appt today for follow-up on peg-asparaginase injections...

i had to take ryan back to coh today (three appointments total this week!) to have his blood drawn. they are testing his blood for any antibodies that his body may have produced in response to the peg-asparaginase injections that were administered on wednesday. they are concerned because of his recently developed allergy to it. (note- the following is my understanding:) they want to know if ryan's body is producing so many antibodies to fight off the peg-asparaginase as a result of his allergy, that it creates a counter-effect which basically renders the injection null and void. if too many antibodies are fighting it off, then the peg-a won't be able to do its work in fighting off any residual leukemia cells. if the test results come back next week and indicate that the antibodies have created this counter-effect, then his remaining future peg-a  injections will be eliminated from his treatment protocol. ryan only has two more (bilateral) injections left on his protocol, and they are to be administered later this year, in fall. please cross your fingers/pray/think good thoughts that his little body is able to withstand the two remaining (bilateral) injections, because although this drug has serious potential side effects, it is a HIGHLY effective treatment for leukemia. although i HATE knowing that he has to have these painful injections and i HATE having to watch him scream in pain as they are administered, and i HATE the thought that he could have a serious reaction, i realize their important role in his long-term prognosis. so please send your prayers & positive thoughts ryan's way. i'll post an update regarding the test results next week.

one more thing about this-- in an earlier post this week, i mentioned that they had pre-medicated him with benadryl on wednesday and that he didn't have an allergic reaction following the injections. well, what i should have probably written is that there was no VISIBLE allergic reaction. he didn't have any redness at the injection sites, he didn't break out in hives, etc. but even though there were no visible signs of an allergic reaction, it is still possible that his body was creating antibodies to fight off the peg-a...

i really need to get off the computer and go to bed... we are getting up reallllllly early tomorrow to do something really exciting! ryan and i will be driving to long beach to watch hester and support her and her TEAM IN TRAINING teamates as they train for their upcoming triathlon in september!! they are going to do an ocean swim practice and a quick run in the morning. i am so excited and have been looking forward to meeting all the team members for quite some time. i'll make some time tomorrow evening to post about the practice and i'll do my best to get some pictures to share with everyone. in case you haven't been keeping up with our blog and don't know anything about the triathlon, you can click here or directly on the TEAM RYAN link in the upper left corner of this website to visit hester's TEAM RYAN website and learn more about her endeavors to raise money for leukemia research and the leukemia society, in honor of ryan and others who are fighting this disease.

until next time... have a good one!