about CaringBridge  |  home page  |  view guestbook  |  view photos  |  read journal history  |  make a tribute donation
 
 

Isabella's Inspiration

Hi, my name is Isabella and I am 2 years old. I found out on November 8th that I have stage 3, intermediate risk Neuroblastoma. Here is some information on "NB" : Neuroblastoma is the most common tumor in infants younger than 1 year of age and a common solid tumor of childhood. Most children are diagnosed by age 2 and more than 70 percent have widespread disease at the time of diagnosis. Neuroblastoma tumors originate from neural crest cells (called neuroblasts) in the sympathetic nervous system (nerve tissues), which runs from the base of the neck to the tailbone. Tumors can appear anywhere along this chain, but are most commonly found in the chest or near the adrenal glands, which are located on top of the kidneys.

Isabella was diagnosed with neuroblastoma on November 8, 2004. When she was 18 months old. On November 9, 2004 she underwent surgery to biopsy the tumor, aspirate bone marrow from both of her hips and to place a central line in her chest. Within one week of her diagnosis she began chemotherapy treatments. Isabella received four rounds of chemotherapy every 21 days. On February 11, 2005, she had a MRI that showed the tumor had only shrunk about .04 cm and surgery was not an option at the time. We have been continuing on with our chemotherapy and we just had our 7th round March 28th, 29th, and 30th. She was hit with an infection on April 2nd and was in the hospital till April 15th. they thought the infection was in the actual line in her broviac, so they removed it, but bacteria still showed up in their blood tests. When they sent us home, Isabella was put on antibiotics that must be given through her IV port in her arm every 6 hours. We ended up giving her the antibiotics for a while and her infection came back yet again. So instead of prolonging her last chemo treatment the doctors decided to see if her tumor had shrunk enough to be removed. She had a MRI that showed it had shrunk a lot but the surgeon felt he could remove it. On May 2nd 2005 Isabella had surgery to remove her tumor. She was in the surgery for 6 hours (when the surgeon tols us 3) but she came out of it okay and we spent 3 days in ICU and another day in the regular oncology wing before we were sent home. Isabella has been cancer free since! For a full background, feel free to read the journal history.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our site, please don't forget to sign the guest book.

Journal

Tuesday, January 9, 2007 10:56 PM CST

I know I meant to do this A LOOOOONG time ago... and when I spent about 30 minutes on my post to have it forever erased by a stupid processing error, I just gave up and never came back to post anything.

Well, I wanted to let you all know that I have created a Blog site that I update usually daily instead of, well... never on this site. =)

So here is the link to our blog : http://isabellaroseugarte.blogspot.com/

Stop by and read what's been going on and you'll see A LOT more updates and pictures on that site. And when you stop by, please remember to leave comments so I know you have been by. =)

Happy 2007!

Read Journal History

Sign and view the guestbook
Sign and View Guestbook

View personal photos

View Photos

Hospital Information:

Patient Room: HOME!!!

Banner Desert Medical Center
1400 S. Dobson Rd
Mesa, AZ 85202
480-855-0680

Links:

http://www.lunchforlife.org/   proceeds benefit the childrens neuroblastoma foundation
http://www.cncf-childcancer.org   childrens neuroblastoma cancer foundation
http://www.candlelighters.org   Childrens Cancer


 
 

E-mail Author: michelleugarte@gmail.com

 
 

  Celebrate someone you love with a Tribute Gift to CaringBridge

Your gift will help millions of people stay connected with friends and loved ones during challenging times.


 

This page has been viewed 21052 times.

 

Note: The foregoing information was authored by the patient, parent or guardian, or other parties who are solely responsible for the content. Such announcements or their content are not necessarily endorsed by CaringBridge, Inc. or any sponsoring agent.  This information does not confirm that anyone is or was actually a patient at any facility.
 
 
Copyright Policy  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Use  |  Donate |  How to Help |  Contact Us  |  FAQs
Copyright © 1997-2005 CaringBridge, a nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
 
Visit the Onvoy website