If you are/were shocked to find out about Victoria's diagnosis, join the club.
Victoria's main first symptom was that her lips were bleeding. Sure, she had a few more bruises than usual but she's a really active kid and Jake was finally starting to pay her back for the previous 16 months of torture he has endured. She had one really weird episode of her lip bleeding over night but over the next couple of days we thought she had REALLY badly chapped lips. She had a cold and seemed a little run down. She went to daycare on Tuesday and wasn't really herself - she didn't eat much that day. The next day she still seemed out of sorts. I decided to take the day off and let her rest. I called our pediatrician to see if he could squeeze us in since I was already off. No big worries.
By the time we had our appointment that afternoon, she was really cranky. She was pale and looked exhausted, despite having napped. Her doctor agreed that she didn't seem well. He noticed an enlarged lymph node under her ear and the bruising. He suggested blood work and off we went.
Later that night, we received a phone call from the doctor. The lab results were in. They weren't very good. Her platelets were very low and he thought we should take her to CHEO, the Children's hospital in Ottawa.
I took Tori to the hospital. They re-checked her blood, asked me some questions and right then and there told me that they were fairly certain she had Leukemia and needed to start treatment right away.
Crazy, unbelievable, shocking, this only happens to other people, she was fine 2 days ago, what the F.
She was admitted and they started treating her right away.
The next day (Thursday) they did a bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap to help determine he exact diagnosis. They also gave her some initial Chemo right away.
Victoria has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). It's the most common of all the childhood Leukemias and is very successfully treatable :)
Since then, she's been doing fairly well. She is on a ton of medications for the Leukemia plus more to combat the effects of the medications.
Tomorrow she will be getting a Port a cath inserted which will take the place of the IVs in her hands. This will be great for her because at the moment she can't use either of her hands for much of anything. She has managed to wiggle one thumb out to pick her nose though !
The biggest excitement of the day is that we are awaiting the arrival of Jake. He is all she talks about and she loves looking and pictures of him that we brought it. We also haven't seen him since Wednesday night. Can't wait!
Victor is a little sock Monkey from Victoria's Nanna and Gramps. He is already covered in stickers. He gets his vitals taken whenever Tori does. He has helped a lot because sometimes he is the only one allowed to take her temperature or listen to her heart. Thank God for Victor!



Great idea Jess! Looking forward to following this :)
ReplyDeleteHi Victoria, How are you doing today? You probably don't remember me but we met at the clinic where your Mom works. Maybe I will get to see you again one day. Btw, do you like dogs.....big white fluffy dogs?
ReplyDeleteHi Barb, Victoria is undecided about dogs but they have weekly pet therapy here. She wasn't allowed to go this week because of her immune system but maybe next week.
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