Brief Update from February 18th and 19th

She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_lymphoblastic_leukemia). Treatment will take about a month for treatment and recovery. Then she will be in an out-patient program for about 6 months.

She had her Bone Marrow Biopsy Saturday 2/19 (info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_marrow_examination).

Her Chemotherapy regimen was HyperCVAD (info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperCVAD).

There was a platelets transfusion on Sunday 2/20, it went down to 19,000 from 27,000 (info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platelet). When she was originally diagnosed, her platelet count was 7,000. A healthy person’s platelet count is 150,000.

She can have snacks; but there is a restriction on some foods; mostly raw items (info: http://www.acor.org/leukemia/neutro.html). Packaged foods are best, canned, she can eat her favorite Kraft Mac and Cheese.

Visiting:
YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VISIT IF YOU ARE FEELING ILL AT ALL. You can not have any perfume or cologne on. No FLOWERS. But other gifts are welcome. Also gossip magazines, she loves those. Her personal email is jmphilips503@hotmail.com; and I know a lot of you are her friends on Facebook, so she will be checking those very, very often. Her cell is working and would like calls and texts, but the service is spotty.

If you have any more questions, we will be happy to answer them. She has gotten a ton of information about A.L.L. and the treatments.

For more information about Leukemia please see the following sites:
National Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: http://www.lls.org/hm_lls
American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org/

Please contact me at the email below for more information or contact Jenene, her email address is listed above.

If you feel so compelled, please donate blood or platelets, because when you do, you can help save lives. Also, if you wish to donate your time or money to any of the above organizations, it helps with the fight against cancer.

For those athletic and running types, you can also go to the following website to help with Team in Training: www.teamintraining.org/. They will help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and train you to do marathons, triathlons and other forms of races.

Thank you.