Emmy's Story Archive

Recently we have learned that our little Emmy has been diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer.

Little miss Emmy has been put through a number of tests including but not limited to: various blood tests, MRI, CT Scan, PET Scan, and bone marrow biopsy.

The initial round of chemo will run for 12 weeks after which we will rescan to see the effects it is having on tumor reduction. At that point the doctors will decide if it is safe to operate or they need to continue her on the chemotherapy.

The initial round of chemo drugs left our little lady feeling nauseous and very uncomfortable. As we mentioned, there are a whole host of side effects that come along with this treatment, most of which we won't begin to see for another 10 days or so, but nausea and fatigue are immediately apparent.

Back to Denver yesterday for second round of chemotherapy and first big checkup since we were released from inpatient care. Her blood tests came back looking ok and she seems to be taking the treatment process well. For those of you keeping score, this is week 2 of 12 on Emery's chemo therapy plan.

Today marks the beginning of her third week of chemotherapy treatment which leaves nine more before we will do all new imaging (MRI, CT scan, PET scan) to see if the chemo is having a positive (shrinking) effect on the tumor.

Off to Denver tomorrow for the next big round of treatment and an overnight at Children's Hospital. This will be the first time she gets all three chemo drugs since we began treatment several weeks back. We are a bit anxious to see how she will react but are simultaneously comforted being at Children's knowing that she is being cared for by the best.

Today marks the beginning of week five of chemotherapy treatment where, all in all, things are going ok. She still battles nausea for days after each treatment but we seem to have a pretty tight handle on her medication regimen now, keeping the nausea to a dull roar.

Emery and mama spent Thursday at the doctor for week 6 of chemotherapy treatment and per usual, she did great. How a six-month old can get repeated heel sticks for blood draws week after week and not even utter a whimper is beyond me. I think is beyond much of her care team too since their wowed comments about her behavior and demeanor stay as consistent as her radiant smile.

After the scan, it was determined that said pressure had been eased enough to take the catheter and see how she would do. Happy to report that young Emmy has had no trouble giving us plenty of wet diapers all on her own since. What this tells us is that the chemotherapy is having a positive effect on the tumor and reducing it in size.

So here we are at week 10 of chemotherapy treatment, just two weeks out from new images and a new game plan. This little lady is hanging so tough through all of this, each day blowing our minds with her ability to power through the side effects and flash those trademark Emmy smiles in the face of adversity. She is feeling pretty good day to day, fighting through the nausea that never seems to subside and staying healthy despite the odds.

So last week Emery went down to Denver for her last chemo treatment and all new images. She was put asleep and intubated for a new MRI and PET-CT so see what effect twelve weeks of chemotherapy had on her large tumor.

Surgery went well!

We were left standing there, a little bit sad watching our girl being carried away but mostly filled with the relief that we were finally at a place along this journey where our care team could operate. So we set up camp in the waiting room for the next five hours anxiously awaiting news of the procedure."

In other news, we met with our care team this week and had a long discussion about Emery's care plan moving forward. The surgery was successful in that they removed the majority of her tumor but the pathology result margins were not clear and some cancerous cells remain. This will result in a number of additional procedures to go back in and remove these mutated cells.

Monday morning we will be back in Denver bright and early for surgery number two which will be less invasive than the first, but is surgery nonetheless. They are going back in to continue removal of any residual cancerous cells. After this procedure, she will continue on with chemotherapy treatment for 12 or so weeks in this cycle before new imaging.

A photo collection from Halloween to mid-November.

We are thankful for you. Thankful that you are joining us on this journey through the dark, ever pressing towards that brilliant sunshine at the other end. Having friends and family by our side is where most of that strength comes from. You are the origin. Your encouragement, positivity, and love are what carry us through this sometimes very dark space. Thank you for being by our side as we go forth together.

Positive (negative) results from these tests will not alter our current plan which has us continuing chemo through the end of April at the earliest. It is hard as parents to wrap our heads around that many treatments and that many times these caustic drugs have to work their way through our daughter's system but it is what needs to be done to ensure she will someday be cancer free. So, carry on we shall.

In other news, during the last visit to Children's Hospital Colorado where Emmy had a big chemo treatment she was also intubated for a new CT and MRI. This was to take a look at her tumor site checking for regrowth but also to see an image of her chest which is where this particular type of cancer would go next if continuing to spread. We are ecstatic to report that all scans came back clear and the good people on our care team are not seeing any indications of cancer!