Crew Buchanan

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UPDATED September 1, 2009

Hi all,

I just received a detailed update on Crew's current treatment; he's doing so well and is such a happy, little guy! After conferring with doctors, Maegan and Jerry decided to take this added precautionary measure.

We can't thank everyone enough for all the prayers that were said on Crew's behalf! He is enjoying life and recently was able to enjoy the surf and sand of Myrtle Beach.

We look forward to the time when hospital visits are just a distant memory!

Thanks again so much...

Betsy Jones

Dear Family & Friends,

Many of you have asked for an update regarding Crew's treatment for liver cancer. At this point in time, he has completed 8 rounds of chemotherapy, 3 weeks of radiation, a stem-cell transplant and several surgeries. He is gaining weight and thriving at home in between hospital visits. His hair has grown in and is getting thicker, and he has his eyelashes and eyebrows back. He is a sweet, patient, happy 15 month old baby, learning new words every day and very close to walking. :) Crew continues to amaze us with how much joy he brings to our lives.

Crew started Antibody therapy in August. He will receive 6 rounds over the next 6 months. Crew is one of 5 pediatric patients at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital receiving the antibody at this time. Antibody therapy is still considered a study and is not FDA approved yet, but has shown such remarkable success in treating Neuroblastoma (nearly a 20% improvement in long-term survival rates) that it is close to becoming standard care.

For those of you interested in the medical side of things, I copied the following information from the Sloan-Kettering website:

Antibody therapy-
A person's immune system makes antibodies to attack germs such as bacteria or viruses, but it will not attack neuroblastoma because the tumor is part of our own bodies. An antibody that attaches to neuroblastoma can be made in a laboratory and then given intravenously to a patient. This antibody will circulate in the bloodstream until it finds and attaches to a neuroblastoma cell. And then the patient's own immune system will attack and kill that neuroblastoma cell.

3F8 is the name of a substance called a monoclonal antibody. It attaches to GD2, which is a marker on the surface of neuroblastoma cells. 3F8 was produced by white blood cells of mice, and it must be carefully prepared for human use. 3F8 is part of our standard treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma and is only available at Memorial Sloan-Kettering.

When 3F8 is injected into the bloodstream, it travels through the body until it attaches to the marker GD2 that is present on all neuroblastoma cells. The attachment of 3F8 to a neuroblastoma cell signals the patient's own immune system (e.g. the white blood cells) to treat neuroblastoma cells as foreign. In other words, the 3F8 directs the patient's immune system, which ordinarily acts only to control infections, to attack neuroblastoma cells and kill them. The treatment is effective even when a patient's immune system has been weakened by chemotherapy treatments because chemotherapy does not affect the part of the immune system that responds to 3F8 antibodies.

Over time, as the body's immune system becomes stronger, 3F8 treatments may help the body learn to fight tumors on its own. When 3F8 is injected into the body, we attach a radioactive isotope called 131-iodine (131I) or 124-iodine (124I). A gamma camera or a PET scanner is then used to scan the patient's body, allowing us to see radioactivity (from the radioactive iodine) in areas with neuroblastoma, but not in parts of the body in which neuroblastoma cells are not present.

Crew is currently receiving several medications:
GMCSF- boosts the immune system to destroy cancer cells.
Isotretinoin(Accutane)- encourages immature neuroblastoma cells to stop dividing or to die.
Acyclovir- an anti-viral medicine.
Levaquin- treats infections

Jerry & I are looking forward to January when his Antibody treatment is officially over and we can get back to normal life. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and thoughts! Please pass this information about Crew on to anyone who has expressed an interest in praying for him and our family for continued healing, favor with the hospital staff and the Lord's protection.

For those who would like to send Crew a card:

Crew Buchanan
8008 Streamside Drive
Mount Juliet, TN 37122

The Buchanan family
Jerry, Maegan, Cade, Crew & baby #3

UPDATED June 8, 2009

Thank you all for your prayers on Crew's behalf! Today (May 26) is his LAST day in the hospital! He had his final chemo treatment...the one we were all concerned about...it was to be pretty strong with bad side effects, including painful sores in his mouth. He was expected to be in the hospital for 4-6 wks because his immune system would basically be nonexistent. After 7 days they put his healthy stem cells back in him that they had previously harvested. The side effects weren't quite as bad as expected, thankfully; and Crew has now been released after 3 weeks! His next two weeks of lab tests etc. will be done as an "out-patient". As you can see, he's a happy little boy.

Previous tests revealed no cancer (they earlier removed an adrenal gland which was the original source of the cancer).

Please send up a huge THANK YOU to our heavenly Father who is the ultimate source of all healing!

Thank you for your continual prayers and requests for updates regarding this special little guy! It's made all the difference!

Betsy (Maegan's aunt)

April 4, 2009

We'd appreciate your continuing prayers for Crew; in two weeks he will begin his final chemotherapy treatment as was originally planned. (He has had cancer in his liver). This was to be the strongest of the treatments; prior to this, he was made comfortable with smaller doses.   He will be in the hospital for 4-6 weeks due to the fact that this treatment will totally erase his immune system, so it's important that he not be exposed to any germs. (Please pray for his safety from germs in the hospital itself!)

They will be replacing stem cells previously harvested from his bone marrow; this is to start new, healthy cell production as I understand it.

The family is expecting this to be the end of their, soon to be 6 month, ordeal. At the end of this hospital stay, Crew will turn 1 yr. old! Hospital life seems to be all he's known so far, so he's got lots of fun to which to look forward!

Please join our family in prayer for this precious, little guy who has been through so much in his young life. His family, as well, needs God's strength and encouragement; it's been quite an ordeal for all. Let's hope he's dismissed after 4 weeks instead of the 6 week possibility.

Thanks so much! (Hope pictures come through below!)

Betsy Jones (UCG member -- her niece is Maegen, the mother of Crew)

My niece, Maegan's, address is:

            Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Buchanan (Cade and Crew)
            8008 Streamside Dr.
            Mt. Juliet, TN 37122

Please pray for all to go well for this special little boy, and please ask for God to strengthen all the family. Since pictures aren't forwarding for some reason, I'll ask my sister to send some out.

Thanks!

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