Hello everyone!
Titus is almost a full month into kindergarten and is doing wonderfully! He is enjoying school and comes home with great reports each day. A year and a half ago I couldn’t imagine him being able to attend school. The day he was diagnosed with leukemia the doc told us that he should be able to attend school once the time came, I am so glad that he is able to! We sent home a letter to his classmates/parents informing them of his diagnosis and requesting that we be informed if their child becomes sick with a serious illness. So far Titus has been healthy, besides a little runny nose. Keep praying as we start to enter into the fall and winter months please! Because of his treatment, we didn’t spend time “getting him ready” for school, our focus was on his treatment. Because of this, I was worried as he entered school that he would be “behind”, I don’t know why I was so worried! This little guy is blowing us away!
So, I am sure everyone has seen somewhere that September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness month. In the 1950s, almost all kids diagnosed with cancer died. Because of research, today about 85% of kids with the most common type of cancer will live. But for many other types, progress has been limited, and for some kids there is still little hope for a cure. This is why we must continue to find new ways to treat cancer in kids. We have formed a small team and will be walking in the Light the Night walk with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society September 20th. Here is a link if you would like to join us, or donate to our team! Our goal is $100.00. http://pages.lightthenight.org/mid/KSCity13/TitusBeatsALL#home - Check it out!
As many of you are aware, Titus is in remission. However, here is something you may not know. His oncologist described Titus’ remission as this… When Titus was diagnosed, he had billions of leukemia cells throughout his body. After his first month of treatment, his bone marrow showed .001% leukemia cells = meaning remission, however it also meant that he still had millions of leukemia cells throughout his body. The length of treatment is over 3 years, this is to ensure that all those cells are eliminated, and to keep his bone marrow suppressed enough to hopefully not produce anymore leukemia cells. He is taking multiple chemotherapy meds still, at home, by IV, and through lumbar puncture as well. This is all done in hopes that we will get all those bad cells. His immune system is suppressed through the meds he is taking, so while he is now free to attend school, and be a kid, we still have to be very careful with what he is exposed to. His immune system is 1/4 to 1/3 of what a “normal” child’s immune system should be. While we would like to keep him in a bubble…he needs to be free to be a kid! He was in a bubble long enough, and I hope and pray he doesn’t end up back in one! There is a chance that at some point his counts may bottom out while he is in maintenance just from the continuous chemo that he gets. We will cross that bridge if we come to it (if, not when).
I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has been supportive during this journey. Whether it was your time and energy, monetary support, or prayers, we are forever grateful for you!
