UPDATE ON ELLA
Ella is doing really well. She made it through her second Stem Cell Transplant with flying colors. Even better than the first the transplant, which is unusual. She enjoyed a couple weeks at home before starting Radiation, which started on June 29nth and will go on everyday, M-F, for 3 weeks. Radiation is a pretty easy treatment. She goes to the hospital everyday and goes under anesthesia so she stays still for the radiation. The treatment takes only 5 mins or so, then she comes back to her recovery room, wakes up and we go home. The worst part is waking up so early to get to the hospital by 7:30 am and not being able to eat until after she wakes up from anesthesia.
Ella also had an ultrasound of her legs this week. For a couple months she has had one foot that feels really hot and one foot that feels really cold. Her oncologist ordered an ultrasound to check for a blood clot in her legs. It looks like there is nothing venous (in the veins of her legs, which would cause a cold foot) or nothing arterial (which would cause a hot foot.) Hopefully this is nothing and will just be the way Ella's body is now. We will update again soon. Right now, things are pretty much status quo until radiation is over.
About the Disease
Neuroblastoma is a deadly form of cancer that strikes thousands of infants and toddlers each year. There is very little known about why neuroblastoma occurs, or about what factors increase the risk for occurrence. There is no known cure. Every 16 hours a child with neuroblastoma dies.
To be aware is to have knowledge, and that is the first step in making a dream come true. The next step is to use that knowledge as a tool in supporting the needs of the children and their families and provide funding to the medical community for new and advanced research studies.
Help us in "The Struggle" against childhood cancer.
Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation
