Tuesday, March 24, 2009

3-24-09: Sarah Qualifies for the CAT-8015 Trial

Sarah went into the hospital today for red blood cells and platelets. It was a long day. We left the house at 8:30am and got home at 8:30pm. Her WBC’s were at 0.20 and her blast count is 6%. We think she is all set at least until Friday.

My mother, sister and nephew flew home today. They were visiting us this past week. Sarah enjoyed the time she spent with them reading and playing. Sarah has felt pretty good the last few days.

Susan and I on the other hand have been trying to keep our stress levels in check. We have been waiting to hear if Sarah qualifies for a clinical trial the oncologists are investigating for us. The oncology team told us her blood checked positive for a marker (CD22) needed for the study and was added to the list of participants. We hear that it will take about 1 month before Sarah will visit the facility conducting the clinical trial. We will learn more over the next couple of weeks. Sarah may need one more round of chemotherapy before beginning the study to keep her blast count low. We also need to firm up which facility to take Sarah to for the study. It’s either the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Maryland or St. Judes Hospital in Tennessee. Either facility will provide excellent care and are part of the same study, so it’s more of a logistics decision.

We are very grateful that Sarah feels OK and for God opening the door for additional treatment options for Sarah. Our objective for Sarah is still to cure her of leukemia. We see this as a possible avenue for her 2nd BMT and will be discussing this with Dana-Farber in more detail over the next few days.

Please continue to pray for Sarah’s recovery and gratitude for what he has done for her and in our lives.
-Ben

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW. Seems today is going to end on a more positive note. For that we will praise God.

We will continue to pray for all of you, and especially Sarah. May God bless all of you.

Love
Kay in NC

Anonymous said...

Yes! Our God is an awesome God! So glad to hear Sarah qualifies for the clinical trial! Another answered prayer by our heavenly Father! Praises to Him!
God bless to all of you!

cdauphne said...

I am so grateful to God that Sarah has the markers required for the trial! I can't believe how hard it was to leave this week or how much I miss Sarah and all of you already! Phillip and I will Skype you all Sat. afternoon. Much love always!! Your Sister