“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” 1 Peter 1:6
I never knew how a person fought a battle such as a cancer diagnosis. I would look at them, I would take care of them, I would pray for them, but I never knew how they got from day to day. I never fully understood how life went on, how day to day tasks remained the same and still managed to get done. I never understood that the doctor appointments didn’t get easier, I never fully gripped the never ending emotional roller coaster they were on. I never really understood any of that, until this morning when I realized I am them. I am those people I’m praying for, I am the one still making to do lists and I am the one still holding my breath going in to every doctors appointment. I am the one protecting, understanding, crying, praying, and rejoicing, I don’t know how I got here, I didn’t know I was meant to make it to where I’m standing now.
Sloane is in remission.
Sloane is in remission.
Yesterday Sloane had an MRI of her eye sockets and brain and there is no active cancer in her little body. The tumor in her right eye is stable, which was also reported to us last week at her eye exam. There has been no tumor growth in her right eye for months now and with a clean MRI, we get to call our Sloaney girl in remission. Because of her type of cancer she is still in a high risk category until about age 5 so she cannot be called cancer free for a few more years. Remission has never sounded so sweet.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12
With the news of this morning, the past few months seem unimportant but for those following I’ll catch you up real quick. In the beginning of July we went to NYC for a second opinion on Sloane’ s left eye. The decision was made to remove her eye and that was done on July 17th in Indy. With the threat of high risk features being seen on her pathology, we decided to aggressively treat her right eye in NYC with two rounds of laser treatment. Pathology came back negative even after further testing was sent. Her right eye has been stable throughout the laser treatment. Following her left eye enucleation, we have had some setbacks. Sloane went back to surgery three times following her original surgery for repetitive wound dehiscence. The last surgery, on September 5, her implant had to be removed and replaced with another different type of implant. Thankfully, we seem to now be on the right track to healing. We meet with the Ocularist next week to start the fitting for her prosthetic eye. We are very excited for this but I’m sure it will manage to bring its own set of emotions.
Otherwise, we are all doing well. Audrey is loving kindergarten. Both the girls are in gymnastics classes now and loving it. Sloane started a child’s day out program twice a week and seems to be really enjoying herself. Austin and I are headed out of town for a long weekend next weekend to just enjoy each other. Austin is back to traveling for work and I am still loving my crazy job as a labor and delivery nurse, being spoiled all the time by the best coworkers.
Life really does keep moving. I am humbled to be on the path we are on, but I will never take it for granted. From the day Sloane got diagnosed, I have done my best to allow myself to completely feel the raw emotion of this journey, so today I’m celebrating my littlest baby being in remission, 11months after diagnosis.
St. Lucy, pray for us.
Blessed Father Solanus Casey, pray for us.
I never knew how a person fought a battle such as a cancer diagnosis. I would look at them, I would take care of them, I would pray for them, but I never knew how they got from day to day. I never fully understood how life went on, how day to day tasks remained the same and still managed to get done. I never understood that the doctor appointments didn’t get easier, I never fully gripped the never ending emotional roller coaster they were on. I never really understood any of that, until this morning when I realized I am them. I am those people I’m praying for, I am the one still making to do lists and I am the one still holding my breath going in to every doctors appointment. I am the one protecting, understanding, crying, praying, and rejoicing, I don’t know how I got here, I didn’t know I was meant to make it to where I’m standing now.
Sloane is in remission.
Sloane is in remission.
Yesterday Sloane had an MRI of her eye sockets and brain and there is no active cancer in her little body. The tumor in her right eye is stable, which was also reported to us last week at her eye exam. There has been no tumor growth in her right eye for months now and with a clean MRI, we get to call our Sloaney girl in remission. Because of her type of cancer she is still in a high risk category until about age 5 so she cannot be called cancer free for a few more years. Remission has never sounded so sweet.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12
With the news of this morning, the past few months seem unimportant but for those following I’ll catch you up real quick. In the beginning of July we went to NYC for a second opinion on Sloane’ s left eye. The decision was made to remove her eye and that was done on July 17th in Indy. With the threat of high risk features being seen on her pathology, we decided to aggressively treat her right eye in NYC with two rounds of laser treatment. Pathology came back negative even after further testing was sent. Her right eye has been stable throughout the laser treatment. Following her left eye enucleation, we have had some setbacks. Sloane went back to surgery three times following her original surgery for repetitive wound dehiscence. The last surgery, on September 5, her implant had to be removed and replaced with another different type of implant. Thankfully, we seem to now be on the right track to healing. We meet with the Ocularist next week to start the fitting for her prosthetic eye. We are very excited for this but I’m sure it will manage to bring its own set of emotions.
Otherwise, we are all doing well. Audrey is loving kindergarten. Both the girls are in gymnastics classes now and loving it. Sloane started a child’s day out program twice a week and seems to be really enjoying herself. Austin and I are headed out of town for a long weekend next weekend to just enjoy each other. Austin is back to traveling for work and I am still loving my crazy job as a labor and delivery nurse, being spoiled all the time by the best coworkers.
Life really does keep moving. I am humbled to be on the path we are on, but I will never take it for granted. From the day Sloane got diagnosed, I have done my best to allow myself to completely feel the raw emotion of this journey, so today I’m celebrating my littlest baby being in remission, 11months after diagnosis.
St. Lucy, pray for us.
Blessed Father Solanus Casey, pray for us.
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