I am what’s possible

 

When she was 18 months old, Victoria Thompson’s mother took her to their doctor in Beaufort, South Carolina, for fevers and a swollen stomach. An ultrasound showed a volleyball-sized tumor on her kidney. A short time later, they had a diagnosis: stage IV neuroblastoma.

Victoria has had chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, and radiation to fight her cancer. She has also participated in two clinical trials through MUSC Children’s Health. She was one of the first children in the country to have genomic screening as part of her treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma. More recently, she completed a trial for a drug that’s been shown to keep tumors from coming back. Her mom, Jennifer, gave us an update on how Victoria is doing.

An update from Victoria’s mom, Jennifer Thompson

Victoria is 5 and a half years old and thriving like any other girl her age. We are constantly in awe at how happy and energetic she is after all that she has been through, since she was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma in 2016 at the age of 18 months.

Victoria finished the study drug DFMO (eflornithine) in January 2020; It is hopefully going to keep her cancer from coming back. The only side effect of that drug was thinning hair. Since she completed this round of her trial her hair has grown thicker and longer. She will have scans in January 2021 and after that she will get scans once a year. She no longer needs bone marrow biopsies, so we were able to do scans this past July without anesthesia. Victoria did great and her scans were CLEAR!!!   

Victoria started kindergarten this year and goes in person four days a week and one day virtually while the school sanitizes. She scored in the 98th percentile for math on the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) test. Victoria loves school and all her friends. Her favorite things at school are the playground and lunch. She loves to sing, dance, play instruments, roll play, paint and anything to do with art. She also loves science, lizards, butterflies, frogs, and being a big sister and best friend to Reesie, who is now 4 years old.

She often says she wants to be a doctor, the person who takes X-rays, the person who gives the “stinky mask” (anesthesiologist) or an animal doctor. We know no matter what she chooses she will do amazing things.

We are so blessed to have Victoria’s care placed in the hands of Dr. Jacqueline Kraveka, who specializes in neuroblastoma, and the other oncologists, nurses and teams at the MUSC Children’s Hospital. They saved our baby’s life. We look forward to seeing them during routine clinic visits as they always bring a comfort to us. We cannot say enough kind things about everyone who took care of Victoria and our family throughout treatment.