Jaclyn Petrow

Dear Family and Friends,
I have decided to update our Intro Message in honor of the new chapter we are starting. This past year has been the most difficult and yet rewarding time in our life. When you hear that your child has cancer, there are no words that can come close to the sheer terror that runs through your body. What we never expected to happen did. But, along with the terror came an unbelievable faith and trust in God. We, as a family have been on an amazing journey this past year. Through our terror we learned that we had a faith that was so profound that it could sustain us through the darkest days of our lives. Our faith and love for the Lord is immeasurable. Our gratitude to our family and friends is incredible. We are blessed. We thank each and everyone of you for the prayers that you have been saying for Jaclyn. We know that you will continue to pray for her and for our entire family. Thank you.

Jaclyn’s Medical History

Jaclyn was diagnosed with AML on 10/10/02. She was first diagnosed at Morristown Memorial Hospital and was transferred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on 10/12/02. She spent her first 6 days at CHOP in the PICU (pediatric ICU) and then was sent down to the Oncology Floor. She finished her first round of chemo, achieved remission and went home on 11/18/02 and returned to CHOP on 12/02/02 for her second round of treatment. On December 14th. Jaclyn got a severe infection that attacked her brain. On December 16th, the doctors gave her 7-10 days to live due to this severe infection. We had every single person we knew praying for Jaclyn. On 12/22/02 she got worse and was transferred to PICU, but stabilized after a few days and was transferred back to 3 East ( oncology) on 12/26. Things remained stable and Jaclyn did NOT die but continued to slowly improve. On 1/18/03 Jaclyn went into heart failure and was transferred back up to PICU. She spent 2 weeks there and again was not expected to survive, but surprised everyone and pulled through once again. During that time, Jaclyn had a lung infection and had part of her left lung removed. We almost lost her again during surgery, but God continued to watch over her. She continued to slowly improve enough and on March 1 was transferred to the Seashore House for intensive rehab. On March 3, Jaclyn had what appeared to be a massive stroke and was once again sent to PICU. We prayed throughout the night for the Lord to reach down His healing hands and He did. Four days later, Jaclyn was sent back to 3 East pretty much like nothing had happened. The miracles just kept coming! Jaclyn was then transferred back to rehab and started intensive therapies. We brought her home on April 17th. At this point, she couldn’t walk, she had lost her hearing and most of her vision. But, Jaclyn was determined to get her life back. She started taking steps in September of 03. She returned to CHOP for her 3rd and final round of chemo in October and was able to WALK onto the Oncology Floor. Our miracle. Jaclyn continues to amaze everyone. She received a cochlear implant in May and graduated with her 8th Grade class in June, getting straight A’s! Jaclyn is now a senior in high school, received a second cochlear implant in December of 2005 and looking at colleges! We know that God has wonderful plans for her. Please don’t let a day go by that you don’t pray for our miracle.


Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God

Journal

Monday, May 12, 2008 7:24 AM CDT

Hello Everyone,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACLYN

Well, I know I promised an update by the end of April, but I decided to wait until Jaclyn officially turned 18!!!!! Can you believe it, Jaclyn is 18 today! How blessed we all feel that she is here, healthy and cancer free for her 18th birthday. Truly a miracle.

On to college news… Jaclyn had many great choices, 8 in all and each school was wonderful. But, ultimately she felt one school was the perfect school for her and the winner is… The University of Mary Washington down in Virginia. Yes, I know, I know, it is VERY far away. And quite frankly that is the only thing that I can find wrong with it. Everything else about it is perfect. The campus is probably one of the most beautiful in the US. The people seem kind and caring; academically it is very strong without the stress factor being over the top. Jaclyn feels that this is where she will truly be happy. That is all Don and I ever wanted was for her to be happy and we think she will be here.

So, now it is all the end of the year stuff. Prom is Friday, May 30. Graduation is June 19, and in between we have several awards and scholarship dinners. Jaclyn has been fortunate enough to be the recipient of several awards and scholarships. We are so proud of her and all of the hard work she has done. I will try and post some new pictures as the events take place, but hey, let’s face it; I am not really good about keeping my word on that one:).

Other exciting news here… Jaclyn saw Dr. Jeff in March and the visit went great. Drum roll please… Jaclyn will now move on to the Long Term Survivor Clinic. This is such a milestone and we feel soooooo blessed that she has reached this mark. Dr. Ginsberg will now take over the care of Jaclyn. She was one of the many doctors that took care of her during treatment and she was there last summer when they thought Jaclyn relapsed. We are much happier having her as our long term survivor doctor:) I think visits now are once a year. We will probably go in November or December for a check up.

Well that is all for now. As always, we ask you to pray from the core of your hearts for Jaclyn to remain leukemia free, for her optic nerves to rejuvenate themselves and for her vision to improve, for Deven and his cousin Noella that the tolerate their treatment without complications, for Hope, Mark and Lizzie that they continue to do well and for all of the children battling this disease.

Love and Blessings

Read Journal History

Hospital Information:

Home Sweet Home

Links:

E-mail Author: mdpetrow@aol.com

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