It’s the kind of news you really need to hear during the holidays.
Courtney Shaw and Jeret Wentworth, of Back Bay, NB, say the bone marrow transplant for their nine year old son, Zackary Shaw, was a complete success.
Zackary was first diagnosed with leukemia in the summer of 2012, just before his fifth birthday, and underwent three and a half years of chemo therapy before going into remission.
After only seven short months, the family learned Zackary would need to beat cancer again.
He then received full body and cranial radiation treatments and intense chemotherapy at the Toronto Hospital For Sick Kids. Zackary underwent the bone marrow transplant on October 21st, 2016.
His mother, Courtney, says the preliminary results are showing the donor blood is 100 percent matched to Zackary, which means he no longer has any of his old cells left.
Currently, Zackary is finishing his treatments in Toronto, but they are hoping he will be discharged to the IWK in Halifax before Christmas for further monitoring, and then back home to New Brunswick in the following weeks.
Courtney says there will still be lots of follow-up appointments between the Saint John Regional Hospital and the IWK for years to come, but they are thrilled to say Zack has beat cancer once again.
They also want thank everyone who has walked their journey with them the past few years.
