Spencer Rocket Caserio

December 2009 - Spencer with some of his best friends.

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Welcome to Spencer's web page. He loves all his friends and wants to keep in touch with everybody. He really appreciates that you are here cheering him on. On September 2, 2003, at 2 years, 10 months old, Spencer was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). This is a somewhat rare and aggressive form of childhood leukemia. At Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford he was put on an intense chemotherapy and radiation therapy protocol (POG 9404) that was to last 2+ years. Spencer quickly went into remission during a six week "induction" chemotherapy phase and we were 4 1/2 months into the 6 month "consolidation" chemotherapy, about to start radiation, when Spencer had an isolated relapse in his central nervous system on Feb 26, 2004.

This relapse forced us to abandon our old protocol and begin preparation for a transplant of some kind. His disease has shown that it has some resistance to the chemotherapy so a radically different approach was necessary. After a difficult struggle to get the leukemia back into remission at Stanford, we jumped ship the day we got out of the hospital and headed across the country. On May 5, 2004 Spencer received an Unrelated Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant at Duke University Medical Center. Spencer's transplant doctor is Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg who pioneered cord blood transplants in the United States. A transplant is the most extreme form of cancer treatment available but Spencer responded extremely well, engrafting quickly and with very few complications. We spent 7 months in North Carolina in 2004, returning home to Cambria just in time for Halloween. We have returned several times to Duke for periodic checkups. Spencer has done so well that now, 4 1/2 years after his transplant, he is off all medication (and has been for 2 years) and only returns to Duke once per year for his yearly studies (and will continue to have to for the rest of his life). It’s the least we can do. Spencer is truly a walking miracle.

And you may or may not be listening to Spencer Rocket's Song, music and vocals by Gail Swanson from Maui, Hi. She is one of many great musicians who write songs for the Songs of Love Foundation. Many thanks to them for Spencer's great song.

Also, for more detailed and specific info on Spencer's journey please visit:
spencerrocket.com

Sometimes you just run out of words, so here's a few thousand in these new transplant photos. You'll also find all the archived photos that have appeared on this site in the past.


Spencer and his new passion - taking photos.

Journal

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Happy Cinco de Mayo, and happy re-birthday to Spencer. 6 years post-transplant today...and doing great.

Quicky update as well. As mentioned, Spencer is doing great. We will soon have to start thinking about getting back to North Carolina for Spencer's 6 year studies, but have no plans as of yet. 3rd grade is winding down with only a few weeks left. The last couple weeks has been filled with STAR testing, and quite a bit of time off of school for homeschooling.

The biggest stuff going on has been Spencer's interest and success in photography. He is in 4H photography, recently taking 1st place in the 4H Food and Arts celebration with a fantastic wildflower photo. Another of his photos won a vote to be on the cover of the 2010-11 Cambria phone book, which just came out last week. He is very proud of that and will have a cover photo for an entire year. He does have an eye for photography and enjoys it so much that he wants that to be the theme for his Make-a-Wish that he will be taking advantage of soon.

That's about it. Summer is coming up and I'm sure Spencer will be keeping busy. Thanks for checking in and have a great summer.

Hospital Information:

Patient Room: Home in California

Children's Health Clinic
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC

Links:

E-mail Author: spencer@sideoff.com

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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.