May 17, 2004
Apologies for such an extended lapse from posting. I had several weeks where I could not access Erin's web site to update it. I knew it was probably something fairly simple, but coming in late April/early May, in the midst of final projects and grading, I couldn't spare a moment to sit on hold with technical support to diagnose the problem. It turned out that Everyone's Internet (the company that hosts this web site) changed the log on procedure so that I needed to add a "~" before the user name when I logged on to post, but no one bothered to pass that bit of information along to the customers. Oh well!
Last I wrote, Erin was scheduled for scans the first week of May. The CT scan, bone scan, and bone marrow aspiration and biopsy came back clean and healthy. The MIBG had an anomaly (a faint, tiny "something") on or near Erin's liver. The doctor wants to take another look in early June (prep for scan on 6/2 and actual scan on 6/3) and see if it is still there.
Dr. Russell has tried to keep me from driving myself crazy over this result. She offered several possible explanations: 1. radiologist error (MIBG's are notoriously hard to read. Several parts of the body uptake the tracer naturally including the liver, so sometimes vigilant radiologists see spots where there really aren't any.), 2. lingering benign or dead tumor cells (matured from the accutane treatment or killed by the vaccine), 3. scar tissue or other type lesion that resulted from treatment. Another thing that gives me hope is that I know of two other of Dr. Russell's patients who have had "something" on a scan in the last six months or so. Both of those cases turned out to be false alarms. I AM DEFINITELY HOPING FOR A FALSE ALARM. A worse options is that we could be seeing tumor cells too small or disorganized to be picked up by the CT scan. If Erin is relapsing, we appear to be catching it early, which will give us more options.
So much for medical news. Relay for Life was an outstanding success here in the Brazos Valley. Erin walked the track from 7:00 until midnight and made 26 laps, either walking or running. That's six and a half miles! She and her friend Nico had an absolutely outstanding time. My nephew Mark Taylor, a Hodgkin's Lymphoma survivor, came out and ran the survivors' lap with Erin. They both looked so healthy and happy, as you can see if you click here. Davis and his friend George did their share for the team, staying on the track during those unpopular hours of 1:00 -3:00 a.m., then striking the tent and loading the van when the bad storms brought an early end to relay. Thanks Davis and George!
Except for the not perfect results, scan week was the smoothest ever. Nico (without mom or brother Adam!) spent the first three days with us. We browsed the bookstore, took in the planetarium show, and of course made our way downtown for some time at the aquarium and its arcade. Ronald McDonald House was a big hit, with a Cinco de Mayo lunch, Mother's Day activities, and of course a lot of playing.
School is winding down for Davis and Erin (I put my semester to bed last week, woohoo!). Davis had AP exams in Calculus and American History when we were in Houston for scans. He thinks he passed both and may have done quite well on Calculus. Davis's 3v3 team won their tournament this weekend! He has the city championship in chess next weekend and one more soccer tournament on Memorial Day weekend, plus finals in between before he is finished with the spring semester.
No comments:
Post a Comment