Wednesday was the final checkup for Josh and Chaz. Everything looked good and all systems are go! We had a going away party for Josh at Concord Eastside Friday. He will not be able to return to school for about one year. Pizza was donated by Mancino's and Josh received many gifts to take to Indy. We thank the teachers and students in Josh's class for doing such a great job of keeping him healthy these last couple of months. Today Chaz packed and went with his uncle, Richard Eaton, to Grandma's where he will stay until the bone marrow transplant. Jason will be staying with some very close friends off and on for the next couple of months, until Josh can come back home. We also want to thank the staff at Calvary Kiddie College for the wonderful evening Saturday night (we liked the surprise left for us in our bedroom!). Tomorrow we are off to see the Wizard!
February 23, 1996:
Joshua and Chaz returned home today from Riley's hospital without any problems. Joshua had a bone marrow aspiration, spinal tap and 1 dose of chemotherapy to help tide him over till the transplant. The bone marrow aspiration showed that Joshua is still in remission and the spinal tap indicated that the leukemia has not spread to the central nervous system. All of this is just another plus in Joshua's favor. Joshua's lead oncologist indicated how happy he is with Joshua's progress and is even more thrilled that he has stayed very healthy through all of this. Mom and dad took that as a pat on the back.
Chaz gave several tubes of blood for pre-transplant evaluation and will be scheduled early next week for a complete physical. He was a real trooper giving up his blood! the more that he does for Joshua the happier he is.
February 20, 1996:
Happy Birthday to Joshua!!! Joshua turned 7 this past Sunday and had a great time. On Friday there was a large party, (about 150 children and adults), held by his former daycare Calvary Kiddie Kollege. Of course the media was there to film it all. Joshua, Chaz and Chuck were interviewed about the upcoming procedure. Joshua received many presents and a lot of love. Also this week Joshua was given a baseball autographed by Harmon Killebrew formerly of the Minnesota Twins. Mr. Lou Holts head football coach of Notre Dame also gave him an autographed football. Two gentlemen also told Joshua that when he gets back on his feet they would like to take him on a plane ride to see a ball game in Chicago. Joshua has become quite a celebrity. Joshua returned home from Riley's hospital today with a clean bill of health. The "work up" for his bone marrow transplant went well except for this father getting pulled over and ticketed for driving just a little to fast. The State Trooper showed no mercy. Chaz will be going to Riley's this Friday to do his "work-up" for the transplant. Joshua will receive one more dose of heavy chemotherapy Friday to tide him over till the transplant.
The benefits based on studies to date, a bone marrow transplant offers Joshua the best course for long-term disease-free survival or even cure at this stage of his disease. Although it is hoped for Joshua to benefit directly from the bone marrow transplantation and that other patients may also benefit from an increased understanding of this approach to therapy, his doctors cannot state at the present time that his participation will directly benefit him. As parents we will continue to believe that Joshua will benefit and become a long term cancer survivor!!!
February 12, 1996:
Joshua had a soft cast removed from off his right lower leg today. He still is unable to walk very well, but Chuck will be doing physical therapy on him for the next 7 days. The word was given today that Josh will be doing his "work-up" for the Bone Marrow Transplant next Tuesday and that the Bone Marrow Transplant will start March 4.
Overview from November 30, 1995:
Joshua has been unable to walk for the past 24 hours and we took him to see his doctor at 9:00. After the initial check-up we were told to go and have some blood work drawn at the local hospital. At 2:30 p.m. of the same day we received a phone call from our doctor to come right over. Upon arrival we were rushed into a conference room and sat down. We knew the news was going to bad, but we did not realize it would be as bad as it was. We were told that Josh has some form of leukemia and that Riley's would be waiting for our arrival as soon as we could pack and drive there. Four hours later our journey began at Riley's Children's Hospital. Joshua's initial white cell count was greater than 85,000 and he was anemic. On day 1 his bone marrow aspiration was 95% leukemia which with this high of a count and over 50,000 white blood count at initial diagnosis stratified Josh into the high risk category. At day 7 Joshua's bone marrow aspiration should have been below 25%, instead his was at 68% which put him into even a higher risk category. We were told on day 14 that the chromosome results were back and that the news was not good. Joshua has a very rare from of childhood ALL with a translocation of the number 9 and 21 chromosomes. As we stated earlier this results in a very low prognosis. Josh went into clinical remission at day 28 and began on the consolidation phase of chemotherapy. Josh has not walked since Christmas day, but has managed to keep all of his hair. We are still not sure what has happened to his right foot, but his team of doctors think that it is soft tissue damage.