Elle B.
Elle B. is Team PHAT Tuesday's 2009 Pedal Partner
Elle started having tummy pain and a fever in early September 2008. Everyone thought it was just a stomach virus, probably picked up during the first week of preschool. Elle missed rehearsals for a reprise of her role as "Little Frog" in Riverside Theatre's Honk! but felt well enough to make the performance on the 13th.
A little over a week later, though, Elle's tummy hurt again and she seemed under the weather. The fever also returned and this time the doctor sent her to the hospital for some blood tests. These came back normal - the only slight cause for concern was a borderline low blood count. Elle apparently returned to good health after a few days, but we wondered if she was harboring some type of low-grade infection.
Then on Wednesday the first of October, the pain returned, this time in her back, too. Suzanne took her to the doctor again, who examined her and said to take her to Children's Hospital straightaway. That night, in the ER, the diagnosis was made - Wilm's tumor, originating in her kidney and having spread to her lungs. Mom and Dad were shocked, but at least we learned enough in that long night that Elle stood a good chance of being completely cured.
We all stayed in the hospital for the next three days. Elle was biopsied and had her central port installed on Friday. Grandmas flew in from across the country and prayer requests started going out across the globe. We returned home on Saturday and immediately had to come back to the ER because Elle was running a high fever. This was to be the first of four similar late-night visits to the ER for the precautionary administration of antibiotics over the next ten days.
A bone scan on Monday revealed that the disease had not spread to Elle's bones. We met with the treatment team for the first time on Thursday, October 9. Two treatment protocols were introduced - which one would be followed would depend on a CAT scan after six weeks. If the disease was gone from Elle's lungs by that time, she'd follow the milder, 25-week course of treatment with three drugs, plus radiation of the tumor bed in her abdomen. Otherwise, she'd face a 32-week regimen featuring the same three drugs supplemented by two stronger drugs and radiation of her chest cavity.
Elle's first treatment was administered in a sunny infusion room on Friday, October 10. She took it well, especially after receiving an IV dose of lorazepam. Since then, we have returned to the Jimmy Fund clinic three more times. Elle's tummy seems to have relaxed noticeably since treatment began. She received a red blood cell transfusion on 10/13 and after that has had plenty of energy.
Thanks to your prayers, Elle has not been afflicted with nausea, weakness or fever since the transfusion. If it weren't for the clumps of hair falling out, you would never guess that she was ill. Elle tries to continue with as many of her favorite activities as Mom and Dad will allow. Hopefully, she will see you soon!
