Good day Madison fans and followers,
Madison's treatment schedule listed Sept 5th for immunotherapy treatment #2. Upon arrival to the clinic yesterday after meeting with the physician, he insisted that another round of chemo first, then immuno treatment #2 in two weeks. We discussed tapping the brake pedal a day given recently discovered variables in her case, but he pushed his point, I made mine, and Madison listened intently to both of us. She is extremely bright and she is the boss-lady... it's her cancer and treatment decisions are hers. So, we switched gears. Yesterday she left the clinic with a bag of chemo-to-go and a pump. Looking at bloodwork, they decided Madison needs another blood transfusion... top off her oil, check her transmission fluid and coolant levels. From Santa Monica, over to Cedars in LA so they could draw blood.
So busy next steps: Madison will return to the clinic this afternoon with her mom: nurses will remove the chemo-to-go bag/pump, hydrate her with a bag of fluids, and give her an injection to help maintain her WBC counts to avoid infection. From the clinic in Santa Monica, Madison and mom will head to UCLA-Westwood for radiation at 5:30, treatment 1 of 5 which will only take about 30 minutes... getting there is a whole other story... but travel time is buffered in. As they say on TV, but wait, there's more! After radiation, she returns to Cedars in LA. The blood draw Tuesday night will have been analyzed to create a blood transfusion blend with anything she may have a deficiency in, and then the actual transfusion tonight at 8:30. She'll get two bags, each taking two hours. As mentioned, Cedars has very nice infusion areas. They're not elbow-to-elbow recliners as most are, but separate compartments like the nicest first-class cabins we've all seen on TV. Ideally a nice long nap for Madi... maybe mom can sneak one in too, then jump in the car and head home about 1AM.
Yes, it'll be a long day. Having asked Madi if she'd like to push the transfusion out a day to limit today to only two appointments, she said 'no... I want to get it over with". (She was like that with her homework growing up.... never procrastinated, also dug in deep, and early)
Love,
The Joneses
Madison's treatment schedule listed Sept 5th for immunotherapy treatment #2. Upon arrival to the clinic yesterday after meeting with the physician, he insisted that another round of chemo first, then immuno treatment #2 in two weeks. We discussed tapping the brake pedal a day given recently discovered variables in her case, but he pushed his point, I made mine, and Madison listened intently to both of us. She is extremely bright and she is the boss-lady... it's her cancer and treatment decisions are hers. So, we switched gears. Yesterday she left the clinic with a bag of chemo-to-go and a pump. Looking at bloodwork, they decided Madison needs another blood transfusion... top off her oil, check her transmission fluid and coolant levels. From Santa Monica, over to Cedars in LA so they could draw blood.
So busy next steps: Madison will return to the clinic this afternoon with her mom: nurses will remove the chemo-to-go bag/pump, hydrate her with a bag of fluids, and give her an injection to help maintain her WBC counts to avoid infection. From the clinic in Santa Monica, Madison and mom will head to UCLA-Westwood for radiation at 5:30, treatment 1 of 5 which will only take about 30 minutes... getting there is a whole other story... but travel time is buffered in. As they say on TV, but wait, there's more! After radiation, she returns to Cedars in LA. The blood draw Tuesday night will have been analyzed to create a blood transfusion blend with anything she may have a deficiency in, and then the actual transfusion tonight at 8:30. She'll get two bags, each taking two hours. As mentioned, Cedars has very nice infusion areas. They're not elbow-to-elbow recliners as most are, but separate compartments like the nicest first-class cabins we've all seen on TV. Ideally a nice long nap for Madi... maybe mom can sneak one in too, then jump in the car and head home about 1AM.
Yes, it'll be a long day. Having asked Madi if she'd like to push the transfusion out a day to limit today to only two appointments, she said 'no... I want to get it over with". (She was like that with her homework growing up.... never procrastinated, also dug in deep, and early)
Love,
The Joneses
