Finally an easy title! It's like I didn't even have to try on that one.
Anyway, hey there, Phin phans! Dustin here with a quick check-in for February. Let’s get it.
Medical Updates
Phin’s latest clinic visit was a big one for several reasons. First, it was his six-month checkup after he left the hospital–a kind of milestone in itself. The oncologist who spoke to us at the visit told us that everything looks great, that his numbers are awesome, and that at this point Phin basically has a normal-functioning immune system again. Hooray!
That’s not to say … actually, no. I’m just going to leave it at “Hooray!” It’s a win.
Another reason this was a big one is that Phin can now graduate to every-other-month clinic visits instead of every month.
“We’re confident, based on what we’re seeing, that it’s safe to see him a little less often now,” the oncologist said, explaining that Phin will come every sixty days for a while, and if his numbers continue to look good, he will eventually move to a clinic visit every six months, and, then, hopefully, one per year.
This clinic visit also signaled the end of his weekly doses of antibiotics–one of the last remaining medical vestiges from his in-patient days at the children’s hospital. I can report that Phin was happy to say goodbye to that.
The oncologist also tried to talk to me about the immediate post-chemo period Phin just left behind–the first six months after treatment–and specifically about what that period had to do with the risk level that was assigned to Phin’s based on his leukemia type and all of the genetics associated with it. This quiet chat went down moments after Phin got the needle for his blood draw, so he was in full angry Hulk mode while I was trying to learn this important information. Essentially, the doctor reminded me that Phin was diagnosed as “low-risk,” which has nothing to do with the lethality of the cancer but instead indicates how likely the cancer is to return assuming that the initial chemo inductions wiped it out in the first place.
“The ‘low-risk’ is about relapse,” he said, “as in, if we hit this cancer with a bunch of chemo and it goes away, how likely is it to come back? Phin’s type is less likely to do that. You should feel a little relief today because he's six months out, and if it were going to come back, it was more likely to do that during the first six months after he stopped getting treatment.”
Phin On the Daily
He got to travel with his fam to see his cousins in Florida for two of their birthday parties. He liked painting pottery at his cousin Benny's party and splashing around in the pool at his cousin Caroline's party. Always good to see this crew get back together.
He got to be student of the week for his class. He also got to have Grandparents' Day there. This photo is actually from that day, taken by Neesha's mom, who made a special trip to be there for him.
He was happy that he got to see his big buddy Joseph sign to play for Georgia Tech next year. We're all proud of you, Joseph! Way to go!
And he got to do a bunch of playing and running around with his sisters and friends.
This next thing, Phin didn't so much do, but he was kind of a part of it nonetheless.
At the end of the month was Catie's Gathering, a gala to support CURE Childhood Cancer and all the important work they do. Beverly Rousch aka our lifeline through much of this past year--the beacon that shined our way through those first difficult weeks, especially, and then continued to guide as all the way through until the end--of Phin's treatment, hosted a table for her son Seth and her honorary nephew Phin this year. The Birches (Neesha's best neighbor friends) did a Lady Gaga-themed table that did not disappoint. It's hard to overstate how much CURE did for our family while Phin was in the hospital. They are phenomenal. In addition to the many ways they help families locally in our city and state, they fund significant portions of research for childhood cancer--research that helps literally cure our children, a dear friend's child--a schoolmate of Phin's, specifically, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor mere months after Phin's diagnosis.
I wasn't at the event, but Neesha did send me a link to a video slideshow that was shown there. We know a lot of the kids who were featured in that slideshow. The title said "We fight in honor of" for the kids who are still undergoing treatment or are in remission. It said "We fight in memory of" for the kids who have moved beyond the power of this disease.
