Help Silas Beat B-Cell Leukemia

Update. On silas’ journey

Hello everyone,

Wanted to provide an update from today. At Silas' pre-op appointment the head of Oncology at Children's (Dr. Burke) sat me down and explained that one of Silas' genetic test results are back. The "FISH" test (fluorescence in situ hybridization). This test is used to help identify chromosomal abnormalities in patients with Silas' type of cancer (B-ALL for those new to the page). This test showed that Silas has the Intrachromosomal amplification of chromosome 21 (iAMP21). This is a rare genetic abnormality that affects a small percentage of children (2-5%) with B-ALL.

In terms of what that means for my little boy, is that this changes his treatment approach. At first we were told Silas was at "Standard Risk", meaning he would receive only the necessary amount of treatment to beat this...to "High Risk" meaning it will be a lot harder on Silas to beat this. My heart instantly broke again.

With this change in therapy, I was told that Silas will lose some of his functional ability to his muscles, primarily in his legs during treatment. If you know Silas, you can understand how devastating this will be as he is SO active in sports, four-wheeling, and just being a little boy.

I want to extend my sincere appreciation to all of you for cheering him on during this battle, as his Mama I will be forever grateful to each and every one of you.

Together we will help Silas beat this.