3 years down

Picture#1 CJ on his 7th birthday
Picture#2 100 day project, with 100 Popsicle sticks

Posted by Mommy

Well it is that time of year again, CJ’s anniversary of his diagnoses. Monday it will be 3 years we have been in treatment. I say we because CJ might have had to taken the medicines but it has changed the entire family’s life. We went to the doctor this past Tuesday and came back with good news and a little reality check also.

First the good news, we thought CJ had 3 more treatments left after this last one, but he only has two. YEAH!!! He will have a spinal tap next month, (his last one). Then at the end of April he will have his final chemo treatment. He will then be on his chemo pills for a couple more weeks after that. He goes back at the end of May and his port will be accessed to drawl blood for every test known to man. As long as those come back good he will have surgery to remove his port in June. Also his ANC this last month was 1700 and holding steady. He has been very steady for a long time, which is good.

Now for the reality check, after chemo ends that does not end everything. We don’t just go back to how things were before he ever got sick and try to forget the last 3 years like it was a bad dream. The hardest is finished but we haven’t reached the finish line just yet. After CJ ends treatment we still have most of our precautions that have kept CJ out of the hospital for the last three years. It takes 6 months for his immune system to recover from the chemo. So the big plans of spending the summer at the lake will have to wait until next summer. Relapse is still possible and we can't let down our guard just yet. He will still go to the doctor every four weeks for blood tests and check ups for the next year. Then after that the appointments start to get further apart, but we will have five years of observation before he is considered cancer free. Each year of observation the chances of relapse are less and less.

One a personal note, since my last post CJ has turned 7 year old. He is still the tallest kid in his class, and seems to grow in front of my eyes. He is getting ready to start baseball this month and is in the next league up, instead of t-ball. He is also making A honor roll in school. As I looked through the pictures posted from the beginning of treatment CJ doesn’t even look like the same kid. He has grown and matured so much in these last 3 years it is hard to believe. He is such a great, brave strong kid, and a hero in our hearts.