Emily got her tonsils out on Monday and went home the next morning. She's getting caught up on all her coloring and enjoying the popsicles.
Feb 13, 2006
We had a checkup today at Vanderbilt. Her last set of scans were all clear, we can drop the bone scans from the next set and only do a CT and MRI later this year. We don't have to go back for 6 months unless she becomes symptomatic. It was nice to see Dr. Whitlock and his staff in their new offices at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. Emily was excited to have her blood drawn and wanted to watch - that is how demented she is being the child of a Nurse mom and Paramedic dad. We stopped on the way home and had our Valentine's dinner with the kids which is just fine with us.
Emily and Sadie
April 27, 2006
Summer is almost here. April 27, 2006
Beach Trip
We went to the beach this summer and had a great time with our friends who went with us. We rented a big house with a pool and had 6 bedrooms for 14 of us.
January 2008
We continue to see Dr. Whitlock at Vanderbit Children's Hospital every six months for a checkup. We have dropped the CT from our checkups due to the radiation. We continue to get a yearly MRI. Emily's January MRI was clear. She continues to grow, is one of the tallest in her class and is enjoying school. For show and tell this week she wanted to take her MRI films.
If you are newly diagnosed, be sure to visit Don Johnson's information at Tips for Parents.
August 2009
Sorry for the long delay in updates. Today marked the 5 year anniversary of our last chemo at Vanderbilt and Emily is doing great. No residual effects from the chemo, no neuro-muscular or cognitive deficiencies. She makes all A's and is anxiously awaiting school to start. Thank you all for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. Emily had a good checkup today. Nothing of concern, come back in a year - no more MRI's or CTs. It is hard to believe it has been 5 years since chemo. Walking through clinic today brings back a flurry of emotion, a dozen kids sitting around in large recliners, watching cartoons, IV pumps dripping chemo into their bodies, some small, some frail, but all strong. Hopeful but anxious parents sit nearby, wondering what their future holds. There, but for the grace of God, go we. We are so blessed, from the caring doctors and nurses to the researchers working late nights on the next therapeutic agent to the friends and family who have been with us over the years to our visits. God is good, all the time. I pray that our experience gives some young mother a little more hope, some grandfather a little more peace, some scientist on a late night a little more motivation, and all of us a little more understanding of what's really important.
As we approach our 10-year mark of diagnosis and Emily starts eighth grade we continue to be blessed and amazed by God's grace and mercy keeping us LCH-free and no lasting effects from the chemo. An All-A student-athlete, Emily is enjoying being a middle school cheerleader.
Finding a Cure Video
Watch this video that our friends at HAA put together about LCH. Dr. James Whitlock is one of those featured. Emily appears at 2:20 and 4:17 in the video.
