Sunday, November 25, 2007

Jovee and Tyson

Tyson said to Jeannine out of the blue while they were talking in our kitchen, "Mom, if I could, I would take a knife, cut out Jovee's tumor, and then put it inside of me so that I could go through it all for her." It was a proud moment for me when Jeannine told me what he said. All three of them have taken really good care of Jovee and they love her a ton.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Official wording from report

CT Scan of soft tissue neck:
Compared to 9/5/07
Soft tissue density in the left superior mediastinum. Currently measures 14x9 mm. Stable appearance.

CT Scan chest/abdomen/pelvis
Compared to9/5/07
Chest:No new soft tissue abnormalities are identified.
Abdomen/pelvis: Stable. No evidence for metastatic disease. Stable examination of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis. There are no new abnormalities identified.

Bone marrow aspiration: No atypical cells to indicate metastatic disease are identified. Blasts are not increased.

MIBG Study:
The previously noted region of increased MIBG metabolism in the left paratracheal region is again identified, although decreased in intensity. THERE ARE TWO NEW REGIONS OF INCREASED MIBG METABOLISM IN THE PARA-AORTIC REGION, at approximately the T10 level. Uptake elsewhere is satisfactory. These likely represent para-aortic nodes; location within the adrenal glands is considered less likely.

Didn't really tell us much as far as the 2 new regions. Hopefully they are para-aortic nodes or guts or bowels.

Lots of Hair


Yes, she does have more hair then me. It's growing a lot. This is a picture of one of her favorite friends, Nolan. They like each other.
I requested copies of the report today, since I didn't get them on Friday. It still just puzzles me that the 2 bright spots could be guts or bowels. I doubtful because the doctors have never told us that bowel could light up in the scans so why would it show up now. The stomache area is where most of the kids with neuroblastoma start to appear; stomache, adrenal areas. I hope that my suspicions are dead wrong and that it's just nothing or just bowel. So anxious since it could be cancer and spreading or it's just bowel and nothing.
We partied and danced a lot last night. Jovee and the kids love to jam to music. Take a video camcorder and record your kids and record a lot of them. That was the advice of one of the mothers that lost her child because of cancer.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Latest Results from Tests

Tests all done Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday was CT scan of the chest, Wednesday was full body CT Scan, bone marrow aspiration (biopsy), MIBG Scan...

Dr. told us to give her a call Friday (today) morning and so I called at 9:30 am. She was real busy and I couldn't take it anymore so I went to the hospital at 3:00 pm. Her assistant said she was busy, to come back later. I asked if I could just get a print out of the findings because I have a little idea of what the findings say. She went back to talk to Dr. Judy, came back out and said "Dr. Judy has a small concern and doesn't want to give me any print outs until she acutally goes over the findings in full. Come back a little later and she'll talk to me."

"Small concern" didn't sound good. Any "concerns" isn't good when you're dealing with cancer. So I just cried and cried and cired after leaving the hospital, thinking the worst. Jeannine and I try to think positive but it's hard when you're dealing with cancer. Anyways, I went back to the hospital at 4:45 and this is what was discussed:

Positives: the nueroblastoma that measures 2 centimeters that is at the left side below her collar bone was less intense, less bright compared to September 5th on the scan. If it isn't bright on the scan that means that the neuroblastoma cells are not as active. That's our understanding. The bone and bone marrow biopsy showed negative neuroblastoma. We like that.

Negatives: 2 bright spots on the MIBG scan showed up. It is in the middle of her, at the top of her belly. Dr. said she's not quite sure it's neuroblastoma and said it's a "very, very good chance that it's just bowel". Bowel and guts can soak up the tracer. Dr. also said it could just be the adrenal glands. Really frustrating. There really is no clear test that shows neuroblastoma.

Scan again first week of December, the 4th and 5th or 5th and 6th.

Very frustrating and have to play the patience game. Dr. Judy is the medical director of Sacred Heart. She's top dog. But there was no definite clear answer that she could give us with what the 2 bright spots were other than could be guts and bowels...Aaaarggghhhh!!!!

Jovee is talking so much more and is so active and girly...she loves to wear dresses, hasn't put on pants for a long time. Her hair is growing lots. I'll have to take some pictures and post some tomorrow. Anyways, it's a solemn night at the Lim home, just don't know what to think because we really don't have any clarity on the 2 new bright spots.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Done with Tests Today

Yesterday, Tuesday the 6th Jovee had a CT Scan of the neck and today had the full body CT Scan with the MIBG Scan and bone marrow aspiration. She did amazingly well (AGAIN). The nurses were again very amazed that she did not need sedation to get through the tests. Most young kids will not lay still to get the scans done but my little Jovee is just so cooperative and submissive. It's like her saying "whatever mom, whatever dad, I'll do whatever it takes to make it easier on you and me."

Dr. Judy said to call Friday morning to get all the official test results. So we just wait and see...Thanks for everybody's thoughts and prayers. I'll return and report Friday.