April 24, 2019

A decent day for Julia. Day 3 of chemo. Vitals are fine, still no complications with the chemo (which is crazy, considering the risk of things like infections are 85% with the one she's on). A little extra barfy today, so they're trying to keep that under control. Mostly just lots and lots of sleeping. In general, very 'blah'. Lethargic, slow. No one is concerned - just totally wiped out during round 5. She's really doing great with her sleep schedule. Mostly sleeping through the night, with like a 2 hour awake period around 3am. ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

Speech therapy came by today. They read her a story and tried to get her to hold some of the toys that go along with it and say the words. She was just a giggle bug and thought everything was funny! So... no real progress in the speech department, but at least she enjoyed herself =) Then she spent some time throwing her toys back and forth with Reed. That's when she was noticeably slower than normal. But mostly, just cartoons and dozing. ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

Tomorrow we meet with the neuro-oncologist to review her MRIs. I requested the meeting, so I don't believe we'll get any new info. I've just not personally looked at ANY of her MRIs. I wouldn't look at my dad's MRIs either. I don't know - something about actually seeing the cancer just makes me very uncomfortable. I guess it makes it more real. But now that she's improving, I'm feeling a little more brave (only a little... I've seriously considered cancelling the meeting). I told them I want to see her initial MRI, what it looked like after surgery, what it looked like when we were told she was dying, and what it looks like now. I know they are sending me all her MRIs via mail, but if I can get some pictures of the screen tomorrow to share, I will. I know many people are interested in seeing. ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

So that's it for Julia tonight! Just a very exhausted day with chemo. We didn't even get a new video to share because she just slept. So I'm sharing the last video we took of her walking around - it was the day before her surgery in November; since then, she's been bed-ridden. She had just seen baby brother for the first time in a week or two, and it was the happiest she had been in a while! He had JUST learned to walk, so she loved following him around <3 I'm so curious to know who is taller now, if they were to stand next to each other... ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

*** Other Children's Stories *** ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

Last night I mentioned I get contacted daily by new families looking for options for their loved one's cancer battle. I really try to keep this page about Julia, but many people asked if I could share anything about these other children. So I got permission to share. ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

Both families have a child with rare cancer, both are no longer doing any active treatment, and both immediately added Julia's alternative therapies to their regimens. (I feel like I have to say it every time, but seriously, absolutely no pressure here - totally just FYI), but their GoFundMe's are both targeted at giving these alternative therapies an honest chance to work, and I can definitely vouch for the modest amount they're both looking for. It's enough to cover 1-3 months of treatment. Speaking of - doesn't it suck that families have to resort to GoFundMe's to give their children a chance of surviving cancer? If your budget allows, consider giving something to both families. These treatments are working for Julia... I wish I could just give them for free to everyone in need. ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

Rebecca Major. Her 8 year old son Austin was diagnosed a year ago with ganglioglioma, a rare brain tumor. As of November of last year, they were told nothing else could be done. They are aggressively perusing alternative therapies, including all those that Julia is currently on. This family has 4 children. https://www.gofundme.com/austin039s-chance ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

Amanda Stafford. Her 3 year old daughter Mikaila was recently diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. She's already at home on hospice care, with no active treatment. This family has 8 children. They are very interested in anyone with any knowledge about her cancer or treatment options, in the meanwhile, they've jumped into all Julia's alternative therapies in addition to others they had started on their own. https://www.gofundme.com/support-for-the-stafford-family ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

(And I did ask the lady in Africa if she had anything I could share- but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. If I hear from her, I'll share). ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

I appreciate the platform Julia has acquired, and the difference it can make in the lives of other families. Since there seems to be genuine interest, I will try to share another story every week or so. But please know I get asked many times a day to share GoFundMe's. I'm actually nervous to even start this, because I know I will be overwhelmed with messages. I don't like being in the position to pick and choose which ones I share because who am I to decide that? I just can't possibly share them all - it's all I would do. So the next time it feels appropriate, I'll pick another story or two to share.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/jBZ5gLddvzg ‍‍‍‍‍‍ ‍‍

<3 <3 <3

. . . ********************************* ********** Official Links *********** (These are here because of scammers) *********************************

Julia's *only* pages: Website: juliaadamscancerfund.org Facebook: Julia's Fight Against Rare Cancer - Fund GoFundMe: gofundme.com/juliasfightagainstcancer

Julia's *only* fundraisers: T-shirts: https://bit.ly/2MQc0lF Children's Book: https://amzn.to/2CTTN2S Jewelry: https://etsy.me/2E1mR8i

Where I buy Julia's CBD Oil (CBD BioCare 3500mg bottle): www.naturallywellforlife.com || Coupon code: danaboyd

If you're new and want to know what's going on, my first post about Julia was on October 31st. You can find them all on my Facebook page or Julia's website <3