During the conversation, he told us that we could also choose to not do any treatment at all and just do what we could to make him comfortable for whatever time he had left. That is the point that I really began to cry. I wish that no parent ever had to hear those words. All of the thoughts and emotions that went through my mind at that point are indescribable. I think it is something that you have to experience to fully understand. I don't know how any parent makes that decision. I guess that is where prayer, faith, and inspiration come in to play. Trevor and I talked right after the Dr. left, and both definitely agreed that we would at least start the chemo and see how his cancer responded. At that point we would make further decisions. Neither one of us was comfortable doing nothing at all.
Dr. Pene also recommended that Trevor apply for a humanitarian transfer. This would mean that he would transfer from the ship to a shore duty. The reason for this is that he would then not have to leave on his upcoming deployment, but would be able to stay here to support Shad and I. That was good news, I didn't even know something like that was an option.
Shad's friend Lily came to visit with her parents that morning as well. Her dad is one of our home teachers, and so they all came for a visit. Shad loved watching her bounce around and around, they made animal sounds together, and then they played a couple of games before she left.
That afternoon Shad took a nap and I went to Joann. I wanted a project that I could work on that would keep me busy for quite a while because we were going to be here for so long. I ended up getting a cross stitch book to use to make a baby afghan. Hopefully it turns out nicely, even though I have no idea what I will do with it once it is finished. I brought back some food for Trevor and I, and we all pretty much just relaxed for the rest of the day.
Tuesday Trevor went to school and Shad and I hung out in the morning. We watched some cartoons, and worked on eating his breakfast. Shortly after he finished his breakfast the Dr. came in and said they were going to do his bone scan that afternoon. He was not allowed to eat or drink anything from that point on until after the scan. The nurse came in to put him on some iv fluid, and he immediately began complaining that it was hurting. I asked them to check it after a few minutes, and they quickly looked and said it was fine. A little while later he began complaining again, they checked it and his hand was really, really puffy. They switched the fluid to the iv in his other hand and he seemed to be in less pain.
Right after that the people to do his back brace came. They had to create a plaster mold that they then took back to their lab and used to create the hard plastic brace. It was quite the adventure, but we got it done. First, they wrapped him up tightly in this stretchy material. Then, they put plaster under him and had him lay still while they wrapped him up even more tightly and let the plaster harden. Then they did the top portion. The lady that was doing it thought it would be funny if we drew some muscles on his abdomen while we waited for it to be completely set.
At about 2:30 a bunch of doctors flooded our room and began getting Shad ready for the bone scan. They had to completely sedate him, and then put in a breathing tube (as a precautionary measure). They did the first round of drugs to put him to sleep and he was still wide awake talking to Trevor and I. They did a second round, and then they had Trevor and I leave because we didn't want to watch them put in the breathing tube. Apparently after we left they gave him a different drug to help sedate him, at which point he finally went to sleep. I think that shows that he is a fighter (or at least stubborn). They took him for the bone scan and the follow up MRI. Trevor and I walked to the car, went and got something to eat, and then waited in our room for him to come back. He came in with the breathing tube in, but was starting to wake up. Some of the doctors wanted to keep him sedated and leave the tube in until today because he was having his line put in for the chemo. Some of the doctors wanted to pull it out and put it back in for the surgery today. Since they couldn't decided they let us make the decision. I asked that they take it out because my parents and Jayce were coming that evening and I wanted him to be able to see and interact with them. They said ok and pulled it out.
My parents and Jayce got here a little bit after that. They played some games with Shad, watched a couple movies (or parts of movies) on the ipad and then went home (to our house) for the evening. Shad loved having them there, and I was glad we had made the decision to remove the tube.
It was a long night for all of us that night. First, they had to do a blood draw, but couldn't get his iv to draw back. They ended up having to stick him and get the blood out that way. He of course didn't like that much. Shad was receiving iv fluids after midnight because he couldn't eat or drink until after the surgery this morning. His line stopped working, so they had to remove his iv and put in a new one. They got the new one put in, but then they were worried that they had put it into an artery instead of a vein. They had to do a blood test, and it came back showing that it might be in the artery. Then they hooked up fluids that were designed for an arterial iv, plugged him into the monitor and watched for a wave. There was nothing so they decided that it was good. About 30 minutes later they came in to check it and decided it had infiltrated and they were going to have to pull it. They convinced the Dr. to wait until they sedated Shad this morning, and then put one again. Luckily the doctor okayed it because I really didn't want to have to watch them do another one.
This morning we had people in and out to get consent for the various procedures they were going to do. The brace lady also came with the brace and we had to get that tried on. The urologist came in and talked about our options because Shad still wasn't able to pee on his own. He has had the foley catheter in, but they were worried about infection and also about causing damage to his penis if it was in too long. He thought that the best option was to do a catheter that goes in through his stomach into his bladder. Of the options that was the least invasive combined with the least risk of infection. We took Shad up to the surgery floor about 9:45. The nurse that was going to be in there told me to wait in the waiting room and not to leave. They would call or come get me when they were done. I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more. Eventually the Dr. that had done his line came out after finishing another surgery and saw me still sitting there. He said that Shad had been done for quite some time, and that he was pretty sure he was down in his room. He was nice enough to make some phone calls and found out that yes, he was in his room. I was upset that he was down there by himself while we were upstairs waiting , but then realized what was done was done, and there wasn't really anything I could do about it at that point.
When we got down to the room Dr. Pene came in and talked to us a bit. He told us that the pathology reports had come back. Shad has a germ cell tumor or yolk sac tumor. He was pretty upbeat and positive and thinks that for right now chemotherapy is the best course. We have a meeting with him tomorrow morning to more specifically go over the specific treatment plan. I asked him what the chances of being cured were and he said for the 3-5 year remission rate it is about 70%. Since Shad it is at a stage 4 is it at the lower end of the 70's. Of all the types of cancer this could be this is apparently the best one. We were already pretty upbeat, but it is nice to know that the Dr. is also pretty positive as well. I will be sure to post again tomorrow with more details about the treatment plan.
The attending for the floor came in before she left for the day just to check in with us. She said that Dr Pene and the other oncologist were both very enthusiastic about the results/diagnosis. She said when an oncologist is happy about something you know it must be pretty good. That was really nice to hear as well.
Once again we are so grateful for all of your prayers and support. We definitely know that the Lord is mindful of us, and Shad, and that ultimately whatever happens will be ok.
No comments:
Post a Comment