Mac got his central line put in this morning and the rest of today is dedicated to recovery and getting ready for tomorrow when the treatment will start. The next two weeks seem the most intense and then just a steady dose of medicine until he's recovered (there may be another intense session in 3 months if he doesn't respond well enough to the first one). The central line was put in so that they can administer IV's and draw blood without having to poke him every time. Mo and I will learn to clean and maintain the line, as well as give injections! Yikes! As I said earlier, we are hoping for as few side effects as possible, as few inpatient episodes, and a sure cure in the end. (With this treatment plan there is always the possibility that it doesn't work, and there is also a chance of relapse. We're not even thinking about that now. We're only thinking positive!)

I'm including Mac's comment from an email he sent last night on what he thinks is going on: "I'm doing fine, but I'm supposed to go in patient tomorrow to start my treatment. It's supposed to make me hairy. (It's horse serum) "

As you can see, parents hear, "this is an intense treatment schedule with various side effects" and what an 11 year old boy hears is "I'm going to be hairy and take horse serum." It pays to be young.