Treatment Overview

As mentioned before Paige's treatment will last 2 years and is broken up as follows:

Induction : 5 weeks - Completed and Remission achieved

Consolidation : 5 weeks -(must have platelets>75 & neutrophils>0.75) Chemo 4 times a week for 3 weeks

Interim Maintenance 1: 8 weeks - oral Chemo at home and a chance to recover

Delayed Intensification 1: 7 weeks - (must have platelets > 75 & neutrophils > 0.75) Nuff Chemo again

Interim Maintenance 2: 8 weeks

Delayed Intensification 2: 7 weeks - (must have platelets > 75 & neutrophils > 0.75) Nuff Chemo again

Maintenance Cycle 1: 12 weeks

In order to progress through the stages, there is a minimum requirement of platelets and neutrophils as noted above, essentially she ought not to have Chemo is she is unwell. If she gets ill at anytime during the Chemo intensive stages, treatment will be delayed. It is expected that she will become ill during the intensive stages. In addition to Chemo she has steriods, anti sickness after chemo and preventative antibiotics every weekend. So we have a house full of drugs, syringes - the works. Oral Chemo can be given at home by us.
There are also 'community nurses' who will come at home to take bloods, change her dressing etc to minimize trips to the hospital. They can also administer some Chemo and antibiotics via IV if Paige has an infection but doesn't require hospitalization. Paige is also a VIP patient at The Queen Alexander hospital, which means that she always has set appointments or we call ahead in an emergency and say that we are on our way and she is ushered into a private room immediately, we do no have to sit and wait in a general waiting room (because she will spend the next two years with compromised neutrophils).