| April 14, 2004 Wednesday
Day +41 of Transplant Wow! It's been such a great day I don't know where to begin. First, some really good news. We were told last week that the results of the MIBG scan showed "no significant change." We didn't question the results, especially after hearing and reading the CT reports from the previous week. We called Paige's oncologist in Ann Arbor Tuesday afternoon since we hadn't heard any news regarding the decision for surgery. At the same time we requested that the MIBG results be faxed to Hurley so we could have a copy for ourselves. After reading it Andy noticed that all the previous metastatic sites were noted, but there was no mention of the primary tumor. The summary of the scan was "No significant change when compared to the prior study." We assumed it was a mistake by radiology by not mentioning the primary tumor. Well, within a few hours Dr. Hutchinson called to say that he had spoken with Dr. Geiger, the surgeon, and that he felt the tumor was resectable. Also, Dr. Geiger's opinion after reading the CT scan was that much of the primary adrenal tumor was necrotic (dead). Dr. Hutchinson said that he was going to look at the MIBG personally since the primary tumor was not mentioned in the MIBG report. We're thinking, OK this is too good to be true. I can't speak for Andy, but to protect myself from another let down I didn't get my hopes up. That wasn't until today. Dr. Geiger called this afternoon to say that they were in agreement that the primary site showed no illumination, meaning possibly no live cancer cell. As mentioned in a previous update, there is no literature to support whether or not surgery at this point is effective or not. But, Dr. Yanik feels that having the tumor removed could possibly increase the effectiveness of the MIBG therapy she will undergo in early June. We completely agree and want it removed. So, surgery will be Friday. We'll know more tomorrow about the scheduled time. We're surprised, yet very pleased at how soon the surgery will take place. To top off our wonderful day we attended the Ice Cream Social that our co-workers at Hurley organized for Paige. It's getting late, so I'll have details and pictures of the event on the website tomorrow. Until then, continue with those prayers because He's listening. Love, Andy, Sandi & Paige |
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