Radiation Again

From our phone conference today, it sounds like we'll be doing radiation again. Mike and I had agreed that if Kelby's doctor thought that radiation would be valuable, we would go ahead and do it. She did. In fact, she didn't really have any other options for us right now. She is going to get in touch with the radiologist and plan it to start during the week of July 18th. That means we'll be driving down to the University of Washington again every day for about three weeks.

Next week we'll probably go down for a setup appointment. They'll decide then whether Kelby should get anesthesia for the radiation treatments or not. I'm sure she hopes that they'll give her the "dizzy medicine", but I hope not. If they don't, the visits would probably only take 15 minutes instead of an hour and a half or so. After radiation is done, we'll do follow up scans in six to eight weeks. The hope is that this will buy us some more time, as it has in the past.

Dr. Park filled us in on a couple other things. There is a tumor marker that they test for in neuroblastoma patients called HVA. Kelby's has never been high, so they never mention it to us. Even when she was first diagnosed, her level was normal. Last week's test shows her levels as three times normal. These are hormones excreted by the tumor. Apparently it doesn't mean much except now we can watch the level. If it goes down, the tumor's response to treatment is good. If it goes up, the we'd know that the tumor wasn't responding. Also, the pathology of the lymph node tumor showed the n-myc amplified gene, as it did in the past. It doesn't mean anything at this point, but it has the doctor some what baffled because that is supposed to mean the tumor is more aggressive, but Kelby's cancer has been slow growing and responsive to treatment. Of course, most of us know that this is but one of the miracles we've received from God answering everyone's prayers.

As for other news, in my last update I forgot to mention the Berry Dairy Days parade we went to last Saturday. Even though at first we thought we'd be sitting in the rain, the kids had a blast and got a ton of candy. It quit raining just as the parade started. Anika even sat still for almost the whole thing which is amazing. I got in trouble because I forgot the camera. Needless to say, I have no proof of our fun time.

Of course I took tons of pictures at the puppy party on Sunday. Then on Monday, Kelby's real birthday, we took the girls out to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. They were on cloud nine, running around dropping tokens in every machine, sliding down the slide, and winning tickets. We came home and let Kelby open the presents from my side of the family and from Mike and I. I stumbled upon the best present for her. It is an animal hospital toy, complete with puppy, kitty, parrot, and veterinarian tools. She loves it. Now it is just sibling sharing that is giving me issues.

I told Kelby she could have her friend Larissa stay over for a slumber party, so we tried that last night. They had a great time until they got too tired, then Larissa wanted to go home. It was a nice first try though. Her and her mom came back for breakfast this morning and we went to a free movie at the theater today, so that seemed to make up for it.

It really has been a busy, fun week so far. I'm looking forward to some scrapbooking in the near future. I need to get caught up on some of my albums, and they seem to get put off easily. I guess we'll be pretty busy altogether this summer.

Kelby has an exciting week of day camp at church coming up during the week of July 11th. We couldn't let her miss that, so that is why radiation doesn't start until the 18th. She'll be skating, horseback riding, swimming, beach combing, and learning about Jesus. She'll be tired out that week since the camp goes from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm every day. The last day is the family BBQ and musical presentation where the kids get to sing. It is my favorite part. Too bad Tegan is too little to go.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. We might even hit another parade this weekend! Please continue to pray and know that I love to hear back from you all by email or in the guestbook. It always lightens my burden a little. God bless.