What is to follow?! Scans, scans and tests! On October 9 and 10th Addie will undergo a full work up to re-evaluate where she is with her cancer!! We are praying hard for NED... No evidence of disease!! That would be a miracle!! She will have an MIBG scan (scan specific for Neuroblastoma cells), an MRI, an eccocardiogram (to evaluate her heart health... Praying for no damage), another bone marrow biopsy, a hearing test, and a kidney test. Her MIBG scan must be 95% clear to stay on protocol and advance on to a stem cell transplant.
It sounds like if her scans are good we will have her stem cell transplant the beginning of November. It typically takes a minimum of thirty days and she will be sick, very sick from what we have heard! Addie's stem cell transplant is different from the normal... from what most people think it is! She is having a stem cell transplant because she needs toxic levels of chemotherapy, so much that if they didn't give her stem cells, her body would not recover and she would die. The more common reason for a bone marrow or stem cell transplant is because the individual has bad bone marrow or it is infected with cancer cells. Addie's bone marrow has been clear since her second round of chemo and we are praying that it has remained clear. Addie's stem cell transplant will be with her own cells, this is advantageous. She won't have the added risk of graft vs host disease and her body should welcome the new cells rather than fight them! There are obviously still lots of risks and possible complications with this process and we will sit down with a team that specializes in transplants prior to her stay to go over all of them. This all is up in the air until we see what her scans show!
This is a very anxious time for us and we have had some increased anxiety because of the longer time between treatments and Addie having some mild back pain... Likely just do to her surgeries but it still gives us a very uneasy feeling that her cancer could be growing!
We have a very long road ahead of us where we will deal with a lot of very scary and nerve racking things. I continue to pray for God's wisdom to understand the things that we face and I pray for continual strength and protection for our little Addie Bean!! I will always pray for total healing and a cancer free life for our sweetheart and I pray that I can trust in His will for Addie. I pray that His will is for her to live. No child should have to have cancer or be sick but He has a plan for all of us, the hard part is seeing that plan and trusting it is what is right!! Addie is strong and a child of God she will continue to fight this and He will continue to walk by her side, I trust this with all my heart!!
Please pray that the scans next week are clear!! Pray that Addie can stay on protocol and move on to the stem cell transplant! Also pray that her back pain would subside to alleviate her discomfort and our anxiety, pray that it is merely a side effect of surgery and not her tumor! Pray for the doctors and researchers who are working toward a cure for cancer... Pray that the cure is found so no one would have to suffer from this awful disease!! Pray for funding for cancer research so that way better treatments are developed and implemented!
And lastly please pray that Addie avoids mucositis this round. She had it terribly after these medications last time and it would be wonderful to avoid this and to have some much needed time at home!!
Thank you everyone for your continued love and support! We feel so blessed and comforted by all of you!! Thank you Jesus for my sweet Addie Bean and the treatment thus far!!
Go Team Addie
Two blankets... Can't believe it!! She was so excited!! Thank you again to everyone involved with that!!
She loves to play naughty green witch... She also loves bedtime stories that involve naughty green witches :)
Her pretty prayer shawl that was given to her!
Finally learned to drive the Mini Cooper!!
Mandy, I will continue to hold Addie, your family and the medical staff up in prayers! It's hard to pray for God's will, when we don't know what that involves but God's plan is best! My you all feel the peace and comfort only God can provide! Hugs to all of you!!!
ReplyDelete