This off-therapy business is uncharted territory for us. Mollie is losing her hair, again. She has bouts of itchy spots, like hives or bug bites, that respond to steroid cream or benadryl. And she is emotional. Matt and I are assuming all the adjustments going on in Mollie's body explain these different symptoms. We have been poisoning her with chemo for almost 2.5 years, and suddenly, it is gone.
My feeling is that the hair loss, which has slowed down considerably so it is more like "thinning", is probably due to her last treatment with vincristine in August. Apparently, some batches of that drug, especially in combination with a virus, can cause hair loss. It started when she was hospitalized in early Sept., so the timing makes sense.
A lot of children have skin and allergy problems after treatment. Maybe the immune system goes into overdrive once the chemo is withdrawn. We will keep a close eye, with the clinic phone number close at hand, and wait. The good news is Mollie has lots of energy! She has finally reached a point where 2-year old Lucy can't keep up with her (it used to be the other way around). I love it!
We are going to apply some of that energy to the Walk for Wishes this year. This walk raises funds for the Make-a-Wish foundation. Make-a-Wish does not give money to cancer research or treatment (we have raised money for LLS in the past 2 years), but it goes to something equally important: providing joy to children (& families) in need. Mollie and Lucy are really, really looking forward to going to Disney World in December, so we thought this would be a great way to channel the excitement! The walk is Oct. 23 at Carowinds in Charlotte. We welcome anyone who wants to join our team and walk with us. Please consider making a donation to our team in honor of Mollie through this link.
Good news about Mollie's energy level. It has been a hard 2.5 years for her (and family).
ReplyDeleteIf Lucy can't keep up that is really some HIGH energy!
That's awesome she has more energy, though that's a bummer about the hair, hopefully it'll turn around and grow back into those beautiful curly locks soon! I think of you guys often and take a big sigh of relief that you're at this turning point, big hugs to you.
ReplyDeleteFYI A fellow mom told me that it took months for the steroid side effects to go away. She said it was like every month around the time he would have been on steroids he was cranky, hungry and emotional. Why don't they prepare us for all of these things? We need another binder for off-treatment crap.
ReplyDeleteNicole, we DO need another binder!! ALL-kids archives is really helpful for me, but every kid is so different...
ReplyDeleteMostly wonderful news!
ReplyDeleteDo you remember Erin Kreitz Shirey? Her 6.5 year old is hospitalized with some horrid infection. Expected to be in ICU for another 2 weeks and at Children's until Thanksgiving. I keep thinking of you.
hugs, Nicola