Not the news we wanted ....

Amanda and I had an appointment with Dr. Anderson this morning, and he had to tell us that there was new "activity" and tumor growth. It is in two places. 1) There is new growth at the original site in the left pelvic area. 2) There is new growth in the area of the lower spinal canal. As a result of this news, we canceled our flight back to St. Louis so that we could immediately begin more tests and scans and put together a treatment plan ASAP.

Regarding the new growth at the original site, that cannot be radiated again, but we have met with an orthopedic surgeon and discussed the possibility of removing at least the "new" part. The surgeon would prefer, however, for the area in the lower spine to be dealt with first. The new area in the lower spine seems to cause the doctors the most immediate concern, and if Chemo is administered for that area, the Chemo may shrink the new tumor in the pelvic area as well ... away from a main nerve that it is currently resting on. That would be good, because otherwise the nerve would be damaged in surgery and result in some loss of mobility in that leg or foot.

Regarding the new growth in the lower part of the spinal canal, we will be meeting with the specialist in the MD Anderson Brain and Spine Center on Monday of this next week to discuss what options might be available there, and what the consequences of those options might be for Amanda.

We start more tests and scans at 6:30 a.m. in the morning, and have them scheduled back to back until probably at least noon. There were some of them scheduled later in the afternoon and some on Friday as well, but Dr. Anderson's nurse and myself went to work on rescheduling everything tomorrow afternoon and on Friday (at no delay for treatment for Amanda) ... so that I could have her on a plane back home for an important school event she has with friends. She has really been looking forward to this time with friends, and frankly, I'm way past sick and tired of cancer stealing things from her. I was able to find a plane out of Houston at 3:30 and back in KC by 5:30. (Yes, I know ... our car is in St. Louis .... but all those flights were booked.) Denise will be picking us up at the KC airport and hustling us back to Columbia for Amanda's big night out with friends and attendance at a school function.

As you can tell ... this news about the cancer is not good, and our main doctor here at MD Anderson characterized this as a serious situation. We won't really know much more than this until after meeting with the doctor at the Brain and Spine Center on Monday. That consultation is currently set for 2:00 p.m., after some morning MRI's.

And now ... I'm going to go watch a movie with my daughter Amanda, and there is nothing cancer can do to stop me. Not tonight.
dad