Caroline is now home for a 48-hour planned break in between treatments for Round 4 of Immunotherapy. She is resting comfortably after a relatively uneventful 5 day admission for the IL-2 infusion. Her only notable side effects from Part 1 of this round were fever and diarrhea, which aren't bad, considering what she will be facing later this week during Unituxin/IL-2 combination infusion.
She will get re-admitted on Wednesday, and most likely need a blood transfusion before she starts Part 2 of Round 4 on Thursday morning, as a result of low hemoglobin levels. Expected side effects once the tandem infusion begins are: extremely high fever, severe nerve pain (and generalized pain), itching, intense irritability/mood swings, low oxygen levels, diarrhea, nausea and loss of appetite. We have gone through this tandem infusion round before (around Thanksgiving), and it truly is beyond hard and stressful to watch her body endure this much.
Please pray for her comfort during the remaining part of Round 4, as well as for the rest of our family as we watch her go through one of the worst weeks of her entire treatment protocol.
Thank you for your continued love and support these past 14 months; we're so grateful!
The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong
#ftgf

In 2017, Caroline was diagnosed with Stage IV, High-Risk Neuroblastoma: an aggressive, solid-tumor cancer that spread throughout almost all of her body, including her bone marrow. She completed a 2-year clinical trial (called DFMO) in April 2021, and relapsed in April 2022. She is currently a patient at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN; this blog documents her journey.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Round 4 Immunotherapy: Half-time!
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So glad to hear Caroline was able to get some rest at home. Thank you for always sharing how her treatment is going so we are able to pray specifically for Caroline and both of you as well. I ask God to continue to give you strength as well as Caroline has she goes into this next round of treatment. Live from the Whisner family
ReplyDeleteContinued prayers for your sweet girl!
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