Friday, May 6, 2011

D Day

Today was diagnosis day. It took them a long time and extra testing but it is now official, Annabelle has Ewing's Sarcoma. (Now don't go googling it, you'll either scare yourself or be misinformed) It is super rare in kids her age. They usually see it in teenagers when they are growing rapidly. The other unusual thing about Annabelle's case is the location. Very rarely (almost never) is it in the neck and on the spine. It is more commonly found on long bones, such as the femur or tibia. Sarcoma means a cancer of the soft tissue, muscles or connective tissue. However, it can originate in the bone. They don't know for sure where Annabelle's started. It is a fairly aggressive type of cancer which calls for intense treatment. She will be starting chemo tomorrow morning.

We won't know specifics of the treatment, like how much will be inpatient, until we see how well she handles it. The good news is that she could see significant shrinking of the tumor and therefore relief of her neck/back pain in 5-7 days! That would be amazing! I'm praying it happens that quickly. That is what makes her so uncomfortable right now. Today we had to go down for imaging 3 different times so she has been in a lot of pain. We've increased her morphine dose now so she is doing better as long as she stays laying down.

We are finally done having nearly every scan and test possible and there is no other cancer ANYWHERE! Not in her bones, not in her marrow, not in any other organs. That makes me so happy I could dance! Her treatment will be long but since there is no spreading her prognosis is good. The first round of treatment (called "Induction") is the strongest and will last 12 weeks. After Induction is complete she will have scans and tests to see how the tumor has reacted. Then she will have "local control" which means surgery or radiation or both. After she recovers from the local control she will move onto "Consolidation" which is more chemo, but not so strong. Consolidation lasts 22 weeks. This is the set up protocol, but of course things could change. We have a tough year ahead of us, but we are all fighters!

6 comments:

RJ said...

Sally, is it still best to send mail to Bev's house or is there a hospital address that would work better now? Sending many, many prayers your way!

Stacey and Brent Mannix said...

We love you guys and are in our hearts and prayers.

Anonymous said...

We are thinking and praying for you all!!!
Love
Tim Cindy Brittney & Kalene Jacobsen

Trapper and Suzy said...

Wow. That is a long time to be treated. We're still praying for Annabelle and we won't stop until the cancer is out of her little body. We can't wait to see ya'll and give you hugs!

Laurie White said...

I am so sorry Annabelle has such a long road of treatment ahead of her...but what a HUGE relief to know the cancer hasn't spread anywhere else!! We will keep praying for her and we are thinking of her everyday!

Grandma Kroll said...

"'Mother' has always been a generic term synonymous with love, devotion, and sacrifice. There's alwys been something mystical and reverent about them" - Erma Bombeck

You are a great Mother and with you by her side I know that Annabelle will get the best treatment possible! We will keep praying.