If you come visit us at the house here (and we would love to have you), you will notice that scattered through our garden, such as it is, are a number of spindly but bright little flowers called periwinkle. Everywhere we have lived in the past twenty years we plant these things. It is kind of a tribute. A tribute to the Madagascar Vinca plant, a type of Periwinkle. Each regimen of chemo that Cammie has been on, including this one, contains Vincristine, the life-giving extract of this spindly but potent plant.
However, there is a significant side-effect.
And over the past three months Cammie sustained enough cumulative nerve damage in her extremities (hands and feet) that they took her off of her chemo—Liposomal Vincristine. The problem was (and this made us nervous) if she were off this trial drug for more than 5 weeks, she would be permanently off the trial with no hope of getting back on. She was off chemo for 4 weeks.
Fortunately, the last time we were down (the last week of December) it was determined enough nerve re-bound had occurred to continue on the chemo. So we are back on the program. And all is well for now.
Would you pray for diminished nerve damage?
And to my eye, Periwinkles are THE most beautiful flower in the world.