Thursday, February 26, 2009

Everything is good!

Well, everything looks good! CT and chest X-ray are unchanged, blood counts are good, and his physical exam was good. If we wanted to keep the appointments in February, we wouldn't need to come back for a year. But, we want to be able to get the checkups in the summer, when there is no school to miss. So we'll be going back in July or August and then every year after that in the summer. He will only need a chest X-ray and bloodwork at that point and thereafter for a couple of years.

We were talking last night with Anthony about how he used to cry when he would get blood drawn and some of the other unpleasant things that happened while he was going through treatment. Thankfully, he doesn't remember any of it. Even when I look back on that time, I mostly think of the good things that happened.

Since I spent the most time with Anthony in the hospital during his treatments and neutropenia fever stays, the two of us were able to form a strong bond. To this day, Anthony and I are very close and I can't help but think that it was due in part to the amount of time that I got to spend with him in the hospital. For that, I am very thankful.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Five years

Well, today is the big day for Anthony. It is his five year post-treatment check-up at the clinic. The day he is officially labeled "cured." His appointment is at 10:30, so I’ll be waiting for the call from Maria after that. He had his CT and X-ray last Monday and we haven’t heard anything, which is usually a good sign. He gets blood work done with instant results at the clinic and they will just do a quick physical. I am hoping that they say he doesn’t need additional scans this year (like MRI or bone scan). I really get worked up every time he goes to get scanned. Several times, scans have found some "abnormality" that turns out to be nothing. Each time it happens, though, it takes a couple years off my life from worry. More later...