So begins the maintenance phase

Yesterday (Monday, August 27th) marked the beginning of the 'maintenance phase.' This means that instead of going to Rochester once a week or every other day as we were over the summer, Sawyer will only have to go once a month. While this is good news, he still has a long road to hoe. After we arrived at the clinic yesterday there was a slight delay due to the need to take blood levels, which turned out to be fine. He received chemo in his spine (lumbar puncture) and in an IV drip. Right now he doesn't feel great, but doesn't feel horrible either. 

He doesn't have to go back for the more intensive chemo for four weeks, but he does have to take a huge number of oral meds at home. This includes a daily dose of chemo called 6MP and a weekly dose of methotrexate.  The methotrexate will be taken in the form of fourteen (14) taken at one time (granted they're small pills, but it still makes for a small handful!). In addition, for one week each month he will take prednisone and a protonix. The latter helps lessen the nausea cased by the prednisone. So, even though he doesn't have to go back to Rochester for a month, he is still tethered to a rigid medical regime and it will be some time before he starts to feel like himself again.