Day 1

We made it to Sick Kids.  We drove to Toronto together which was nice as it was time that we were able to spend together as a family of four outside of the hospital. We arrived at Sick Kids late Sunday night, checked Phoebe in and she was soon settled down to sleep.  This morning we were woken up early by our doctor and it was non-stop action all day long.  Phoebe received the first dose of the trial drug at 5 o'clock.  Her room was busy with many nurses and her doctor coming in to check on her, monitor for side effects and check her vital signs every 15 minutes.  Everything went very well. Phoebe woke up part way through the infusion, and wanted to play.  She was happy, excited and joyful.  She sat up in her crib and waved at the many people that came in to see her.

Today was a good day.  I feel like we are finally back on the road to recovery.  There are still many uncertainties, but we are where we need to be to help Phoebe get better, and we are making progress.  Phoebe will receive this new drug 3 times a week for 2 weeks.  She will be closely monitored and her blood will be tested every day.  Because the drug is designed to target Phoebe's Leukemia cells only, our doctor thinks that by the end of this week we should have an idea of whether it is effective or not.  If it is working, we will continue on this path, if not we will move on to standard chemotherapy.  Either way, we believe that Phoebe will get back in to remission.

There was a lot of hope in Phoebe's little room today.  Our hope for a cure for Phoebe's cancer was made stronger by the hope of her many nurses and doctors.  Many people lingered in her room, watching her play and marvelling at just how happy she is.  Through all of the blood pressure monitoring, the listening to her heart and chest, the countless temperatures ... as long as Jon and I were close by, she played and she laughed and she smiled.  In her own way she was telling us that yes ... every little thing gonna be all right.