Medical Updates
Just to recap, Phin's coming up on the second anniversary of his bone marrow transplant. That means for the past twenty-three months or so, the bone marrow donation he received has remained inside him, replenishing itself, churning out red blood cells and white blood cells and platelets, hopefully destroying any remnant of his original leukemia-producing bone marrow, and generally managing the hematopoietic factory of his circulatory system exactly how his oncologists had hoped.
(An absolute miracle of science, when you think about it.)
There's a period of observation (clinic checkups) that accompanies any medical treatment like the one Phin received. The schedule starts with visits really frequently and then gradually spaces them out if things look good. Phin is on bi-monthly clinic visits now. Patients who are two years post-BMT normally only have to go in for clinic checkups once every six months--or once per year--but last summer Phin developed graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) in his joints and began taking medication to try to arrest the condition from advancing.
The gist: They're stopping the meds and they want him to keep coming to clinic every couple of months through the summer to see if the GVHD stays gone with the meds discontinued. After that, they want to talk about spacing out his checkups to once or twice per year.
Everything else looks great, they said.
Phin On the Daily
Phin's clinic visit was accompanied by a stay in the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House, which is so new and so vast that even on his second visit he still hasn't fully explored all of its play areas. We briefly caught up with several of our friends on staff (as well as one of the brightest students I ever taught, whom we were surprised to meet with her son during our previous visit in February. She told me she has been there with him ever since we saw her the last time, all those weeks ago). Each time we stay at this place, we are reminded of how helpful it has been to our family, how it (and its previous location) were our home away from home the entire time Phin required treatment at this distant hospital, and how many families with children who need medical care depend on the shelter and comfort it provides.We also go to check out Zoo Atlanta after Phin's appointments. The sloths were nowhere to be found, sadly, but the giraffes were hungry and the splash pad was open, so it was still a win.
The neighborhood swimming pool opened for the season while we were out of town, but we hit it up the very next day. Phin returned to the water as if he'd never left it. He's excited for summer to begin so that he can swim every single day.
The biggest milestone, though, was Phin's first communion, which he celebrated last weekend. It was a big day! His family gathered at the church to watch him do the sacrament with his other communicants, then he rushed off to play a soccer match (his team is so small that they forfeit if anyone is missing), and then back home he went to celebrate with his family and friends.
Every celebration feels extra-special now. The last time we had one of these first communions in our immediate family, Phin was inpatient recovering from chemo, and he had to make due with sitting in his hospital room looking at the photos of his sister all dressed up in the church, and of course he missed her party. But this time, everyone was together.
There is really nothing quite like having everyone together.
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