First Week of School and 6 Months Cancer-Free!

It’s been a big week with Ellie and Annabelle both starting a new school at St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School, Malabar. Getting back to school is a big deal in NSW as so much of the schooling year last year was disrupted by COVID and home-schooling. It’s even bigger now that they are starting a new school in which they will complete the remainder of their primary schooling.
 
I say first week of school rather than first day of school as unfortunately Ellie missed her first day due to being sick. She had a 72 hour gastro bug which wiped her out and it’s taken a little longer for her to recover, given everything she’s been through and still not being fully ‘well’. I think it also impacted her mentally as it’s the first time she’s been sick since leaving hospital. She was vomiting a lot and I’m sure her mind went back to the first 3 months of her treatment where she was constantly vomiting and febrile. We continually comforted her by telling her ‘this is not the cancer coming back, this is just gastro and will be over soon.’ But I’m sure, like us, whenever she gets sick it will be in the back of her mind, the thought that it could be something else. But she’s feeling much better now and settling into her new school (which we love) and making new friends.
 
The other big news is that 30 Jan 22 marks Ellie being 6 months post-treatment and cancer free! A huge milestone for her! During our last clinic appointment, we were also told that Ellie is now considered immunocompetent, so we don’t need to consider her being immunocompromised anymore. Notwithstanding, we’re still very cautious given the pandemic and rapid spread of Omicron. So, it’s masks everywhere and lots of hand-sanitising. To be honest, I’m not entirely convinced that there are actual metrics which define her as being immunocompetent, but more so just the fact that her bloods are ‘good enough’ and she seems ‘pretty well’ generally speaking, at the 6-month post-treatment period. Nevertheless, we’ll take immunocompetent over immunocompromised any day!
 
Ellie also recently received her first Pfizer COVID vaccine and is booked in for her second shot next week. The Sydney Children’s Hospital gained first access after the Govt opened up vaccinations to children over 5 years old and they booked in Ellie immediately. We have enrolled her in (yet another) study to determine the efficacy of the COVID vaccine on paediatric oncology patients. The study didn’t influence our opinion on her vaccination and we had always intended to vaccinate her as soon as possible. The remainder of Ellie’s childhood vaccinations will follow however, the COVID vaccine was prioritised ahead of the others. Annabelle is also booked in for her vaccination however, she has to wait a little longer for availability.
 
Today, 6 Feb 22 marks 12 months since Ellie's diagnosis which feels like a huge milestone for us. It feels like it’s been 3 years in some ways! This struck us on Australia Day when we were at the same beach as we were last Australia Day. We commented that ‘last time we were here, Ellie had cancer and we didn’t even know’. That was a strange feeling and there have been many memory-joggers of various parts of Ellie’s treatment.
 
Despite the minor set-back with gastro, Ellie continues to thrive and is settling into her new school and making new friends. She’s enrolled to play netball with Annabelle this year, and she wants to get back into gymnastics and maybe drama. We’re all looking forward to a much brighter 2022!
 
PC