Day 640: Elliott gets ready for the Easter egg hunt during the class Easter party

It has been an entire year since Elliott was cleared to interact with other children and go to public places. Though he didn't immediately return to school, he started attending parties, going to museums and visiting the zoo. In fact, the day he was cleared was Laurel's school Easter party. This year he had a chance to enjoy his own class party with his own school friends.

Day 610: One of my students holds a bone marrow drive after battling lymphoma for the 4th time

Elliott continues to do well during the maintenance phase of chemotherapy. Some of his usual patterns have changed as the dosages of medication increase due to growth. The sleepless nights seem to have gone, but the prednisone rage is still here. On two separate occasions this past week Elliott told us, "My chemo is hurting." We haven't actually figured out what he means by that, but a hug seems to make it better. Both times were over a couple of weeks out from his clinic day when he receives higher dosesof medication, so we don't think he is responding to any specific pain. I'm hoping that this is all from Elliott realizing that if he mentions chemo and pain that he gets a lot of attention.

At the end of February Elliott had the chance to a student of mine that is 4 times cancer survivor. She credits a bone marrow transplant in high school with saving her life and recently decided to hold a bone marrow registry drive on campus. I was amazed at the number of people that showed up and took cheek swabs to be added to the database. She shared her story with me when Elliott was diagnosed and it really helped me feel confident that he will not be defined by cancer when he gets older. I was glad the two of them had the chance to meet.

My parents were in town for Easter this year. We enjoyed brunch with them, Kyllan's parents, and her sister's family. We celebrated my birthday earlier this month as well. Elliott's birthday is quickly approaching, along with Kyllan's birthday and Mother's Day, so next month will be pretty busy as well. We will try not to take so long to make the next post.

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