Sam’s last dose of chemo for this induction phase is tonight. Then the plan is to let his “numbers” recover: 

• White Blood Cell count of 1800 (he’s at 300 now)
• Neutrophil above 300 (didn’t see a neutrophil count)
• Platelets above 75 (was at 35 today)

That will probably take 7-10 days, maybe longer. Then he will have another bone marrow aspirate and lumbar puncture and we will proceed into the next phase of his treatment called “consolidation.”

Sam continues to be in good spirits. Having friends visit has been the best — will have to figure that out once school starts for everyone next week (Sam won’t be going to his high school for classes for awhile. He will continue to be enrolled there and take 2 classes through their independent study program, 2 classes through an outside teaching and learning provider, and 1 class (Chinese AP) as a collaboration between his high school AP teacher and his outside tutor.  We are supporting him with options that he wants to pursue in his efforts to maintain as “normal” a junior year as he can, without overloading himself (and recognizing there is a lot of uncertainty ahead w/r/t how he will feel day to day.  And the fact that only 400 teens nationwide have to go through this type of 3 year treatment plan means he is a trailblazer — and he is helping both his high school and Lucille Packard understand what it means to be a high achieving teen with B Cell ALL). 

#TeamSam