Hi all people! I simply cannot consider that we are on the cusp of Labor Day and summer coming to a near. The very last five to six months have been a full blur and this summer season, in unique, has flown by. There is been hospitals (chemo, stem mobile harvest, surgical treatment), clinic appointments, and driving back again and forth to New York.

But, a person foot in front of the other and a single working day at a time, we are grateful to be heading into a new year with a strong boy and hearts entire of hope.

Dominic experienced a occupied first number of weeks of August…

🔍 Initial, he had a new set of scans (MRI + MIBG) as well as one more bone marrow biopsy. The scans nevertheless display disorder all over his bones but most of the places are “dimmer” than prior to, and the bone marrow involvement lowered by over 50%.

So, there is still get the job done to do, but there is an improvement. And! Dominic did both equally of the scans without anesthesia (he has been sedated previously due to the fact you have to lay entirely nonetheless and the MIBG is more than 2 hours). He’s a rock star.

🏥 Up coming, he had his initial round of immunotherapy. The antibody he’s given targets the protein of neuroblastoma cells and given that they commonly sit on nerve cells, there is significant nerve pain accompanying the therapy. The infusion is brief (45 minutes) but intense.

There is a large amount of pre-treatment and soreness administration all through and soon after, and he would mainly snooze the complete relaxation of the day afterward. But, the treatment plans are outpatient so no healthcare facility stays, and they really don’t effect counts like chemotherapy, so no neutropenia or blood or platelet transfusions.

🦸‍♂️ Then, he crossed off a further significant hurdle… radiation. He did this awake with no anesthesia as well… two times a day for 5 days, he was strapped down using a particular mask that was molded to his head and higher system to keep his head and neck in the actual exact same place each and every time (his clavicle was radiated thanks to the cluster of diseased lymph nodes that have been there, as effectively as the tumor bed in his stomach). An amazing woman who functions there has the young ones decide on what they want their masks to be and then personalized paints them… Dominic chose Iron Gentleman. There are some exceptionally exclusive people in this planet.

He could also decide on whichever songs he preferred to be piped in each individual time and chose Christmas audio each working day 💕🌲 He fully rocked it and the people today working there have been unquestionably phenomenal.

➡️ Next… we get to be household for a couple of months, then it’s again to NY for a further round of immunotherapy, a new set of scans, and one more bone marrow biopsy. 

📘 In the meantime, he started kindergarten this week! He’ll be joining class virtually right until his oncologist gives him the go-forward to show up at in man or woman, which we’re hoping will be late September.

💈 His eyebrows, eyelashes, AND hair have all begun escalating back again! He’s had a ton of power, has obtained back again all of the excess weight he missing immediately after surgical treatment and that last round of chemo and is otherwise accomplishing truly, really nicely.

❤️ Thank you all for your ongoing prayers, it suggests so considerably to our family members.


In other news, I am scheduling to get some emails scheduled out heading into the slide and holiday getaway season to refresh some web-site material. So, you can search ahead to me popping into your inbox far more consistently in the coming months 🎉

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