he will have to be in the hospital for at least 6 weeks. Right now, they think they will probably be doing this in August. They can use his own stem cells because this cancer rarely leaves the nervous system...so there should not be any cancer cells outside of his nervous system.This is all very hard on Jack's family, obviously -- please keep them in prayers as well.
FROM THE ILLUSTRATED EDITION.
7 hours ago
3 comments:
Besides a total cure, what has to happen in order for the doctors to decide that he doesn't need this procedure done after all?
That total cure is going to happen. We just don't want little Jack to go through any more pain while he's waiting for it.
Oh that poor little guy. God bless him.
The problem is the doctors don't know if he is cured for a while. The MRI can show things clear, but it's still possible for cancer cells to be in the fluid surrounding the brain. So they keep treating because they don't want any stray cells to take hold. Since he relapsed, it will take the doctors a long time before they will say he's cured. I had a niece who was diagnosed with leukemia as a baby and even though she didn't relapse, they treated her for over 3 years. Most parents are afraid to stop until the doctors tell them to.
Thank you for your prayers...may God bless your families!
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