Elias finished round 13 of the 3F8 antibodies. This is it. He can't get any more, according to the protocol. As of now, he is off treatment entirely. He will need to do quarterly scans for at least the next year, and he has to see the specialists in the Late Effects clinic sometime in the late summer.
Of course, he couldn't end treatment on a smooth note. Late Friday evening, MSKCC called with the news that Elias had been exposed to chicken pox that day. For those of you who aren't in the pediatric cancer world, you probably have no idea of the kind of chaos that is caused by a chicken pox case. It is highly contagious, and can be lethal to immunosuppressed kids. When a case occurs, they have to isolate all kids who have been exposed. Kids who are inpatient have to be moved to the adult floors, and kids who are outpatient are excluded from the pediatric clinic, and if they are staying at RMH, they are tossed out.
Well, Elias isn't due back in clinic until late July, so we didn't have to worry about trying to get treatment on an adult floor. But, the doctor on the phone insisted, he really needed to come in for a 3 hour IV infusion of immuglobulin, to prevent him from coming down with chicken pox. Now, Elias is really difficult to get an IV into, and the nurse this week had commented that he has absolutely no veins left. And he is terrified of IVs. Since we didn't think his risk from chicken pox, 2 years post chemo, is very high, we were not thrilled about having to haul him into Urgent Care at MSKCC to have an IV placed.
So we dithered about what to do, and I asked some of the other neuroblastoma parents on the neuroblastoma mailing list. They told me that there is a better alternative, called VZIG, which he could get as a simple shot. But the manufacturer has quit making it, and MSKCC couldn't get any. We called our pediatric practice here in Westchester, which is affiliated with Westchester Medical Center. The pediatrician checked, and discovered that the Medical Center had one dose left. So Tom and Elias went tearing off yesterday afternoon to get that last dose of VZIG. And then straight on to a friends birthday party. It was a busy day for Elias.
OMG. OMG. Chicken pox. The last dose of VZIG. Leave it to Bonnie to find the last dose. The power of mailing lists. The power of the Internet which made mailing lists possible. I'd offer Elias some of my veins but mine are bad. I am glad he is off treatment. Wow!
Posted by: Ant Laurie | June 11, 2006 at 02:15 PM
Congratulations to all of you for getting through all those treatments. Hope the chicken pox stay away!
Posted by: Aunt Christine | June 12, 2006 at 12:35 PM