Dominic Update 3.0 – Brown Eyed Baker

Hello there friends!

I hope that your summertime has been certainly wonderful ☀️

I’m popping in right now to present an update on Dominic so quite a few of you have composed and requested how he is executing, and how the surgical treatment went, and I thank you for your tolerance!

First, a Thank You

The outpouring of wonderful playing cards, postcards, and items that have been despatched to my PO box has been so heartwarming. Our family is entirely and totally humbled by your thoughtfulness, and we thank you from the base of our hearts for getting time out of your day to do some thing that would deliver a smile to Dominic’s facial area ❤️ THANK YOU!

Surgery Update

Dominic experienced his tumor resection medical procedures on Monday, June 20th at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York. He went into the functioning place at 9:30am and arrived in his room in the pediatric ICU all over 6:45pm. Leaving him in that working space was gut-wrenching, but an OR nurse was ready to present updates on a frequent basis all through the working day, which made all of the waiting around a great deal a lot less agonizing. The surgeon was in a position to remove his total tumor, as nicely as all of the diseased lymph nodes that ended up discovered in his neck, stomach, and pelvis. He was steady all through the full procedure, misplaced very small blood, and only stayed in the ICU for two days.

The medical procedures simply could not have gone any superior and we are just so grateful to the surgeon and for all of the prayers that had been sent up for Dominic and the surgical workforce that day. There is one particular rogue lymph node underneath his still left clavicle that the surgeon understood likely in wasn’t ready to be attained from both the neck or the thoracoabdominal incision. It will be re-scanned and either removed by using a scope technique or if it has shrunk more than enough, radiated. 

Recovery was really sluggish going the very first couple times getting just a couple actions was really hard for Dominic and it was so hard to see him having difficulties and turning out to be fatigued by these types of uncomplicated actions. He had a chest tube and catheter for 4 days post-surgical treatment, and an stomach drain for a week, which didn’t aid! But it was also wonderful to see what a difference just a couple of times could make. Functioning with PT and OT was fantastic and inside of a week he was strolling back and forth to the playroom in the healthcare facility. 

A pair of times after operation, they uncovered a chylous leak (basically, excess fat leaking by the lymphatic process), which we have been informed beforehand would be a chance for the reason that so lots of lymph nodes would be taken out. It was the only genuine complication submit-surgery they handled it with treatment and a low-fats diet program for about 5 times and it resolved.

A week following surgical procedures, Dominic began his fourth spherical of chemo. This just one hit him the toughest, most likely due to the fact he was nonetheless recovering from medical procedures, he lost his hunger for a quantity of days, experienced some nausea, and was far more fatigued than usual. We ended up capable to head back household after that cycle of chemo was complete, 11 times soon after his surgical procedures.

Back Home

The surgeon indicated that full recovery will choose about two months, but that going for walks and light workout is fantastic for him, so he started out by strolling our driveway and cul de sac and got again on his pedal kart bike (bike riding was health care provider-authorised) for some uncomplicated rides. He has little by little regained a great deal of electricity, as nicely as assortment of movement, and is riding his bicycle a lot quicker and is up and actively playing like normal.

One of our major hurdles considering the fact that obtaining home is that he just wasn’t again to himself for pretty some time, which we had been advised was completely ordinary. He was lethargic, not talkative, not fascinated in participating in, and we all missed our Dominic!

Portion of the challenge is that it took him a great deal longer to rebound from this past round of chemo than any of the past rounds that he had. His white counts sat bottomed out at or in close proximity to zero for two comprehensive months, and he desired a few platelet transfusions and two blood transfusions in a week. We logged some Lengthy days at clinic the 7 days right after we got back again.

The other problem is that he experienced prolonged decline of hunger just after chemo and had continued to reduce body weight (and he was minimal to start with!). As a outcome, the medical professionals begun him on an appetite stimulant a week ago and it seems to have kicked in around the last pair of times mainly because he’s been ingesting so a lot better and acquired a tiny more than a 50 % pound given that his clinic appointment last 7 days.

All of his counts began coming back again up in the previous pair of days and he hasn’t desired any transfusions because early final 7 days. We’re so grateful he’s finding back to his outdated self, bit by bit but certainly!

Up coming Steps…

Future 7 days, Dominic will endure a battery of scans and a bone marrow biopsy to see the exact status of the illness publish-operation and following completion of chemo.

Soon thereafter, he’ll get started his initially spherical of immunotherapy antibody treatment plans, and then have radiation. The lengthier-expression plan is that he will have at minimum 5 rounds of immunotherapy treatments, spaced out about a month apart. Scans will be done after each two rounds to see how points are on the lookout. Asking for a lot of prayers that we get clean up scans as before long as doable 🙏🏻

Thank you all so a lot once again, for achieving out and asking about Dominic, for preserving him in your prayers, for showering him with playing cards, and for continuing to love on us as a spouse and children. We sense you, and your kindness and prayers lift us up and give us strength.

I’ll share an additional update right after we get as a result of our future techniques! In the meantime, we’re soaking up each one day that we can all shell out time jointly below a single roof ❤️