Maintenance Day 519: Another Decision

After a lot of thought, discussion, encouragement from friends we have made a decision regarding school for Scarlett. She and Evangeline WILL be going to school today. These are the reasons for our decision:

1. Before she was diagnosed, Scarlett was up to date on her vaccines. Because of when she was diagnosed, she has not missed any further vaccinations. We would have to do antibody titers to see exactly HOW protected she is but we will wait on that.

2. Exposure is an unknown variable. We know about this child. We don’t know about every kid at the park. Or the last kid to touch a cart at the store. Or about every kid in her gymnastics class. Since we know about this child, we can take extra measures to protect her.

3. For a four year old, Scarlett is an excellent hand washer. She’s actually an excellent hand washer for an adult! She remembers to do it and she does it well.

4. Their teacher is excellent. She began for Scarlett this summer and has precautions in place for her. I know that she will keep Scarlett as safe as she can.

5. In the future, we will not know about the status of their classmates. We do not know the vaccination percentage in Tate’s class. He is just as likely to bring germs home as Scarlett is.

6. Our friends, mothers of cancer fighters and survivors, helped me through. It opened up a topic of conversation and they talked me down from the ledge. They offered encouraging words and advice.

7. We want Scarlett to have some normalcy in her life. We want her to have a safe place to learn and experience. At some point, we have to get into a normal life routine.

There was a lot of thought that went into this decision. We talked, I cried, we asked a lot of questions, we did a lot of research. It was not an easy decision. Just like our decision with radiation, we will never know if we made the right decision. If Scarlett doesn’t get sick this year, that’s great! If she does, we will second guess that decision forever.