Brooke Mulford Update

Once again it has been months since updating!  I want to start this update with an urgent prayer request for Trey Love.  Trey is a beautiful , 4  year old boy that we met at CHOP along with his awesome parents Missy and Mike.  Trey was diagnosed with NB about 6 months before Brooke.  I just got word tonight that he has relapsed in his brain.  He has spent a good part of today in surgery having the tumor removed however they have been told that even after the tumor is removed there is likely no further treatment they can do and the cancer will continue to return.  They will be doing testing once he has stabilized to see if it is anywhere else.  There is not much else doctors can do for him but we know that God is the Great Healer so I am asking for everyone to please pray for Trey and his family.  Trey is their only child and their world.  I ran into them at Brooke’s last set of scans and everything seemed to be going so well and he looked so good and just 4 months later he is fighting for his life…

Brooke and I will be heading up to CHOP this week for her quarterly scans/tests (which now I am even more terrified than usual).  She was supposed to get these scans last month but woke up the morning of the scans with the chicken pox so everything had to be cancelled and rescheduled.  She will be having a CT scan on Tues morning around 10am followed by her MIBG injection at 1:00pm.  Tuesday she will have her audiology appt at 8:00am, MIBG scan at 10:30, and I should get the results around 1:30pm at her oncology clinic appt.

Had planned on writing all about the fun and wonderful things we’ve been doing the past 3 months but having a hard time focusing on anything but Trey now. 

Quickly, here are some of the fun times and memories we created so far this new year and will treasure:

January:  Brooke and I spent a week in Orlando, FL with 3 families that are very dear to us.  Brooke had such a great time being able to go to Disney with so many good friends. 

February:  I had a wonderful Girls Weekend with my best buds from college.  Brooke and I spent almost 2 weeks home from school/work while Brooke had the chicken pox.  As with everything else, Brooke was a trooper through it all and rarely complained or even itched!

March:  For spring break, Brooke and I went to visit family in California and had such a wonderful time. 

Brooke started back playing soccer a few months ago for the first time since she was diagnosed and is having so much fun with it.  She may not be the best player out there but she is so filled with joy while playing and has the biggest smile on the field which is all that really matters to me.  She has come so far and it is such a blessing to us that she is able to participate in the things that she loves again.  She will also be starting lacrosse next week and is really looking forward to that.  She continues to dance on Thursday nights and will hopefully get back into swim lessons once the summer is here.

So many other great times and memories but as I said I’m not really feeling up to writing about it all at the moment.  I’m still in a state of shock and deep sadness.  Please also pray for our friend Hannah who relapsed in December and sweet little Chelsea who also relapsed recently and is recovering from stem cell transplant.  We’ve also recently found out about a local girl here (also named Brooke, age 13) that has been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma and is starting her first round of chemo this week at Hopkins.  Please pray for her and her family as they begin their journey. 

Thank you so much for your prayers for these young warriors and for Brooke with her upcoming scans.  I will update with the results as soon as I am able.  I am starting to realize that no matter how many days/months/years we get from Brooke’s end of treatment we will never really be able to be free of the fear of relapse. Pediatric cancer and its aftermath, unfortunately will always be a part of our lives and raising money for a cure will always be our mission.  Appreciate every moment with your children…I’m going to head up now to climb in bed with Brooke and hold her tight…

God Bless,

Amy