5 Years Out

Sarah, Charity, Krista, Anne <3
They've been part of our team since Month 2 (May 2014).

5-years off treatment check-up in Vic today. Postponed from June because the Dr. was sick. Sure is nice to delay an oncology appointment by 3 months with no worries. The ladies spent a long time marvelling at how tall and grown up he is. We are Ever. So. Grateful. Even JUST ONE kid with cancer is TOO MANY kids with cancer.

June 11th was officially 5 years off-chemo!

I can think of no better way to celebrate F. I. V. E. years off chemo than the day we had today. We had a surprise visit from friends who we met along the way - knowing their boy is no longer with them earthside makes our gratitude ever so much deeper. W fam - we love you and we miss your boy and we think of him often. JZ spent the day with his ball team and their families - pool party, wiffle ball game, man-tracker game, and just sharing space together. We are ever so grateful to have reached this really significant milestone in the life of a childhood cancer patient that is officially called “long-term, event free survival” or something like that.

thirty eight.

When Jaxon finished treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on June 11, 2017 - he had been on chemo for 38 months (3.17 years, 165.47 weeks, 1158 days). 

As of 6:00 this evening, he has been off chemo (and the wretched steroids) for as long as he was on! This feels like a really big deal. 

He's been off treatment for just over 3 years.

His most recent check-up in June happened virtually due to Covid-19, and his blood counts were perfectly within normal range. That was the last of his quarterly check-ups. Next one is in December. He'll have check-ups every six months until June 2022, which will take us to 5 years off treatment which is a REALLY big deal in the childhood cancer experience. From there he'll have check-ups once a year until he's old enough to make his own medical decisions. 

We are grateful.

hello?

Hi.

I thought I couldn't access my blog anymore for some reason,
but it seems that I can!

All is well 2.5 years after completing treatment.

Dr. Ewa told me on Tuesday that it's probably time for me to stop keeping track of Jaxon's bloodwork results. They've been normal and "in the black" with no caution flags for ... a long time.

We'll see. I do like to track his height and weight. He's perfectly within the 50th percentile for his age group and thriving at school and his new passion - hockey!

I'm hoping to finish up a few posts that have been sitting in my "drafts" folder for a long time, especially as there is some exciting news to share as a result of the study Jaxon was on for his treatment ... and some other progressive steps in the treatment of his diagnosis - Standard Risk Pre-B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Next quarterly appointments are March and June 2020.

Then he'll move to biannual visits in December 2020, June 2021, December 2021, June 2022.

Then annual from June 2023 until he's old enough to make his own medical decisions.

More to come.

While you wait, I encourage you to find somewhere to donate blood!

www.blood.ca

Please leave a comment so I know you're reading. :)