Great Appointment Today!

We just got back from our appointment with the new oncologist and I wanted to quickly type an update.

Everything from the scans looks great! There is a small piece of residual tumor that hasn't changed since the last scans. All other areas that were "out of the ordinary" we assume are post-surgical changes. His HVA and VMA are both 12 (down from 151 and 87 originally!). HVA is well within normal, and VMA is just one point above normal and we expect that it will come down further. These are the Neuroblastoma markers that show up in urine. His blood levels are all back to normal.

We covered a lot of things during the appointment. The new doctor feels it is important to scan every three months for the first year, and then every 6 months for the next 4 years. So our next set of scans will be in mid-late October. We are going to set up an appointment with a neurosurgeon at Strong in the coming weeks. Brady's first surgery, the laminectomy, puts him at high risk for spinal instability (outward curving of the spine--think hump back!) Obviously this is a huge concern and we want to establish a baseline and have this monitored closely as he grows.

We both felt very good about the new doctor. He obviously knew why we were there and that we had been with another doctor whom he works closely with. I appreciated that he asked us what he could do to meet our needs. I'm sure we have a reputation now, but at least now we feel like someone is on top of Brady's care. He already has submitted the requisition for October's scans. I love that type of efficiency!

Thank you for praying, now we get to praise! God is good!