Had A Great Checkup With The Surgeon

After a few great (normal) weeks, it was time to get back into the treatment mode today. 

We had a great follow up with Jack's surgeon today. Well, Jack got a brief rectal exam, which he labeled as "pretty weird", so I'm not sure that it was great in his mind. 

But, here is what we learned today...

At the moment, Jack is free of tumors. (Not to say that he is cured, just whatever was in him was either killed by chemo, or removed during surgery.) The surgeon took qute a good look inside and around him, and is very confident he didn't miss anything. 

The tumor that was removed, was indeed the "two" masses that were originally detected by CAT scans. It turned out that the two were connected by tissue, and were in a shape of a dumbbell or a peanut, if you will. That was what was removed during surgery. 

Pathology confirmed that the tumor was neuroblastoma, and it was responding positively to chemo. 

Size of the tumor was about 12cm in length, so around 3-4 inches, and about a golf ball size on each end. 

We are now clear for the "last" round of chemo, which will probably be starting next week. 

I say "last" in quotes, because he will be receiving one more dose after this, but that dose is a part of the second phase of his treatment, and not a part of the chemotherapy phase. (That is a part of the Autologous stem cell transplant, I'll write more about that as it nears.)

For now we are very happy with where things are, and are ready to wrap up this first phase, and go on to the next. 

Here is a little pic of the top of his head. This white fuzz hair came after his regular brown hair fell out. Also, a little patch of brown is still visible, the little tornado where his hair starts growing I think.

I'm grateful for:

- treatment going as planned,

- Jack being a good sport during "the exam" (he was laughing with the surgeon after it...)

- playing a board game (one of the Christmas gifts) as a family yesterday, (Though I'm not grateful I lost to Sarah, twice!)

- carrying Jack to his bed on New Year's Eve. (He won't let me carry him around anymore, partly because he is 7 now, and partly because of the ports in his chest, so I appreciate holding him like in the old days, when he was a little guy.)