Violet Brielle Spataro

On December 6th, 2011, our sweet Violet Brielle turned one year old! This little girl has been through so much in the last few months, so we were extremely excited to have a day of celebration and fun with our family here in Washington (and 2 very special family members even flew in from CA to be here!). We had Violet's first birthday party on Sunday, December 4th at our apartment building in the 6th floor lounge. It was a great day and Violet had so much fun! Here are a few photos of the special day ... Pretty fresh flowers surrounded by sprinkles of paper violets  Handmade decorations for our owl theme (Look Whoooo's Turning One!) Birthday cupcakes Violet's first birthday cake Happy Daddy & Violet The party room Happy Grandma & Violet Playing with her butterfly shoes ... Violet loves butterflies! Mommy & Nana Opening presents! Sweet birthday girl Ready for some yummies! Having fun! Playing her new piano (just like Mommy!) H...

Last week on Wednesday Violet had her EUA (exam under anesthesia) to see how the remaining tumor in her left eye looked and to determine from that if Violet would need additional rounds of chemotherapy. Just 3 days before this, we had Violet's 1st birthday party. It was a great day and I will make sure to tell you all about it in a separate post. When the night was winding down Josh and I began to scan through the photos on our camera and we noticed that not only was the white "glow" coming from Violet's left eye (where we know tumor is remaining) but it was also showing up in her right eye. It hit us right in the stomach because we know this is an indication of a tumor. At the time, we had family over and so we tried to not let it ruin our night but it was very hard. Josh and I prayed so much that night. Having another tumor come back that quickly and while going through chemotherapy would be very disheartening. Even though we know that with Bilateral Retinoblast...

In this time of Thanksgiving, our little family is thankful for many things. We are thankful to our Lord Jesus for giving us the strength to get through this most difficult time in our lives. We give thanks to Him daily for giving us the means to keep a roof over our heads and food in our home. We praise Him for the healing that has and is taking place in Violet! We are thankful for the support, love and prayers of our friends, family and kind strangers that have kept us lifted up. Josh and I try our hardest to remain positive and hopeful every day. It isn't an easy thing to do. I admit honestly that it is, in fact, very difficult at times. We work at it daily and pray about it daily. It is very important to us to provide Violet with a happy and peaceful home life amongst the chaos of her condition and treatment. So, for all of you who have given us encouragement, true support and sensitivity in our time of need we are so grateful! We are praying and keeping a hopeful heart tha...

Last Wednesday Violet had another exam under anesthesia to see if the tumor in her left eye had shrunk and if it had possibly come off of her optic nerve so that it could be treated with a laser. Well, we received news that day that we didn't even know was possible. The tumor did not shrink and it did not come off of her optic nerve but the tumor was now inactive! We were caught off guard and wanted to know what this meant in terms of the cancer and future treatment. We got some answers from Violet's ophthalmologist that day but the bulk of the explanation came the next day from Violet's oncologist. First we were told that the tumor was dead. Great! Praise God! We later heard additional details that are still of concern. First, the tumor has a "grey" area around it that indicates cells are not dead but dying. We had been told Wednesday that she would likely only have 1 more round of chemotherapy but then on Thursday when we were told of this grey area, we we...

The last 3 weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster regarding Violet's ANC. One week after Violet's 3rd round of chemotherapy her ANC dropped way down to only 100. Then, last Thursday it climbed to 1900! That was a very happy day! Yesterday it was back down to 384. (For those of you who are new to Violet's story please see this previous post  HERE  for an explanation of ANC.) We knew that even with the Neulasta injection (an injection used to lower the chance of getting an infection by increasing white blood cells in the bone marrow) her count would most likely go down before it came up, but we thought once it went up that it would stay up until the next round of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, Violet's system reacted against the norm. I do want to make sure that I mention Violet did so well in tolerating the effects of the Neulasta injection. Prayers were definitely answered! We were both amazed and very happy at how strong she was and how it seemed that her discomfo...

On Thursday my Mom and I took Violet to the hospital for her labs, doctor appointment and chemotherapy. While we were in the waiting room after her blood draw, we were approached by hospital staff wanting to know if Violet had been enrolled in the Beads of Courage  program. I let her know that I wanted to enroll Violet and that I had sent them an email but hadn't heard back yet. She then told us that they had a photographer there and they wanted to know if Violet could be in a little photo shoot receiving her first beads. The hospital wanted to use these photos of Violet for promotion of the program! I agreed and they took us to a room where they had the beads all set up, the photographer ready to go and representatives from the hospital/program. I put Violet up on the hospital bed and they began to ask me which procedures Violet had gone through so that they could give her all the beads that she had earned. She held up her bead packages for everyone in the room to see. It was so...

The day after Violet's exam under anesthesia she was scheduled to begin her next round of chemotherapy. My mom and I went to her scheduled appointment which has always gone like this: labs, appointment with her oncologist and then the chemotherapy infusion. On this day, we were told during her appointment that her ANC had not come up from the previous week so unfortunately, Violet's chemotherapy had to be postponed. Her ANC was in the 400 range and it needs to be over 700 to begin chemotherapy. I was disappointed that there would be a delay in her treatment, but grateful that Violet could get a couple days of downtime before her next appointment. And, this meant that we could go home now and she would get more playtime with grandma! We had a visit over the weekend with my step-mom and my sister from California and it was much needed family time! It was wonderful to watch Violet enjoying more playtime, love and hugs. We were definitely showered with many blessings from them ...