Final Decision on Lovenox

On Wednesday evening, we got a call from Abbey's oncologist to discuss what the doctors had decided to do with Abbey's shots.  When we talked to the nurse practitioner, we knew what she said wasn't written in stone, but we felt pretty good about how much better the clot was and didn't think the plan that she said would change all that much.  

Dr. B explained that they weren't sure if what they are now seeing in the area that the clot was is just a little extra that hasn't gone away yet, or if it is scar tissue from the clot being there.  He said over time, both of those will go away, but not on their own.  They aren't concerned about what they are seeing, but want to be very conservative in the treatment to get rid of whatever is still there so this clot never is an issue again.  

He explained that cells can get caught on this area and can form another clot if this doesn't completely get taken care of now.  So, they have decided that they want us to continue the shots for three more months to be sure that there is no sign of this clot ever being there.  As he heard my disappointment on the phone, he promised me that in a couple years, we will be really glad that we did these three extra months because it should never be an issue again.  He said that if this clot was in her arm or leg, they most likely wouldn't be as conservative and cautious in the treatment of it, but since it's in her brain they don't want to take any chances.

Abbey has been getting 15 mg two times a day for three months.  He did cut the dose in half (to 7.5 mg), but she still needs to get two shots a day since each shot only thins her blood for 12 hours.  

So, Wednesday was a hard day as our hopes for being completely done with this shot are gone.  I have a chart that I made to write down where and what time she gets each shot so I can keep track of the location on her little body.  I rotate from her arms to her legs and I try not to do two shots in a row in the same location so each area can get a little break.  She has little bruises on all four shot sites and at times her skin just looks irritated and sore.  Last week when we went for her MRI I stopped with Monday on my chart, feeling so confident that we were going to be completely done with them.  So, it's hard to have to continue this chart for three more months.

When we sat down with Abbey and explained what the doctors told us she just calmly said "o.k." and went back to playing without ever getting even a little upset or complaining about it.  Not a day goes by that she doesn't help me to handle this all.  She just accepts each step of this process with such ease.  She never complains about her many medicines and has accepted these shots so much more these last couple weeks.  I really can see that God was preparing us in accepting these three months before us by Abbey getting so much more accepting of the shots these last couple weeks.  I can't tell you how proud we are of her and how her sweet spirit and trust in us encourages our hearts so much.  

So thank you for walking through this week with us.  Although the results and treatment plan from here on out with the shots wasn't what we were hoping for, we are at peace with what we need to do.  We will do anything to get this girl better so we continue to trust in our doctors and ultimately trust in our Lord.  We feel blessed everyday to be where we are and to see how far we have come.