13/09/2026
Has cancer touched your life?
It hit ours hard in 2022, as part of Childhood Awareness Month I've been sharing part of how we travelled.
Our son is doing well and kicking goals!
This was October 2022!!
Today has provided highs and lows. High we spent time together laying on the bed in the rain. Low nausea has kicked in and Lachlan can't even watch YouTube, to many food ads.
There is so much you don't know when you start out as a cancer family. I don't know about you but I always thought Chemotherapy was the meds and that was it. What I've learnt is that Chemo is a collective name for the regime of meds used for treating cancer. There are differing doses, differing delivery, differing roles, differing side effects, differing protocols for administering, differing length of time being used.
Taking this opportunity to share some of what we have learnt and treatment for this phase of treatment which repeated over a duration of 78 days:
Nelarabine - IV over 60mins for 5 days in a row twice in 78 days , attending 5C having port accessed.
Intrathecal Methotrexate - via the lumbar puncture, Lachlan now has a local anesthetic which means he avoids a general anesthetic 4 times over the 78 days
Cyclophosphamide - IV - but you have to hydrate 3hrs before and 3hrs after. Twice in 78 days.
Cytarabine - SubQ (into his leg) administered by me for 4 days, with 4 cycles over the 78 days.
Mercaptopurine - oral tablet, 14 days with 2 cycles in the 78 days.
VinCRIStine - IV visit to 5C repeated 4 times over the 78 days.
Pegaspargase - Not anymore for us, this is the one that Lachlan can no longer have as his body has developed antibodies to it. It would have been an IV over 2 hrs. We change to a different aspargase that is administered by IV in 5C over 7 days with 48hrs between doses.
It is completely overwhelming and I don't expect you to understand but I think it's important that you understand Chemotherapy is a set of meds not a single cure.
Due to the risks of infection he is also on a constant supply of anti fungal and antibiotics to reduce the risk. If he happens to get a fever then we are into hospital straight away!!
