# @mercphotography on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf2sfCGLMjt
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/32662642-mercphotography-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/848eaaa6da.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-07-11T02:06:23.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** MERC (@mercphotography) — https://gondola.cc/mercphotography

## Caption

After his last dose of chemo, which left Elias dehydrated and very ill, he cried to us that he felt like the chemo was killing him and begged us to stop. We knew we needed to reevaluate the plan moving forward when he said this. Last summer, when he told us his arm hurt, we waited to see if it was just a growing pain. After a month or two, he continued to say it seriously hurt, so we took him to his pediatrician with our concerns. Unfortunately, this doctor overlooked his pain and said he needed physical therapy because children with autism don't always exercise enough on their own. We should have done more. We have regretted many moments of the past when he asked us for support, and we failed him. His doctor failed him. And we don't ever want to repeat those mistakes. Now, we are listening and acting on his behalf. We asked his oncologist to stop the last two treatments according to his plan. He has earned that right on so many levels. It has been discussed with his oncologist, and she didn't give us any pushback and she agreed to stop per our request.Elias was just tested for genetic dispositions after our last appointment. In addition to Li-Fraumeni syndrome, he also returned positive for a gene that specifically resists chemotherapy treatments, hence the reason why his tumor grew while receiving chemo. Therefore, we feel confident in the decision to stop the last two chemo treatments and we question why we even put him through this after surgery. 
We will now be focusing on Elias's post-chemo follow-up care. The focus of this will be monitoring his lungs. If there is any relapse, Osteosarcoma will typically appear in the lungs. He had a CT scan of his lungs on Thursday; thankfully, it came back clean. His blood counts are recovering from the recent bottomed-out levels that left us feeling anxious and concerned. Finally, we can go without wearing our masks inside our homes and can take little adventures outside. The future will consist of monthly blood draws, X-Rays every three months, and a yearly full-body MRI. Elias is NED (No Evidence of Disease). Now our family can start to heal and recover, but the fight is not over. #osteowarrior #wintersoldier

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 224
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 32

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MERC | @mercphotography | https://gondola.cc/mercphotography | Photographer |

## Tags

wintersoldier, osteowarrior

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