Oncology Appointment

Amy’s Posting – We appreciate everyone’s prayers for our appointment with the oncologist today. When I saw all of the children in the waiting room for their appointments it brought back a lot of memories from Camp Sunshine. As I scanned the waiting room, I was once again struck by the optimism and hope that seemed to shine through the children. They seem to exude courage and innocence which I think helps them win their battle to become cancer survivors. The hallways of the doctor’s office are filled with professional photography and encouraging quotes from these cancer warriors. I was quickly reminded of the survivor “case studies” I wrote for the American Cancer Society early in my public relations career. It was strange to think that Asher might become one of those profiles and that through this blog, we are beginning to write his story.

We were very impressed with our doctor. He spent a lot of time educating us about neuroblastoma, describing the various scenarios for diagnosis, staging and treatment and answering our questions. We still do not have an actual diagnosis but our doctor is proceeding as if his tumor is neuroblastoma. Our session was very informative and armed us with the information we need to make decisions as move closer to the actual diagnosis. One of the most striking facts is even though neuroblastoma is a common childhood cancer, the actual number of annual new cases is only about 600. And finding it in a newborn or during a prenatal ultrasound is a very rare occurrence. We feel very fortunate that this was discovered prior to Asher’s birth as the prognosis for children over two with neuroblastoma is not as favorable.

It is too complicated to explain all of the potential scenarios until we have more information from additional tests that the doctor is recommending. Our immediate next step is for Asher to have a CT scan early next week. The images from the CT scan will give the doctor a precise measurement of the tumor and confirm if the diagnosis of neuroblastoma at a stage 1 is accurate. If that is the case, the prognosis is very favorable, but we will be faced with some uncertainty for his first two years as the doctors will continue to monitor the tumor with CT scans and ultrasounds to ensure it does not grow. We do have one area that does cause some concern as we prepare for the CT scan results. Asher’s tumor is about twice the size of what they typically see in newborns. If the measurement is confirmed to be of a certain size, then Asher may have to have surgery to remove it.

We are relieved to be starting our journey toward cancer survivorship with Asher. We hope to exude optimism, hope and courage for Asher as we write his story.