In other good news, Nico’s physical therapist has noticed a lot of improvement. So much so, she only needs to see him to check-in and ensure there is no decline. We have enrolled Nico in many, many activities over the last year (karate, gym, yoga, swimming). The therapist thinks this is probably forcing him to engage muscles that he would normally not use during ordinary play, and is helping him to maintain muscle coordination.
I am not sure that we dare even whisper it, but we have technically crossed an important threshold this month. In less than one year, Nico will have completed the three-and-half year protocol. I have leafed through a calendar, penciled in every projected appointment, and obsessively counted the number of LPs, steroid pulses, and doses of Vincristine remaining.
This has been a good month. We will take it.
P.S. We are posting some videos on warriornico.com of Nico's #JustKeepDancing challenge (scroll down to see). Ellen DeGeneres challenged viewers to either post a video of themselves dancing (tagged with #JustKeepDancing) on whatever social media preferred (and challenge three other people to dance) or donate to childhood cancer research charity. We set up an account on Alex’s Lemonade Stand called #JustKeepDancing. It is fun! We love seeing the kids strut their stuff.
P.P.S. We are also posting a little clip of Nico's first piano performance (scroll down past the #JustKeepDancing challenge) and a few shots of Nico's first trip to the shore just about 20 minutes from our house (not really a beach - but there was sand and water at least).