Today we learned some new, long-awaited details. The first and most important being that the cancer has not spread beyond the original site!! Praise God! (the MIBG showed no metastasis)
We also went over Tim's treatment plan and final diagnosis which is a stage 3 neuroblastoma in the intermediate risk category. This is very good news for Timothy. Chemotherapy began today which will consist of some very heavy duty nasty drugs which are used in this kind of cancer as it is a highly aggressive type. It will be 3 days of chemo, then the rest of the 3 week cycle off, but will require 2 check-ups each week. And there will be either 2 or 4 rounds of chemo depending on the blood work which takes 4 weeks to come back from California. So far all the histology has been favourable so hopefully this will be too and then we will only have TWO ROUNDS!!! (they orginally told us AT LEAST 6 rounds, but more like 12 months!) So wow!!! only 2 is amazing!
They also said that the 5 year survival rate for kids under one with neuroblastoma is 90-95%! Tim still has a long road ahead as they will need to monitor him the rest of his life. He will have MRIs freqently to check on the tumour. They also had a pharmacist go over all the side effects of the drugs with us which took an HOUR. Yipes. So please continue to pray that these effects will be minimal as many are quite serious and possible life threatening.
Tim had his first dose today and while he did not want to eat his solids, he is drinking well and was right back at the nurses station flirting with all his girlfriends by 6 o'clock. Heehee... what a guy. He entertains about 8 people at once with all his smiles and "stories". Anyways, I am back at the Ronald McDonald house and will likely pack it in for the night soon (yes... I am wiped by 8:30 at night) It's incredibly draining to sit around a hospital all day every day. We continue to meet neat people here and hear their stories. The nurses are all really great as well. We couldn't ask for better care.
Alrighty then... that's enough for now. Thanks again for all the prayers! Have a good night and I hope and pray that none of you will ever have to go thru this. But at least we can be thankful that we live in Ontario where the health care system is top notch and covered by OHIP!!
Cheers,
Shauna
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4 comments:
I am celebrating the great news and praying everyday. Hugs and prayers. Carolyn Wing grandma to Laura Stage IV neuroblastoma carepages.com page name LauraVDB
That is great news - we are praying - sending lots of love and hugs.
Aidan looks forward to fighting over toys with Timothy again - really soon!
That is such great news! I have been praying for you and your family Shauna... All the best in the next few weeks and months!
By the way.. that last post was from me- Melanie Bartels... sorry, I am not use to this blog stuff!!!
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