Great news! Wishing you all strength and grace the next couple of years until your child is free of this disease. It won’t be easy, but 98% is a really great thing to hear.
I wish you and your family the best of luck and I hope your son continues to have a good response to the chemo.
Woeg–you made me smile. 
Another suggestion from my friends who went through something similar: Get a PO Box. They had a lot of offers of help from people like us on the dope, and ended up turning things down at first because they were afraid to give out personal info. She said a PO Box was the simple and cheap missing link which allowed them to accept graciously, and enjoy without concern, the little “extras” folks wanted to send.
Oh, good. I’m glad it’s the best possible news under the circumstances.
Good luck to you & yours!
Glad to hear positive news! Let us know if you need anything.
I haven’t posted on the Dope in over a year but something brought me over here tonight just to see what was going on. It must have been so I could add my support to what you and your family are going through.
So glad to hear the news that the leukemia is treatable and that the little guy is in good spirits.
I have a 2 year old daughter and 3 yr old/7 month old grandsons…I simply can’t imagine being in your shoes. What a comfort to have such a great support group from your friends and family!
Sending more positive thoughts your way.
Yay 
That’s good to hear.
Woeg glad you got some good news. It’s going to be a hard road for your son for a while, but we’re all here for you.
Oh, so good. Blessings, and keep us updated about how Riley is doing.
Hey all - thanks again for all the support - means SOOOO much to me!
Riley’s stepdad set up a Caring Bridge website, which I am a co-author on. We’ll be using it to update everyone on Riley’s condition and how he’s handling treatments. The site address is: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/rileybaron
The roller coaster continues…I’m still having a hell of a time sleeping. May have to schedule an appointment for myself with the doc to see what we can do about that.
Again, thanks to all. You mean the world to me.
Hurray for the good news. Prepare yourselves for the long haul. It gets easier as this will all become your “new normal.”
There currently is an art show here in Bilbao featuring photographs of cancer survivors, and interviews in every local newspaper with the spokeswoman for the organization that’s put up the show. The interviews look like they’re an agency piece which has been tailored in each case (or maybe the different reporters just happened to pick the same lines to copy verbatim from the show’s brochure).
She had leukemia as an adult; when it was detected, her mother was told “we don’t expect her to survive the weekend” (and this was on a Friday) “if she gets to Monday alive, we’ll talk about possible treatments”. She’s alive and kicking and in good health. One of the things that stayed with me among what she said in the interview was “I keep hearing ‘there’s life after cancer’ - there is life during cancer! I never loved my family so fiercely, I never enjoyed the dawn so much, I never felt so much wonder looking at the light shining on a piece of metal.”
May you and your family find lots of life in the months to come, and your son’s return to health be speedy and complete.
Thanks for the caringbridge link.
Fuck you, leukemia.
I’m glad for your good news, Woeg. Best wishes and prayers for you both!
I’m so glad to hear that it’s the most easily treatable kind, and such a great remission rate too!
I just wanted to ask that you please, please don’t forget about your other child in all this (I think you said you had one other). My sister had cancer twice as a teenager (13 and 17) and during that time, while they did the best they could with lack of foresight, my parents essentially ignored me and my other sister’s needs. I don’t blame them, but we also didn’t get the discipline, attention, reassurance and love that we needed. You sort of build up a bit of resentment when mom and dad don’t come to your big game or praise your awesome report card because the other kid is sick and they are too busy dealing with that and their own sadness/fear, even if you are really thankful that you didn’t lose a sibling to cancer. My younger sister (there are three of us, I’m the oldest, middle sister that had cancer, and the youngest sister) really suffered for it and it’s carried in to her adult life now too. She’s very resentful still.
All the best.
EmAnJ, this is a really good point. We actually have three other children; one is his biological older brother, who is 12, one is his 15 yr old stepsister, and the other is his “younger” stepbrother who is just turning 5 this month. The latter is also has high functioning autism, which makes it harder for him to understand everything that’s going on.
We are doing our very best, however, to make sure that all the kids are getting the support and attention that we can give them. We’ve been having regular “chill out” nights with the 15 yr old, and have her signed up for a swim team (she LOVES the water). The 12 yr old is getting horseback riding lessons from a very dear friend of ours, and since many of our friends have children his age, he’s getting a lot of sleepover time, which he loves. The hardest right now is the other almost-5 yr old; he keeps seeing the presents and ballons that Riley is getting, and he just doesn’t quite get why. We are working with him though, and yesterday, he came in the room and I had some cuddle/wrestle time with him. When we were done, he laid his head on my chest and said “I’m sorry Riley is sick.” And I said “I know buddy, I am too”
And then he said “I want to make him a present.” And I said “Ok buddy, what do you want to make him?”
To which he thought for a bit, then said “Whatever I can buy at the store!”
He’s a great kid. 
We’re going to go shopping for his present today…and I will definitely make sure he gets one too.
I’m sorry for your bad news and happy to hear your good news. Sending all good thoughts your way. Take care of yourself, get others to give you a hand.
Best wishes and prayers for the easiest course of treatment for Riley. And for sleep for you. It can be hard to remember to take care of yourself when someone you love needs care. Take help that’s offered.
CaringBridge is a great site It’s a nice way to keep everyone updated. I was happy to read this: “They have an entire wing dedicated to neutropenic patients so Riley got to go walk around, play Beatles rock band, go outside in the garden, and pop popcorn to eat while he watched a movie.” That is an amazing thing!! While my brother was neutropenic he had to stay in his room and could not leave, that really added to our frustrations for sure.