Back from NYC

Hi Everyone,

We are back from NY and Julia has completed cycle 2 of treatment. She was well in NY and handled her cell infusions with no complications.....thank god. BUT it wouldn't be our story if we didn't have some drama.......The Tuesday before we left for NY Julia was at Sick Kids for clinic and ran into her good friend from the hospital. They were so excited to see each other as they have been on this journey together pretty much since the beginning. On Thursday I get an email in NY from this little girls mom informing me that her daugther has the mumps and symptoms started the Wednesday night. Immediately I contact Julia's oncologist and she confirms that this child has the mumps and Julia has been exposed. We have not seen this little girl in awhile and what are the chances we see her the day before leaving for NY and that she gets the mumps the day later. Because of Julia's heart transplant she can not receive any live vaccines therefore has never been immunized against the mumps. So the doctors from NY talk to Toronto and they decide Julia will need something to protect her in case she gets the mumps. Imagine me.......in NY freaking out at this point and it was only day 2 of 8. Apparently the period in which Julia would be most likely to contract the mumps (if she does) is between day 12-25. Therefore after many discussions it was decided we would wait until we got home to give her the immunoglobbulin as it is a very expensive drug to be getting in NY. So we landed in Toronto on Thursday and went straight to Sick Kids once again. We spent 5 hours there and Julia got an infusion to boost her immunity. What a long day. Therefore Julia is now in her 12-25 day isolation period where she would be most likely to get the mumps if she was going to get them. Just because she was exposed doesn't mean she will actually get them. Someone up there just doesn't think we have enough drama in our life so they decided we needed more....lol.

On a good note, Julia is feeling great. She has lots of energy and is eating really well. She has her scan coming up and I am extremely anxious about it. This scan will tell us a lot about what's going on and if the treatment in NY has had any effect on the disease. We are scheduled back in NY on Feb 19th to begin cycle 3.

For now we are just taking things day by day and enjoying the fact that Julia is feeling strong and well. We are at the hospital tomorrow for clinic and we'll see what her bloodwork shows.

Once again I want to thank everyone for your unbelievable support. We couldn't do this without your prayers, encouragement and support. I will keep you posted on how Julia is doing and her scan results.

Nadia