Day 2301 - A year in survivor clinic

    It has been over 395 days since I last updated the blog.  Naturally we're happy that nothing of substance around Evan's health has occurred, but for friends and family who we might not talk to on a regular basis you may be wondering how things have been going.  Overall we're doing very well and Evan in particular is prospering now that he's been off of chemotherapy for roughly three years.

Hamilton at the Fox in 09/21

    The doctors and nurses in the survivor clinic monitor Evan to ensure that he's not exhibiting any symptoms that might indicate a relapse.  Performing traditional checks medically is part of it too.  We don't have to go often and other than normal grumpiness that pre-teens start to show as their hormones change he's a normal kid.  Likely not related to cancer, but from a health stand point Evan's snoring was a bit worrisome so he'll be getting his tonsils removed later this year.  Our ENT doctor feels this will help greatly with the quality of his sleep.

    Back in late 2021 one of my worst fears was realized when Evan tested positive for Covid-19.  I wasn't really sure how his immune system would react to the virus.  The only symptoms he was showing when we took him in was a sore throat, so we assumed he had strep.  It was quite a relief as the days passed and other than the initial sore throat he didn't develop any other symptoms.  

He's got my spicy bone.  One Chip Challenge

    We're so happy that Evan continues to grow at a rate more similar to his curve prior to cancer.  He's playing his 3rd season of soccer, loves to draw, play video games, continues to read and is doing well in school.  As mentioned above, behaviorally he's a good kid and other than daily bickering with his brother he gets along with most everyone else. 

Event hosted by Camp Aurora to ride in sports cars

 

    Coming up in November I will be participating in my 2nd annual Trailblaze Challenge hosted by Make-A-Wish Georgia.  It's a weekend event to raise money and awareness for their cause of granting wishes to families with children facing life threatening illnesses.  We were recipients back in 2017 and I'm doing what I can to help pay it forward for as many organizations as I can.  Last year's event was very inspiring so finding the motivation to participate again was really easy.  Link below if you'd like to contribute or participate, but not pressure either way.

Trailblaze Challenge 2022 - Blaine Pruitt

    The family and I have been doing well and with no restrictions on us we've tried our best to provide the kids with as many opportunities for memories as we can.  We're still involved with Camp Aurora, Camp Sunshine and Cure.  Again, all four charities mentioned are fantastic organizations if you're looking to help make a difference.  While there have been some exciting therapeutic developments over the last two years, there's still enormous gaps in funding, which helps with research of new cures.

    As is customary for me when I haven't posted in a while I'll wrap with several photos from the last 12 months.  Since I'm not really on social media any longer this is my only medium for providing updates.  

5th Grade graduation.  Two proud parents!

Beach trip 2022

On the hunt for Halloween costumes

Imagine Dragons concert

4th of July with our neighbors

Food fight for last day of school

LegoLand

One of our favorite things to do - escape rooms

Waiting on Santa 2021

Photo session with Atlanta United - Sponsored by Aurora Day Camp

Day 1875 - No more clinic visits

     After a very long journey we've accomplished another milestone.  On Thursday July 22nd Evan had his final clinic visit with the oncology team at Aflac @ Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.  I'm excited to announce that his blood counts looked good and his immune system has not shown any signs of fatigue or irregularities since concluding chemo in August 2019. 

     It's been over five years of more chemo, needles, doctor visits, vomit bags, tears and laughs than I can possibly count.  Going forward Evan will now meet with the Survivor's Clinic team annually (roughly 6 months from now).  During this next visit we'll find out more about the long-term effects of his medications, what signs to look for and generally how to manage health challenges that we may encounter.

Nolan has been a rock throughout our journey

     With Evan's health journey reaching a more comfortable level we're going to send him and Nolan back to in-person schooling.  Like most parents I too am nervous about how his body will respond if it encounters COVID.  During the most recent visit Cristy asked the doctor about their professional input on what we should do.  The feedback was that Evan's immune system has shown no signs of relapse and that it should respond similar to any other child.  

     Going forward the family and I will continue to do what we can for the local pediatric cancer charities, make ourselves available to other cancer families and continue to advocate for donations and more federal funding for childhood cancer research.  We are very blessed and fortunate to be in the position we are.  I will never take that for granted.  My prayers go out to all children and their families who continue to fight and comfort for those who lost a warrior much earlier than expected.  

    Wrapping with a few of our older photos, along with some from the last few months since my last blog update.   

Day 1682 - The quarantine continues

      Greetings all, it's been quite some time since I've posted any updates.  Fortunately this post isn't bad news, but rather a state of current affairs.

     Over the past roughly 8 months we've continued to do our part as a family during the on-going pandemic.  We have greatly limited our exposure to others, wear masks in public and have made the necessary sacrifices to better ensure our health.  With vaccine distribution underway Cristy and I are hopeful that 2021 will have some semblance of normalcy later in the year.  Cristy's employer is even rolling out the vaccine to teammates now and she's slated to get it some time soon.

     Both Evan and Nolan are attending school virtually.  Naturally I'm not thrilled with that because they are missing out on so much social skill development, but academically they're both doing fine.  Both of the boy's teachers are great and we're so appreciative for all they do, especially during this unprecedented time with daily health challenges and evolving technology solutions.  We've started a list of things we want to do once the pandemic is more controlled.  Most of the items involve our favorite restaurants or travel.  Personally I'm looking forward to the days of having friends over for cookouts.

     Evan's appointments with Aflac have tapered off because of his strong blood counts.  During his visit yesterday the doctor gave him a clean bill of health and was happy overall with his counts and appearance.  Even his IGG counts seemed to have improved which was welcome news since a downturn would have meant some IV time.  Both boys are growing like weeds.  

     Cristy and I strive daily to find physical things for them to do and try to avoid TV/video game time if at all possible.  The dilemma I face is during work meetings when I need a few minutes of quiet TV is one of the few tools to calm them down.  We bought the boys a green screen for Christmas and they've both taken to it quite well.  If nothing else these past few months have opened up their creative sides and challenged their creative sensibilities.  

     Will wrap up with some photos from the past 8 MONTHS!  I'll try to post a bit more often, but the good news is if you don't hear from us then it means I don't have any negative news to report.