Sammie’s Site
On
On that day she was admitted to the UW - Children's Hospital by Dr. Carol Diamond. Sammie has a whole team of doctors and nurses who are working for her recovery.
The cure rate for ALL children her age is 75-80%. With quick action and early detection the doctors are all very pleased with her progress and were able to get the Cancer in remission within the first week of treatment.
Because she will get frequent injections of medicine and will constantly be having her blood tested, we had a catheter surgically implanted in her chest (a Hickman tube). This makes these procedures MUCH easier and less painful. Sammie calls it her Happy Tube, because it means no more owies!
Because of the way chemotherapy drugs work, it takes out some of the good cells as well as the bad ones. She has had some side effects show up, including a weakened immune system, hair loss (she's been pretty much bald since the first week of January), and muscle weakness. Because her immune system is low, every time she gets a fever we need to call the doctor on call, and two times now we've had to go to the Emergency Room. They check her blood to make sure she doesn't have an infection and give her a dose of antibiotics intravenously (thank heaven for the Happy Tube!) Another problem she has had to deal with during this ordeal (probably because of the drugs she is taking) is constipation We've been working to get that under control...not very comfortable for Sammie :-(
Since her
diagnosis, she has not been able to, nor wanted to walk. The Leukemia in
her bone marrow was so wide spread and growing that it was creating outward
pressure on her bones, most easily felt by her in her legs. On top of
this, the early chemo drugs she had to take caused muscle weakness and joint
pain. We are now working on some
physical therapy to get her moving again.
There is a well known "Roadmap" for treatment of ALL. This Roadmap has the types, amounts and frequency for all the different medicines she will have to take. Because ALL is a Cancer in the blood and in the bone marrow, the medicines are all taken orally or by injection, there is no radiation treatment she has to go through.
The first part of the Roadmap (the first 28 days) is called Induction. In this phase of treatment, Sammie goes in to the clinic at the hospital once a week for some medication, given by injection, and tests of blood and bone marrow. She also has many medicines that she takes at home, some to fight the Cancer, and some to ease the side-effects of her drugs. During Induction she was on a steroid, which cause her to crave salty foods, and lots of em. She ended up gaining 6 pounds, which is a lot for her 20 pound body!! She looked very puffy, and seemed "out of it", and had mood swings from happy to scared, to very, very irritable! This first phase ended on Christmas day.
The second part of
her Roadmap (the next 28 days) is called Consolidation. She has fewer
drugs to take during this phase. She has also started to lose some of the
weight she gained during the first phase and her moods have come back
around. She is a much happier and "with it" girl!! That
makes it easier on the rest of the family too! She still has to go into
the clinic weekly, but she is getting used to that, and even has some favorite
nurses and doctors there. Most of the doctors check out her favorite doll
(Green Baby), before they check out Sammie, just to make sure she's doing well
too! This phase will end around the end of January.
The next phase is a two month period called Interim Maintenance. This phase will have less drugs, and is designed to have her body do some recovery after all the abuse it has taken so far. Following that she will begin a phase called Delayed Intensification which will very similar to the first two months of her treatments. Overall, if things go well, her total treatment time will be just over two years. It will take 3 more years after that to determine if she will be “cured” of the cancer.
We have received a
great outpouring of support from friends and family. We wanted to take this chance to thank you
all for your support. By helping us with
moral (for Cheri and Chris, and for Charlie and Stephanie too) and physical
support (transportation and food) it has made it much easier for us to
concentrate on helping Sammie recover.
NEWS FLASH: Sammie took her first two unassisted steps today (
Sammie is doing very well at her physical therapy appointments. She can use her feet to move a scooter, bend
over to pick things up, climb small stairs while holding onto a railing. Her PT teacher Val, is VERY impressed with
her progress and enthusiasm! Sammie is a
very happy girl now-a-days, she loves to chase after her sister and her
friends…just trying and be “one of the guys”.
Today at the
clinic she saw Dr. Kaci (Osengay), Dr. Diamond, and her favorite nurse
Peter. Sammie completed her Interim
Maintenance and is now starting the phase of treatment called “Delayed
Intensification”. This is the big ending
push to get rid of all traces of the cancer, and it will be a more demanding
and difficult time for her. She has
started some new Chemotherapy drugs, and will be on a steroid again. These new drugs may effect her mood and
overall energy, but hopefully not as severely as the first round of drugs
did. This phase should last about two
months and after that we can look forward to a very long and relatively easy
maintenance period!
Sammie has entered a much lighter phase of treatment. Now she only goes in to the clinic once every
10 days. She is still getting some
chemo, but the amount isn’t bothering her.
Sammie’s hair is starting to come back…now she has a ‘fuzzy’ head…she’s
soooo cute! She has been feeling very
well recently, well enough to be doing typical 2-3 year old things, such as
asking “Why?” to everything, and saying “Mom” all the time…just to hear the
sound of it and watch Mom go “AAAARRRGGGHHHH!” and then laugh at her! Her “Happy Tube” will be coming out in late
August. Good news so that she can go
swimming and take regular baths again, but bad news in that it will mean some
pokes with a needle to give her some occasional medicines and test her
blood! Yick!
In other important news, the tag on the
back of her favorite “Green Baby” came off!
This was quite a blow to Sammie, as she and “Green Baby” have been inseparable
since she first went to the hospital.
Aunt Tammy came to the rescue and sent Sammie a new one (called “New
Green Baby” of course), which has made Sammie a much happier girl!
Sammie had her 3rd birthday
on June 21st. She had a
Hawaiian themed party complete with decorations, volcano cake, grass skirts,
and leis!
Sammie got her Happy Tube out on
August 14th, and she was cleared to go swimming on the 17th! She was very excited about it. She woke up the next morning at
Sammie’s hair is growing back (she
shouldn’t loose it again), and her strength is coming back too! She is doing very well with her physical
therapy and can now climb stairs all by herself. This fall she will be going to Christ
Memorial’s pre-school program. She had a
visit there today, it all went well…but it appears she’ll have to concentrate
on remembering to share.
November 4th, 2003 - Sammie has been doing very well, and while
going to the doctor once a month for “pokes” is no fun…Sammie will tell you it’s
“Not TOO bad…it’s okay.” She usually
gets lots of stickers and something out of the Treasure Chest when she’s
done. The important part is that her
blood counts are good and that she is thriving.
Sammie is liking preschool and doesn’t
usually cry anymore when Mom leaves in the morning. She is also doing a great job at PT and
gymnastics. While most other parents are
chasing their little ones around the gym, Sammie does a SUPER job of listening
and waiting her turn. She has great
upper body strength and did a push-up (almost) all on her own in class
today! Although she’s still got some
work to do with her legs, her teacher is very impressed.
In October we did a fundraising walk for
The Leukemia and Lympoma Society.
“Sammie’s Soldiers” got the most contributions in the walk here in
We will keep you updated about her progress here.
For Part II of Sammie’s updates, click here.
To email us, click here: cliechty@wisc.edu