Chelsea (Dlandchick) is officially through with her leukemia treatment!!!!! Here's the email I sent out last night, but I don't have alot of your emails, so:
Hear ye, hear ye,
Whew, what a relief. Dr. Finklestein said that the May 1 spinal fluid was clear, and the bone marrow biopsy was negative. They even sent the biopsy away to somewhere in Washington that is able to perform a super duper analysis which confirmed no leukemia cells. Woot! Of course, he also said that about 10% of kids relapse during the first year, and that they wait until two years after the end of treatment to talk about what to look for long term. Hmmm, a little less "woot!"...
So, now we go monthly for blood tests to make sure she stays that way, and she'll be followed by the office until she's at least 19. It's kind of like this is the beginning of a new chapter, not the end of the book, if you know what I mean.
To celebrate, we had dinner at Lucille's, after which Chelsea had to hurry home to study for a math test she missed while out for her last chemo (thanks, Mr. Ferris, LOL). I have filled a container with popcorn kernels leftover chemo and expired vitamins, each representing one pill Chelsea has taken since her diagnosis. Guess how many there are? The person who comes closest to the correct answer will receive an honorable mention in the 2009 Johnson Family Christmas Newsletter or a jar of toxic popcorn.
Thank you to everyone for all of your support throughout this experience. I leave you with Chelsea's favorite saying: Childhood Cancer Sucks.
Smackeralchick