Going to keep this short and sweet. This AM we had our chemo treatment follow-up-CT scans for Eliza. We got home from Children's Mercy around 2:30. After a pre-emptive celebratory stop at Joes KC for some burnt ends and z-mans (z-men??). Around 3:30 Jeanne received the call we'd been hoping we'd get ever since the call we received on December 14th saying we'd need to embark upon chemo....and that call informed us that Eliza's scans read exactly the way the doctor's had hoped they'd read. No further signs of tumors, no issues with lungs or other organs, as well as incredibly normal lab results for a 10 month old. 100% CANCER FREE!!! We on the calendar to have her port removed next Monday. We would certainly be open to ideas on what to do with the port once removed. Ideas already thrown out are Christmas ornament, wall decoration, or kindling for a fire!! Now that we can exhale and begin to have a little fun with this ordeal...
I could go on forever about thanking everyone that has helped us out. Whether its friends setting up people to come by and clean our house, hang Christmas lights, pre-pay for dog sitting to give us a break from Bill (and give bill a minor treat for being such a good big bro to Eliza), meals, donations, etc. Everyone's generosity is something we will never be able to repay!! Know that everything that everyone provided the past 6 months (tangible or intangible) will forever make us grateful to call you family, friends, colleagues, or even some folks who chose to assist anonymously.
A very special shout out to the Hage family (Jeanne's sister and our brother-in-law). From day one they made sure to make this as easy as possible in both helping out directly or setting up and reaching out to others to organize help. I can't imagine going through this without their support, love and constant positivity. Their two little girls were also instrumental in being amazing big cousins to Eliza and showed empathy and love I didn't realize existed within a 3 and 6 year old. They won't want me to single them out but they were the bedrock that kept us strong during this and I want others to know how amazing of a family that is.
Thank you to everyone and we love you all.
Jeanne, Erik and Eliza (and Bill and Marco)
