August 29 & 30, 2011 - Monthly St. Jude Check-up

Courtney had a wonderful monthly check-up yesterday.  The melanoma has not spread, and her blood work looked good.  They said her liver enzymes were a bit high, but that was from her peginterferon and it was not anything to worry about.  She continues to have some achiness, fatigue, and some memory problems.  Besides that, she is enjoying her life...doing lots of things with her friends and boyfriend.  We are also waiting patiently for Make-a-Wish to come visit.  She has been approved, but now it takes 4-8 weeks for MAW to visit the house.  She wants to take a Mediterranean Cruise.  MAW told me to look up our favorite cruises and countries that we would like to go.  Next St. Jude appt is in 4 more weeks. 

Peginterferon shots

Courtney has had 6 shots of Peginterferon alpha 2b so far, and is really doing well.  She does get a few side effects with this shot, but they are not as bad as the high dose interferon.  I have read several reports and articles saying that peginterferon takes away your quality of life for the year that we have to take it, but I have to say that it is not effecting Courtney negatively at all.  She does get some achiness, nausea, and maybe a slight memory loss at times... but she leads a regular life and is very happy, upbeat, and extremely positive about kicking this cancer. 

Courtney was approved for Make-a-Wish, and we are waiting on a local representative to contact us.  She is leaning towards a Mediterranean cruise ... Spain, Italy, France.

We go back to St. Jude August 29th for her monthly check-up.  She will go once a month for the next year, then 3 times a month for two years, etc... it is a 10 year protocol.