Violet Brielle Spataro

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 ...

Today Violet had her exam under anesthesia to see how well the chemotherapy is working on shrinking the tumor in her left eye. Instead of telling a story of how the day went from start to finish as I usually do I am going to just share the results with you because I am still quite numb and overwhelmed from it all. I will try to explain it as well as I can as I am still trying to take it all in. The tumor in Violet's left eye shrunk significantly from the chemotherapy. Her doctor said it was a difference of night and day. At Violet's original CT scan and exam 2 months ago the tumor was large and blocking the back of her eye which concealed her optic nerve from view. Now that the tumor is small they found that the tumor is directly on the optic nerve (the nerve that travels from your eye to your brain carrying the signals that allow us to see). This discovery brings with it new concerns. Violet's doctor wants to have an MRI done to make sure that the cancer has not gotten...

On Thursday of last week I took Violet back to the hospital for labs and, unfortunately, her ANC level was only 500. I was disappointed but Violet's doctor said that she should be fine by this week for everything scheduled. As we drove home and passed all kinds of fun places I did have a moment of sadness over the fact that I couldn't take Violet anywhere other than home. Violet has grown up so much in the last couple of months and it hurts my heart that the only things she gets to see are our apartment and the hospital. She finds such delight in the paintings and designs on the walls at the hospital now and I know she is just going to be blown away when we finally get to take her somewhere like the aquarium or even just a toy store. I look forward to the day when we get to take this little girl out for something fun! I know that day will come. So, these past few days we have done more of the same. I stay here at the apartment and keep Violet entertained. Thank God she is a...