Moving Forward

Maddy did very well today.  She had her catheter removed and a picc line put in her arm.  She continued to get antibiotics today and she will start chemo tomorrow.  The hope is that she can come home by Friday or Saturday-  depends on how she handles the chemo (this is the one her body really doesn't like).      The picc line can stay in 5-6 weeks.  The doctors will plan around her treatments to remove her picc line and replace the catheter.  Maddy says it feels weird not to have the cords hanging from her chest-  they had become such a part of her.

 

On another note, as you may have heard through recent national news stories, there is currently a significant shortage of the chemotherapy medication preservative-free methotrexate in the United States. This drug is critical to the treatment of children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Unless production of preservative-free methotrexate increases, hospitals will run out of the medication completely in the days and weeks ahead.  (This is the next chemo Maddy is due to receive in a couple of weeks!)

YOU CAN HELP IN TWO WAYS

Contact the following pharmaceutical companies who produce methotrexate and ask them to:

Prioritize the production of the preservative-free form of methotrexate. 

Consider working with the FDA to import preservative-free methotrexate if sources are available. 

APP Customer Service

1-888-386-1300

Hospira, Inc. Customer Service

1-877-946-7747

Mylan Institutional

1-888-258-4199

Sandoz Customer Service

1-609-627-8500

Second, contact your Representatives and Senators on Capitol Hill and ask them to immediately send a letter to these same pharmaceutical companies requesting that they:

Prioritize the production of the preservative-free form of methotrexate. 

Consider working with the FDA to import preservative-free methotrexate if sources are available. 

To send a letter to your representatives, go to the following web-site and click on "Action Items":
http://www.kintera.org/c.8hKOI3MFIjI2E/b.6440521/k.82B3/Action_Items/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=8hKOI3MFIjI2E&b=6440521&aid=517204