Progress Reports
« Previous Entries Next Entries »June 19, 2005
Sunday, June 19th, 2005Sam is not the only brave one in our family. Neil let us shave his head this week and he gave the razor to Sammy and his friend Mimi in turns (what a dad) and then had me finish him off. He was pretty stripey looking when we were finished, not the smooth look he […]
June 17, 2005
Friday, June 17th, 2005We received the pathology report today and it’s good news. The tumor (the adrenal gland) had margins free of tumor they didn’t leave any tumor behind. Four of the eight lymph nodes had tumor in them but everyone expected that and that’s why the protocol includes radiation (probably in September). Otherwise, it’s just another great […]
Happy Father’s Day!
Thursday, June 16th, 2005Â We wish every dad out there to have an amazing day sharing with their families. We would also like to thank Sam’s Angels (check out www.chemoangels.com) who have continually brought huge smiles to his face and to Andy’s face. So, Jill Foltz & family, Mary Montford & family, Jennifer from Wichita, and Angie Dobson & […]
June 14, 2005
Tuesday, June 14th, 2005We are getting discharged today for a week of fun & sun before starting round 6 of chemo on Monday the 20th. Sam was checked by a renal specialist who indicated that his kidney function is fine. He does have a bit of high blood pressure which comes & goes but this is treatable by […]
June 10, 2005
Friday, June 10th, 2005Quick update since I’m on my way to the hospital. Sam is out of ICU and we’re very happy about that. He’s got a bit of high blood pressure and this could be a sign that his left kidney was damaged but we are not going there yet – we’ll see if it stabilizes again. […]
June 9, 2005
Thursday, June 9th, 2005“Gross, total resection”. Those are magical words. That’s surgeon speak for “I got it all” and I confirmed again that that’s what happened since this is such great news. I am still in disbelief at how successful surgery was! Sam is doing super in ICU. He has had all of his catheters removed and will […]
June 6, 2005
Monday, June 6th, 2005Great news from surgery. The “bump” is gone. The surgeon believes he removed 100% of the visible tumor (there are always the chance of microscopic lymph nodes that weren’t seen). He removed Sam’s left adrenal gland (the origin of the tumor) and the enlarged, tumor-filled lymph nodes around the kidney/adrenal gland. We are VERY HAPPY! […]
June 6, 2005
Monday, June 6th, 2005Surgery is tomorrow at 12:40 so we’re raring to go. Our best guess schedule for the rest of the summer is: 6/7 – surgery (San Diego) 6/27 – round 6 of chemo (San Diego) 7/18 – round 7/stem-cell transplant (City of Hope/LA) We are planning to be in LA until 8/15. Please keep young Sam […]
BREAKING NEWS – 6/2/2005 – 5PM PST
Thursday, June 2nd, 2005They just called with our surgery date. The tumor meets it’s demise this Tuesday at 12 or 2pm! Sam’s lymph nodes will go along with this but we think the kidney and aorta/vena cava are just fine. We are ecstatic. Typically, this type of surgery will require a day in the pediatric ICU followed by […]
June 2, 2005
Thursday, June 2nd, 2005We just met with surgeon and got the go-ahead for surgery. Woo hoo! It’s tough to decipher medical lingo but the MAX tumor dimension is 6cm so it sounds like it’s shrunk a bunch. The bone scan results were briefly discussed by the nurse case manager and they indicated that nothing has changed in the […]
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