Activities for the week of March 27th...

Monday - CT Scan (CAT Scan of the body). This is the procedure we have been waiting for to make the final staging on Chantel's Hodgkins. With the info from this procedure, the Bone Marrow Biopsy to be completed tomorrow and some additional bloodwork, Dr. Savage will be able to firmly diagnose Chantel and determine the timeline of treatment.

Tuesday - CHEMO Round #1. Chantel will be starting her first treatment on ABVD (a nice toxic stew that they dump in you). She will find out later in the week how many of these treatments she will receive based on the results of the staging from Monday. Typically, Hodgkins patients have 6 months of chemo [6 cycles of treatment (2 treatments per cycle for a total of 12 treatments)] and sometimes followed up with radiation. We will know later in the week what the final plan will be.

Tuesday - Bone Marrow Biopsy. Chantel will be undergoing a biopsy on her bone marrow to see if that area has been compromised as well.

Wednesday - hey, its been a rough week so far... take some time with your newborn ;-)

Thursday - Laparoscopy. Dr. Scudamore will be doing a little scouting around in Chantel's abdomen to see if the large mass on her liver is benign or not. This is not too onerous an operation but Chantel's body will be weakened from the chemo, the C-Section, taking care of the baby and her lowered immunity to infection (caused by the chemo on Tuesday).

That will be it for this week. I promise that I will get Chantel to type something... I am beginning to realize that she is the BOSS. I really thought I was in charge for a while ;-)

Marcus Anthony Baggio is alive and kicking...




... well maybe not right at this minute - more like sleepy and subdued!


Born at 11:28am on Wednesday, March 22nd (he was at 37.5 weeks). He weighed in at 6 lbs. and 10oz. He was 20 - 1/4" tall. He has my nose/mouth/chin and Chantel's neck and dimple on his tailbone. He has been quite quiet and is enjoying this one week of breastfeeding. He has a mild case of jaundice and should be coming home from the hospital tomorrow.

Chantel is doing fine. This is the first GREAT NEWS we have had in the past 3 months. The birth (had to be done C-Section because Doctors are concerned that vaginal delivery would put onerous stress on her liver) was simple and easy and she is healing fast. Chantel's milk dropped early and she is breastfeeding until Tuesday when she starts her first round of chemo for the Hodgkins.

Chantel did have a case of PUPPP aggravate her over the last two weeks leading up to the birth but it has subsided. PUPPP happens in 1 out of every 3-400 initial pregnancies (figures that Chantel would find something else to cause her more grief). It is a highly itchy dermatosis. She looked like she had an extreme form of poison oak and was in a pretty aggravated state. It has already calmed down.

Chantel's Caesarian Confirmed

March 22nd @ 11am in BC Woman's Hospital

We are getting closer to the date the 3 Doctors determined that would meet all of their needs, the baby's and Chantel's. We will find out on Monday about the chemo regiman from Dr. Savage as that is the next phase for Chantel. She will likely start on chemo within a few days of the birth depending on how quickly she is healing from the Caesarian.

Caesarian tentative for March 20/21

Chantel spoke with her Obstetrician today and they have scheduled her for the 20th or 21st. We are waiting for final word from the Hospital to confirm that they were able to bump someone else. Marcus' birthday will be either 2 or 3 days before Ava's who is turning 8.

Chantel has been a little more emotional at the thought of all the medical work she needs to go through over the next few weeks: Caesarian, liver biopsy, bone marrow biopsy, and she needs to see the Dentist to do any work prior to chemo.

Chantel's chemo was scheduled for March 22nd but it will now have to be postponed until March 27th at the earliest. Finally after 3 months of waiting, we will begin treating her cancer. Not sure how long she will be undergoing treatment but we will know better once the baby is out as Chantel will go through a series of tests to finalize what stage of Hodgkins she is at.

Chantel will not be able to breastfeed (this upsets her quite a bit) but we are going to buy pasturized expressed mother's milk... I know, bizarre but true. This will be better for the baby.

Chantel is a MYSTERY

Well - it is now official - all Specialists, Doctors, Shamans, Nurses, and Parking Attendants all agree with me - Chantel is a MYSTERY.

No one knows what is going on inside there - so, we are pulling the baby out during the week of March 13th (we will know a date by the end of the week). The baby will be at 37 weeks and full-term so there should be few complications. Chantel will have the baby Caesarian (no, not because we are fond of Latin names) to mitigate any risk from the liver and ensure that she is as strong as possible for the chemo. We are hoping that she will be able to breastfeed for a couple of days prior to the chemo starting.