Decision on Treatment

We’ve decided to go with a Clinical Trial chemotherapy treatment plan. We had a choice between that, and the “Standard” treatment plan. With the Clinical Trial (they call it “Protocol”), Ethan is randomly assigned to receive either a high-dose, or a low-dose of one of the chemo drugs (ara-C) in the first month. If we went with the standard treatment plan, he would receive a low-dose of this drug. This is a Clnical Trial conducted between Dana Farber and St. Judes. (Dana Farber works in conjunction with/partners with Childrens’). Studies are still inconclusive as to what works better – the high-dose, or the low-dose, in the first round of chemotherapy. While there are a couple other differences between the Protocol and Standard therapy, we’ll get into those at a later date.

We found this afternoon that he was randomly assigned to the high-dose. He received his first dose of ara-C from 5-8pm.

Ethan had an opthomologist exam today…long term side effects of the chemo drugs can be cataracts, so they do a baseline exam prior to starting treatment.

Aunt Katie came in and kept Ethan and Mommy company all afternoon and evening. Ethan showed her the activity room, and the kitchen. Kate became an expert at everything…It’s a great feeling when I see someone else get comfortable here. In addition, her and Uncle Nick spoiled Ethan with a Nintendo DS Lite handheld game system. He loves playing Spiderman 2 and Star Wars Legos on it. Thanks guys!!!