Port / Biopsy / Cycle One

 A video message from Caroline:

Tomorrow is a big day...Caroline will go under anesthesia to have her central line (port) placed, get a bone marrow biopsy from her lower back, and then she will be admitted to the Oncology floor at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital to begin her first cycle of chemotherapy.

A recap of the cycles: 2 chemo drugs + 1 antibody drug while inpatient over 5 nights/6 days, home to recover for two weeks – including daily shots to recover her immune system, then repeat again.

Please pray that her body responds to this therapy, and that it immediately starts to kill off the cancer cells in her body!

Many thanks for all the prayers, outreach, love, and support...it's go time!

The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong

#ftgf

***T-Shirts are almost ready…we will post the link as soon as we have it. If you’d like to help in the meantime, here are a couple links:

American Red Cross Blood Donation
Caroline's Hospital Wishlist
Medical Expenses via GoFundMe
Family Meals via UberEats Gift Cards (sent to margaretlantz@gmail.com)

A huge “thank you” to those that have sent Caroline gifts…many arrived without the sender's name, but we are so grateful!

Photo Credit: SK!

1 Year Ago Today

One year ago today, Mark joined Caroline at the Academy of McKay's Mill for a Thanksgiving celebration lunch.  She was in a great mood - sharing in the excitement and running around with all of her school friends!  Just 2 short hours after the picture below was taken, we received a call from the school that Caroline was screaming in pain and inconsolable.  He immediately went back to the school, picked her up, and took her to the local Urgent Care...what happened over the course of the next 3 days changed our lives forever.

The anticipation of this week, and the one year mark, has been gravely hanging over our heads for a little while. Today is a very difficult day for us emotionally, but we love this kid as much as anyone can love anyone or anything, and we just wanted to share with everyone that we are so thankful, and blessed that she was given to us.  WE ARE SO VERY PROUD OF HER for her amazing, fighting spirit!  We love you, Caroline.

Such Proud Parents,
Mark and Margaret
#carolinestrong
#ftgf

Tuesday before Thanksgiving...2017 and 2018.

Day 1: High-Dose Chemo

Today at 7am, we were admitted for Caroline's first day of high-dose chemo.  We had a very stressful and adventurous start to the day...to summarize:

1. Last night, we got a call that Friday's echo-cardiogram showed that her central line may have moved internally, and would require an early morning X-ray to confirm; if it had moved, it would require surgery to repair.  Caroline wasn't able to eat/drink after midnight last night, just in case.  We were extremely worried about her having to endure another surgical procedure right before high-dose chemo, which is already rough enough.  Thankfully, the X-ray showed that all is normal, and we were able to start chemo on time.
2. Unrelated to the scare above, during the first full hour of chemo, we noticed that Caroline's central line was leaking blood onto her bed.  We immediately called the nurses. ..they paused her chemo, and moved both chemos to one line.  They found a cut in her left-side line, and luckily, the surgery team was able to fix it bedside...fascinating to watch (kind of like fix-a-flat tire patch, with super glue).
3. FUN NEWS: Caroline lost her first tooth today at exactly 2:30pm (aka: toof hurty...haha...dad joke)!!!  She was so proud and excited, and has been telling anyone and everyone that passes by!

Caroline will receive 3 different types of chemo for the next 3 days, and then 2 types of chemo on the 4th day (Thursday), followed by a stem cell transplant on Monday (7/23).  We expect to be here for the next 30 days or so, recovering from this sub-lethal dose of chemo.

Thank you very much to everyone that donated Postmates gift cards for hospital meals - they are a huge help!  We appreciate all of the generosity and prayers you've sent our way!

Much Love,
The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong #ftgf

Chemo cocktail...

 Waiting for the X-Ray

Hug the X-Ray Machine!

Slice in central line.

Bedside line repair.

Playing babies while getting chemo!

Lost her 1st Tooth!!!

Information Overload: Prepping for High-Dose Chemo and Stem Cell Transplant

Today was a busy and tough day for all of us: back-to-back appointments from 8am-4pm, and a day full of listening to info that we're still processing hours later. We met with Caroline’s transplant team to discuss what’s on the horizon for the next week, sign consent forms, ask a laundry list of questions about the high-dose chemo/stem cell transplant (and the side effects), and get a general idea of what to expect during our extended stay.  Although we knew some information about high-dose chemo and the stem cell transplant process, this was the first time we heard it directly in relation to Caroline's treatment.  It's absolutely gut-wrenching to hear what she's about to endure.  The side effects of her forthcoming treatment are: mouth sores, mucositis (potentially through her entire GI tract), high fever, infection, liver and kidney issues, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, etc.  High-dose chemotherapy is similar to other 5 rounds of chemo she's had, only extremely amplified (hence the name and more extreme side effects).  We will post more info on Caroline's exact schedule later in the week, but as of now, she is scheduled to start the process on Monday, May 14th.     

Caroline's appointments today included:

• Kidney function testing, which included a radioactive injection, as well as 5 separate blood draws/tests, to ensure Caroline’s liver will be able to tolerate the high-dose chemo, and to what degree
• 2 urine tests 
• RVP Nasal Swab (test came back negative for viruses - yay!)
• EKG
• Echocardiogram
• Hearing Test (one of the many side effects of the chemo she's received is hearing loss...as of her check-up today, she does not have any hearing loss - another YAY!)
• Weekly Hickman line dressing change, including daily line flush

MORE Appointments this week:

Wednesday: 

- Liquid radioactive injection of MIBG for the MIBG Scan (requires 3 days of drops prior to protect Caroline's thyroid)

Thursday: 

- MIBG Scan (will tell us if/where/how much of her cancer remains)

- Bone Marrow Biopsy (at last check, her bone marrow was comprised of approximately 25% cancer cells...we are hoping for zero!)

***We will not know the results of either the scan or the biopsy for at least 24-48 hours***

Friday:

- Final appointment with the transplant team prior to admission on Monday

Please keep those prayers coming!  What we're about to face sounds like hell-on-earth, and so far, your thoughts, prayers, love, and support have gotten us through. 

Thank you, thank you!

The Lantz Family

#carolinestrong

#ftgf 

Early morning hospital visits require donuts!

Radioactive injection for kidney function test.

Dressing change (done weekly) and central line flush (done daily).

We were able to meet soldiers at lunch and thank them for their service!

EKG

Echocardiogram

Nurse Kate will be away during our extended stay - we will miss her - glad to get in some hugs!

Hearing Test!