Camille & AJ in Oregon, July 2012
First, it’s been awhile since we updated AJ’s blog. Really the last 11 months have gone incredibly well, and with us no news is usually good news.
Second, we are getting very close to being done with AJ’s treatment. Last week he had his last spinal tap and his last bone marrow aspiration. Cytology results showed no abnormalities and no sign of leukemia returning. We expected these results, but it was still a relief to get confirmation. He has been cancer-free for 3 years now.
His last IV chemo appointment will be August 6. He will continue to take daily oral chemo through the end of August. He will have surgery to get his port-o-cath removed at the end of August, just before he starts the new school year.
We will continue to have monthly blood checks and doctor appointments for at least the first year OT (off treatment). The risk of relapse is small, but if it were to happen, it would most likely be within that first year. So, he does need to be monitored closely. Sometime after the first year, we will move to quarterly check-ups.
We also need to monitor for long-term side effects of treatment. AJ will have an echocardiogram and an EKG once he finishes treatment, and the results will be compared to the baselines taken when we first started treatment. We will learn more about the long-term side effects at our next appointment. One of the most common is learning disabilities. Thankfully AJ has not shown any signs of this, and we hope that he never does.
Some of the milestones since we last updated:
- AJ completed first grade, and he continues to excel in school. He enjoys the Spanish immersion school and is speaking Spanish fluently.
- AJ participated in soccer, baseball and swimming. We always knew he loved soccer, but baseball was a surprise. He thoroughly enjoyed it. He now wants to start taking tennis lessons.
- We took family vacations to San Diego (SeaWorld), Disneyland, Palm Desert and Oregon. We skipped Hawaii this year, but have already booked for next year!
- Unfortunately we spent spring break at the hospital, as AJ came down with the flu. It really knocked him down, and he ended up missing two weeks of school even after he was released since we had to wait for his blood counts to recover. This was probably the lowlight since our last update – not too bad, as it could have been much worse.
- We lost our beloved dog Lucy at the beginning of the year. She was older, but still had so much life in her, so it was hard on all of us. In May, we decided to get a new dog – a little (now big) black boxer puppy named Indiana Jones. We call her Indie for short. Wow, she has been a lot of work but totally worth it. The kids absolutely adore her.
- AJ lost his front tooth a few months ago, which suddenly makes him look older.
- Speaking of being older, AJ continues to grow and gain weight at a healthy pace despite all the medication. This is great. We are told that he will likely see a growth spurt the first year he is off treatment.
We have signed up for a Make-a-Wish experience for AJ. His wants to meet the Kratt brothers (from the Wild Kratts PBS Kids show), so we could be making a trip to Canada in the coming months.
While this blog is mostly about AJ and his journey to beat leukemia, we can’t leave out Camille. She continues to be a firecracker. She attended “flower fairy camp” last week… ballet, Irish dance, art and music inspired by flowers and fairies. Um, yes, it was heaven for her.
Overall we are all doing well, and we couldn’t be happier that we are almost done with this chapter in our lives. It will never really be over, but we can at least start to move on and put it behind us. Please continue to keep AJ in your thoughts and prayers as we move to this next phase in our journey.
AJ with soccer trophy, Fall 2011
Fun with cousins, Summer 2012
Indie
AJ and cousin Rowan, Summer 2012
Bouncing with cousins, Summer 2012
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