"Off Treatment"

A good friend of ours, who shall remain nameless, recently injured himself rather dramatically while sabering a champagne bottle at a bachelor party weekend which Brian attended. This gave me pause to think about the danger of popping corks too enthusiastically.

However, we are celebrating Millie, and we have reached a milestone. Fourteen cycles of chemo have been completed. Millie is feeling strong, healthy, and ready to start school.

Millie left the hospital on Friday, the 6th of August, perky and ready to pick up her brother for a celebratory lunch at...you guessed it, Hiro's Japanese Restaurant. The two sat close together, giggling and playing all through lunch as I ordered a glass of wine and contemplated our journey. So much is in front of us, filled with opportunity and hope.

When we returned home we found the room had been completely filled with balloons by our dear friend Tricia- Millie and Griffin were shouting with surprise and joy.

By Tuesday we were back at Oakland in the Oncology Clinic for a transfusion. Millie was content to stay in the clinic all day watching movies, knowing that this should be the very last time she needs blood. The following Sunday she had her last injection of GCSF (the daily shot she gets in-between chemo visits).

Her mood has remained upbeat, and her brother and she have become inseparable. Her counts have dipped a couple of times as her body struggles to make blood on its own- but she has shown no fever or lethargy that would warrant another trip to the hospital.

We are considered "off treatment" now. We'll have a meeting with the oncology team next week about what this all means, but as we understand we will have scans every 3 months for the next year, moving to every 6 months until she is showing as no recurrence for 2 years after treatment. (One of the complexities of Ewings Sarcoma is the pesky frequency of relapse in the first 2 years.)

Today we spent the day at Kaiser in Santa Rosa having scans done - I will post about that as soon as I hear about the results.

Cancer is still a part of our every day existence, but we remain strong and confident as we watch Millie thrive. We are grateful for the continued love, support, and reminders from our friends, community (virtual and local), and family as we enter the next stage.