Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
December 9, 2008 (update)
From a neurological standpoint, we’re still in the unknown. There are some positive signs, some negative signs and only time will tell. Cody is still unconscious, still on a ventilator and IVs everywhere. There are times when he is adding to the ventilators respirations. His eyes are showing occasional response. Please keep praying and sending positive vibes, we believe it’s helping. The support and responses are so encouraging - thank you!
The latest news is that we have finally received our diagnosis from the bone marrow transplant - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (type T). Never would I think that I would be so relieved to hear my son has some type of cancer, but I am. We finally have a diagnosis for the mass in Cody’s chest. We have a treatment that we have started immediately and we believe we can beat this thing.
Cody has been started on chemotherapy. Essentially, he is receiving dexamethazone, a steriod by IV. This will break apart and destroy the blasts (or leukemia cells). The mass will be reduced and eliminated. This will also help with reducing the swelling in his neck and down his left arm. This drug is also known to seek out any leukemia cells in the brain. We hope this treatment will also have a positive impact on some of the neurological issues.
To sum up our two issues:
1. Neurological - still in the unknown - hopefully we’ll start to see some positive signs from Cody in the next day or so. He is still on a great deal of medication, his body temp is still being kept way below normal, so many tests are not entirely valid or accurate. Possibly tomorrow, we may take an MRI of the brain and have more answers.
2. The Mass
We know what it is, we have a plan in action and we’re going to whip it! We just need Cody’s brain to get active again.