The future as we now know it ...

It is mid-morning on Tuesday and Amanda is resting well. I know this post is long, but it has a lot of information in it about what we know at this time about future treatments.

I would say that the doctors and medical team have had their consultation this morning, but what we are discovering is that here, the doctors and other medical professionals and researchers are in what seems to be an almost constant state of communication and consultation. We really like that. Two of the doctors on the team have already been in to visit with us about consultations with other doctors this morning, and at least one said she would be back again later this afternoon, after she consulted with a couple more doctors. This high level of communication and consultation takes place as a matter-of-course here, and is especially energized when a child has a particularly challenging cancer situation. Some of these consultations are with cancer guru's scattered across the nation, and I know that at least one is with another cutting edge cancer researcher at M. D. Anderson, located at the University of Texas. I especially like their mission statement -- "to eliminate cancer." Anyway, there is some extremely cutting edge and very unique stuff going on there, and currently being tested on dogs at Fort Collins, here in Colorado. We are certainly thankful that direct communication and consultation is taking place between our medical team here in Denver, and the researchers at M. D. Anderson.

As it stands now, here is what is probably going to happen.

Amanda's I/A chemo drip will be finished by mid-afternoon. After that, they normally keep the patient for 24 more hours for observation. What will probably happen with Amanda, however, is that they will leave her hooked up on fluids using a backpack pump, like we used when we first arrived here in Denver. This way, we will be able to leave tomorrow by noon, possibly a little earlier. After talking further with the doctors, we will be driving home and stopping often for Amanda to stretch and walk around, etc. In the future, however, we will likely try to fly back and forth, to make it easier on Amanda. We are thankful for the people who are emailing about ways to save on airfares ... they are certainly expensive.

Amanda will remain on the backpack pump and fluids until Friday, at such time she will go to the University Hospital to have labwork done, which will then be faxed back here to Denver. As of now, the medical team here in Denver are basically calling the shots, but working and communicating with all the others in Columbia and at Menora Medical Center too, of course.

Amanda will continue to have labwork done there at the University Hospital twice per week. If there are any complications, such as fever, low counts, etc.; Amanda would then be immediately admitted to the University Hospital.

After about two weeks, when Amanda's counts are rebounding back and on the upswing, we expect to be called back here to Denver. Here is what will probably happen at that time.
1. Amanda will have a PET/CT Scan. There is a particular PET/CT group of professionals here in Denver that our team prefers to use.
2. Amanda will then probably have a multiple-site biopsy, and that too will happen right here in Denver.

Once these two things happen, and probably while we are still here in Denver, the team will decide what action should take place based on the results of the PET/CT scan and biopsy procedure.
The choices will probably be:
A) More chemo like we just had,
B) another I/A process like we just had, but this time with different chemo,
C) surgery, (yes, they may just go ahead and do a surgery) or
D) something they dream up in the meantime and we don't know about yet.

If you do the math on all that, it is possible that the next time we come back to Denver, we may be here for up to two weeks.

I can tell you this ... the team of doctors and medical professionals, both here and in Columbia and at Menora, are treating our daughter like their very own, and with a very obvious sense of urgency.

Finally, it will be SO good to get back home. As friendly and warm as everyone here is, we are still in a distant land, so to speak. We miss our family, our friends, the smell of our house, the really bad grass in our front yard, the infestation of squirrels ... just the normal day to day stuff that we take for granted, but that now is ever more precious to us. Amanda woke up a while ago and said she was dreaming that she was making cookies with Denise, in our kitchen. And I pray for our safe trip home so that by sometime on Thursday, she can do just that.