Round 2 of 4

Sinatra showing her displeasure with the
'CHOC Bear' waffle. It clearly doesn't fit
into the Toast or Whip Cream category.

We have now finished the second of 4 rounds for the 'Interim Maintenance' phase of Sinatra's treatment.  We were able to start this round much sooner because we didn't need to have a lumbar puncture procedure to start, this enabled us to start the required 6 hour IV hydration right away when we arrived at the hospital.  

One things that was surprising but exciting was the weight gain that Sinatra had shown.  In the previous round Sinatra was ~9.7 kg and when she weighed in this round she was up to 10.7 kg. This is great because it means that she is eating.  Even though all she wants is Whip Cream, Toast and Milk, she is eating!!!!  Now the tough part of this weight gain is we had to increase all dosages of her medication and chemo.

Sinatra showing a big 'smile'
while drawing at the CHOC playroom

As the treatment went on for the first 24 hours around dinner time each night Sinatra started sweating and vomiting.  Sinatra didn't react this way to the High Dose Methotrexate in the first round so we were surprised by this reaction.  We talked to the nurses and doctors regarding this and they say that this is expected.  They mentioned that in the 4 rounds of this treatment plan Sinatra will react worse each time of the treatment.  That is scary because now we can only imagine what round 3 and 4 will be like.

During this stay at the hospital we only saw Sinatra's Blood Sugar drop to a low level one time, which is very good news. It was again at a time when she didn't eat anything for the prior 24 hours so we still think it is during times of fasting.

We finally discharged on Sunday at 10:00 pm and it was nice to get home again.  We are scheduled to begin round 3 of this treatment plan on Wednesday 5/21/14.