Relapse- the WORST word to hear after finishing treatments. Here's how we found out Eleanor's AML had returned.
On Friday, July 31st, Eleanor spent the night with her Nana and Papa. She woke up early Saturday morning complaining that she felt sick to her stomach. After Papa brought her back home we checked her temp.
100.4. The EXACT temperature that we were told was considered a fever therefore requiring a trip to the ER. Honestly, I wasn't THAT worried. We had been to the Galleria the day before shopping for school clothes, riding the carousel, and riding the train. In my mind, she simply caught something from another child given that was her first big experience being out in public again. I was so confident in this I left clothes in the washing machine to finish later. Once there her temp read 98. See, we're good. Blood work was completed just to make sure nothing else was going on. After waiting and waiting, Dr. Alva and Dr. Falcon, 2 oncologists from 8QB walk in. I remember thinking, "hmm, that's odd." Dr. Alva carefully and quietly uttered the most terrifying words yet, " we believe that Eleanor's AML has relapsed."
I'm not exactly sure what happened to me the second her words left her, but all I remember was both of them rushing over to me to help me sit down. I remember more than anything, Chris and I just staring at each other crying, "no", over and over again. Eleanor of course was never scared, even after seeing both of us falling to pieces right in front of her. It was so extremely hard to walk through those doors AGAIN. My breath left me just as it did the first time as we entered the hallway. I knew what was coming next, we would pass the nurses station. I knew that THEY knew we were coming back. Silence. I couldn't even look at them, they didn't know what to say. Some shedding tears at the sight of us, others coming alongside of us hugging us as we continued to walk towards our new room. I remember Christina walking beside me with her arm around me telling me we can do this.
We began chemo that Monday, a regimen we had never had before requiring a daily shot. Talk about torture, having to hold her down day after day, her screaming, "don't hurt me!". It breaks your heart into pieces. It was the sickest I've ever seen her, but yet she pulled through and of course being the tough girl she is still played and still smiled. Once chemo was finished we took a week's break from the shot and she was back to her playful silly self again just in time to start her first day of school here at Sunshine school. Another week of shots and we were done with our medicines for this round. We waited on count recovery and were very surprised to have recovered soon after finishing our medicines. On August 24th Eleanor had a bone marrow extraction and lumbar puncture and PRAISE GOD SHE WAS IN REMISSION AGAIN!! We were on our way home again with a plan for a bone marrow transplant on September 29th.
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