Brylee Battles On

December 13-
Brylee had been getting monthly blood tests for the last year and everything was looking good.  I think we had all let our guard down and thought we could put all the "cancer stuff" behind us.
This week Brylee hadn't felt very good and then one morning she woke up with the right side of her face paralyzed.  They rushed her to the ER and after an MRI and all sorts of test, it was discovered that she had an infection that was filling her mastoid sinus.  The pressure in the sinus was impinging the nerve and causing the facial paralysis.  They sent her home with antibiotics.
The next morning, she awoke with hearing problems so they rushed her to the ENT.  The antibiotics weren't working quickly enough so she was going to need surgery to relive the pressure.  The surgery went good and they cleared out her sinus.  It would be another waiting game to see when she would get the feeling back in her face, but her hearing was better.  While she was under the anesthesia, they decided to go ahead with a bone marrow biopsy just to get a definite answer.
The next night, we got to go and see Brylee and Zayden perform in their school's Christmas Performance.  It was fun to watch and Kingston really got into the songs.

The happiness was short lived, because the next day (Saturday) they got the results of the bone marrow biopsy....the cancer was back.  It was such a shock to hear especially after all the obstacles she had overcome this last year and regained the ability to walk and run.  It was a whirlwind of information, but they thankfully they caught it very early.
She would be starting the first round of chemo on Monday...just 2 days away.  After the first round (about a month) she would have another bone marrow biopsy.  If the cancer was in remission, she would be placed on the bone marrow registry and continue chemo until a match was found.  If there was still cancer in the cells than they would continue chemo.  Because of all the chemo she got last time, she was only eligible for 3 rounds this time before it would become too toxic for her.  And the bone marrow transplant isn't something that can be done here, so when the time comes they will have to relocate for a minimum of 100 days for that process.
It was earth shattering news and too hard to digest it all.  All we could do was cry and hold onto Kingston and Julienna.
On Sunday, we were able to visit Brylee and Zayden at their house.