Mission Remission

So we went into the summer, trying different protocols and getting radiation for his eye. The opthamologist, Dr. Terry Young, was a nice woman. She was very sympathetic to Spencer's condition noting that the Lymphoma metastasizing into a two year old boy's eye was very rare. She and Dr. Himelstein co-authored a paper with several other doctors and she presented his case at a national conference. We just found that study on-line, and we found Dr. Young too. She is at Duke University Hospital in North Carolina. We also just got back in touch with Dr. Himelstein. He is in Madison, Wisconsin.

We spent some time at the beach that summer with our friends Mark, Karen, Claudia and their family. We also made other side trips that year. One was to the Brandywine to see the Wyeth museum, the battlefield, Longwood Gardens and the Phillips Mushroom Museum. Another to New Hampshire and Lake Winnepesaukee, Cape May in the winter, hayrides at Halloween and fishing on the Wissahickon. We spent so much time in and out of the the hospital for weeks at a time, that when we were discharged we didn't want to just go home. We also wanted to spend "fun" time together as a family as we knew we might not be able to later.  We wanted to pretend like things were normal.

Spencer and Jess in New Hampshire. His head was so cleanly bald at this time that we could lick pennies and stick them to his head. Who says chemo can't be fun!

By late fall, I think we were into our third or fourth chemotherapy protocol. Each time we switched, they cranked up the juice. His eye was starting to resolve itself and the doctors felt like they were starting to gain traction on the disease. He was heading into remission. The bone marrow transplant team checked each of us, including Jessica, to see if we would be suitable donors if needed. When none of us proved to be suitable donors, they took samples from Spencer for an autologous transplant if necessary. Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow, and a transplant is usually a last resort in the battle against cancer. These were precautionary measures though. Spencer was in remission, his broviac was removed, he was sent home and his hair started to grow back in.