Sorry it has been some time since we posted an update, but Julia has been busy being a kid – a normal, busy 7 year old girl. School, play dates, birthday and graduation parties have filled her days.
Since we last posted, Julia once again led her team of campers at the Phoenixville Relay for Life. With a lots of love and support, “Julia’s Campers” raised over $3000 to help fight cancer.
A few weeks ago we had a bit of a scare. Julia had developed a cough. It came along with a runny nose, so we thought it was a cold or allergies. The runny nose went away, but the cough remained. Soon after, Julia was quite tired one day after school and asked to go to bed (very unlike her). She woke up the next morning refreshed, but a call from school came that she was not feeling well. By the time I made it to pick her up, she was sound asleep in the nurse’s office.
We went right over to see her doctor. Everything seemed okay with her checkup and it appeared to only be a virus. But as her doctor said, if it was any other child, she would be sent home to let it run its course, but Julia is not any child. Just to be sure, Julia had to make a quick visit to CHOP for a chest x-ray and blood work. Her blood work was fine and x-ray saw no changes. Good to be reassured, but we knew that full scans were only a few weeks away.
So here we are, two weeks have passed and an ultrasound of her abdomen, CT of her chest, blood work, urine test and an oncology visit later – ALL SCANS ARE CLEAR!!!! Radiology said her CT scan looked better than the last one! The doctor is running some additional tests on her thyroid and some hormone levels to look into her continued fatigue, but felt that this may still be some residual effects from the chemo.
So let summer begin! Two more days of school and then summer camp will start for Julia. She is also starting dance classes one night per week. We will be going on the Disney Cruise out of NY City on June 30. We know she will have a blast on the cruise. We make a stop at Atlantis and Julia will get to have one of her wishes fulfilled. We have arranged for her to visit the dolphins and see them up close. Then in August, Julia will be going to the Ronald McDonald Camp for a week!
Time for Julia to just be a normal kid, with a normal summer. Here’s wishing everyone a great summer and lots of days to have fun. Here’s hoping that September does not come around too quickly; bringing us back to our “new normal” and the next set of scans. But for now, it’s off to the beach to swim with the dolphins!