A Brief Celebration of this Miracle!
This may be a few days early since our official meeting with the Doctor isn't until Monday, but we can't help it. We are so happy and want to share the news with all of you in our village. Duke called today to let us know that Charlotte's bone marrow biopsy is negative, her MIBG scan showed no uptake of contrast (meaning it doesn't show any pockets of active neuroblastoma), and her full body CT scan is clear. This is the best news possible for us going into this next phase. The lack of evidence of disease is what we have hoped and prayed for. And she did it.
We got exactly what we hoped and prayed for. We are sitting in the best position going into consolidation. This next phase works best with minimal disease present and that is what Charlotte is showing. Therefore, any cancer cells remaining can be targeted more easily since the bulk of her disease is out of the way. This enables this "intensification of chemo" to do its work in eliminating any remaining neuroblastoma that may be present....hiding and waiting to rear its ugly head. This phase is what can help her go into official remission.
As much as we wish we could say "yay she is clear and cured", we know this isn't the case. She needs this next series of high intensity chemo to rid any remaining cancer that may be in too small of amounts to be detected. We want to minimize any chance of a relapse. So tonight we celebrate this amazing and wonderful moment. We stop and take in the miraculous journey and victory our baby girl has achieved. And we thank God for this moment in time, feeling his love and peace surrounding us and protecting Charlotte. I wish we could say we can stay here a while, basking in this glory. But in exactly one week she will be admitted and begin this next phase. Watching her act just like our sweet Charlotte and seeing how great she feels, it is painful to acknowledge that she will need to get much more sick before she is truly better. This next road scares Brian and I more then I can put into words at this time. And really, as much as we are ready to tackle this beast again, for tonight we won't focus on these fears. Instead we will soak up the glory our little girl has fought so hard to own. And she is owning this moment and carrying us right along with her.
We got exactly what we hoped and prayed for. We are sitting in the best position going into consolidation. This next phase works best with minimal disease present and that is what Charlotte is showing. Therefore, any cancer cells remaining can be targeted more easily since the bulk of her disease is out of the way. This enables this "intensification of chemo" to do its work in eliminating any remaining neuroblastoma that may be present....hiding and waiting to rear its ugly head. This phase is what can help her go into official remission.
As much as we wish we could say "yay she is clear and cured", we know this isn't the case. She needs this next series of high intensity chemo to rid any remaining cancer that may be in too small of amounts to be detected. We want to minimize any chance of a relapse. So tonight we celebrate this amazing and wonderful moment. We stop and take in the miraculous journey and victory our baby girl has achieved. And we thank God for this moment in time, feeling his love and peace surrounding us and protecting Charlotte. I wish we could say we can stay here a while, basking in this glory. But in exactly one week she will be admitted and begin this next phase. Watching her act just like our sweet Charlotte and seeing how great she feels, it is painful to acknowledge that she will need to get much more sick before she is truly better. This next road scares Brian and I more then I can put into words at this time. And really, as much as we are ready to tackle this beast again, for tonight we won't focus on these fears. Instead we will soak up the glory our little girl has fought so hard to own. And she is owning this moment and carrying us right along with her.
The gorgeous sunset fascinated her. She thought it was magic
"Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride. Ain't nothin' gonna hold me down. Oh no. I got to keep on movin"
Playing dress up with gifts from Oogie and Nana
Being brave through so many tests and scans this past week
Pool time!
She had a blast!
Cheers to you Charlotte!
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DeleteSuch fabulous news! Cheers to Charlotte and ALL of you! Soak up this fabulous news and celebrate. Lots of love and prayers to all of you as you go into this next phase. xoxo
YES! Charlotte, it WAS a magical sunset! yes! You are doing it! Wonderful news and best wishes for a happy week before the next phase. Jenn gather your strength by soaking up her resiliency and cuteness!
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