Well Alina turned five years old on July 1st and we are so excited about her progress!
We had a small celebration at home on Wednesday as Alina's counts have been remaining a little low over the past two weeks after her last treatment. The Doctors informed us that this would be a possibility so we were not so surprised. Her counts last week had fallen to 433 which is one of the lowest so far. We had to delay the start of her maintenance program by a week so far but we are praying that her counts improve in the next few days so we can continue. Alina will go tomorrow for lab work and if the ANC counts are above 750 then she can proceed.
As you can see in the photo, Alina has begun to really grow back some of her hair which she kindly refers to as "her spikey dew". Her charisma and fun loving personality has NEVER been down for more than a day or two over the last few months. SHE IS SUCH A STRONG LITTLE GIRL!! We all LOVE her VERY much!
We have learned a little more about the maintenance program over the last few weeks. Treatment occurs in twelve week repeating blocks until her treatment ends in about 18 months. The first day of treatment is a Vincristine dose of chemo along with a lumbar treatment of the spinal fluid. She also begins a five day steroid and a daily dose of chemo given at home. Once per week she will also get a chemo pill to take. In between the twelve week treatments there will only be lab appointments to monitor her ANC level to make sure that she is receiving the proper doses of medications to keep her levels between 750 and 1500. At the end of twelve weeks the cycle begins again with the same treatments. Less visits to the Hospital and higher counts that will hopefully be stable and we will get to see everyone AGAIN!! Looking forward to a stable routine and moving forward towards completing this journey.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers!
Love the King Family