Thinking about a year ago...

A year ago this week, our family's lives changed forever.

Even though we are doing great right now, it's tough to think back to what we have been through. It is also difficult to feel like the burden will ever truly be lifted.

We are so thankful for our wonderfully special son and his spirit through all of what he has had to put up with. We are continually thankful for everyone out there that lent their support, sent their thoughts and prayers (and numerous baked goods!), and continue to think good thoughts and ask about Dante. This past year has brought us closer to friends and family and made us reevaluate priorities in our lives.

(This is Dante eating "zeroes" - Uncle Tommy's onion rings! He had never seen them before and asked to have a zero.)

We were told at his 6 month "all clear" point that we could have his mediport removed. We decided that we were feeling a little superstitious and will wait until the 9 month "all clear" before having that surgery. We are scheduled for that CT scan in mid-September.

Dante had his first completely normal CBC at his July oncology visit. His hemoglobin took a long time to recover. We had several tests run to make sure it wasn't something else, but they all came back negative(which is positive). The ANC from August was down a bit to 2900, which is the lowest it has been since February, but it is still within the normal range.

At the last oncology appointment, when asked about late effects of chemo, Dr. Barbosa said that because of the Etoposide (one of the chemo drugs) Dante has an increased risk of a secondary malignancy. Not that his tumors might recur, but that he might get another form of cancer, like leukemia. We knew all along that there are risks to chemo, and the laundry list of side effects from the Cisplatin is testament, but we wouldn't have done anything differently - couldn't, really, since there isn't any other protocol for Germ Cell Tumor; But man, that's hard to hear. You just want them to say, "You're done! He's cured! You shouldn't ever have to worry about cancer again!" I don't think those phrases exist, but it sure would be nice to hear them.


I also wanted to thank all of you that are still checking in on us here and following our story. This blog has been cathartic for us to share our experience and be able to stay in touch with people when we just didn't have the time to talk. I know that the posts have been fewer lately, but we are still recovering from vacation and I am back at work for another school year.