All About Christian!!

On December 1, 2004, Christian was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), a disease similar in many ways to cancer. He had involvement in two vertebrae, his left femur and his lungs. Christian started the LCH III protocol in December 2004. His 52 week plan included prednisone (a steroid) and bactrim (an antibiotic) as well as two chemotherapy drugs, vinblastin and 6-MP. Vinblastin was administered through his mediport at clinic and 6-MP was a pill he took every day at home. He completed the protocol in December 2005.

Christian continues to have scans periodically to evaluate progress. The last set was in May 2007. The next set will be in November 2007.

Little funding is offered to fight this disease. Those wishing to donate can make contributions to:

Histiocytosis Association of America
332 North Broadway
Pitman, NJ 08071
In Honor of Christian LaFountain

Journal

Monday, July 2, 2007 9:29 PM CDT

I know... a new posting already!?!? I have received a handful of comments about the neglect this website has suffered, so I thought I better get a posting up. As always keep in mind, no news is good news. :0)

Several worthwhile items to note since February. Christian had scans in May as scheduled. His femur is still healing (2.5 years later) from the damage done by the LCH. T-11 is still flat, and there is still scarring in the lungs. Nothing new, and no concerns... and that's what we always like to hear!

In other "Christian's health" news, he had his tonsils and adenoids removed and new ear tubes placed last Friday. He continues to be in a bit of pain occasionally, but for the most part, he's bouncing back very well. He was having so many problems with his ears and throat, he has some hearing loss. We felt it best to get this taken care of before he starts kindergarten in the fall. (I know, kindergarten!!) The ENT is expecting his hearing will improve by his check up with her.

In May, Matt and I attended a fundraiser for the Sydney Salem Golding Fund out of Rainbow Babies Hospital in Cleveland. Those of you from Histio World may recognize the name. Sydney's father, Mike Golding, hosted the Big Meeting (national LCH conference) last summer. It was a very nice evening; Mike does such a nice job with these events. He had a table set up with photos of his beautiful daughter and the booklets from the conference last year with stories about Histio kids. He also had monitors running video clips of Sydney and her family. She was such a sweet little baby. It really was a nice tribute to her.

Also in May, I had the pleasure of granting my first two wishes as a Make-a-Wish volunteer! That was a lot of fun. The kids just get soooo excited with everything you tell them! Both of these kids went to Disney World, which I hear is the most popular wish. I can't blame them... we had a great time on Christian's wish trip! I knew I wanted to do some sort of volunteering after we received such an outpouring of support with Christian. There are so many wonderful groups that jump in to help others when they need it. I chose Make-a-Wish because the wish granting volunteers get to have such a direct impact on the kids. I got to meet these two boys and see the smiles when they heard about their trip. It truly was a lot of fun and very rewarding!

In June, we again attended our local Relay for Life and took Christian on his survivor lap. Thankfully, he doesn't remember much about his whole ordeal. He knows he goes to clinic, he used to have a port and he has a boo-boo in his back. Christian doesn't yet realize he is a survivor and that being a survivor is very special. At the Relay, he knew he was on the "yellow shirt team" (survivors were in yellow) and he was very happy to hear it when we told him everyone on the "yellow shirt team" was a winner!

Matt and I are enjoying our little boys. The free time we had gained by Christian growing more independent, we lost to Jacob who climbs everything in sight. That kid just goes nonstop! The two boys typically get along very well, often making each other laugh out loud. It's true what they say about adding a second... one plus one is more than two!

So that's the report for now. Christian's next clinic visit will be in August and the next scans will be in November.

Thanks as always for thinking of Christian and continuing to check on him! - Renee

Read Journal History

Hospital Information:

Akron Children's Hospital
Outpatient Oncology Clinic

Links:

E-mail Author: cr_lafo@yahoo.com