March 25, 2006

Leah and I are up early on this Saturday morning. I have too many thoughts running through my head to want to lay in bed for long and as soon as she hears me get up she is up, too. We have already placed a phone call to Grandma Kathy for cookies that she must make immediately for the Princess.

Yesterday's trip to Iowa City was OK. We left at 10:30 in the morning for her 2:30 CT scan and then were checked in to the clinic. Leah now weighs 34.5 pounds. When we left 17 days ago she weighed 31, so I guess it would be normal I am noticing she looks bigger. The people there could tell right away. So, in the matter of just over 3 months she has made an 8 pound shift in her weight. When you are only3 feet tall that is a lot. Dr. Rahdi came to see us and talked with us just a bit about our expectations of the CT scan. The reason for Round 5 was to see if there was additional shrinkage. There was a chance there would be some, a chance there would be none and then since nothing is guaranteed, always a chance that something unexpected happened. That is how Chris and I have viewed things as well. Obviously we hoped for more shrinkage. The CT itself went fine although it is always scary for Leah when they put the mask on her to get her to sleep and always hard for me to help them do this. She also wakes up screaming and crying which usually goes on for about an hour or so after she is done. Since it was a 2:30 CT scan we did not expect any results on Friday. However, Dr. Rahdi did stop by and told us from his preliminary results he does not think there was any real shrinkage this round.

Of course, this is disappointing. We would have loved to hear how much more it has shrunk. Yet, it really does not change things because surgery is still going ahead on Wednesday and it will still be a major ordeal. Originally the tumor measured 11.5x12x9.5 cm. As of Feb. 23 it measured 7.7x7.1x6.6 cm. Those numbers are much smaller and when multiplied out the volumes went from 1311 ml to 328 ml. Again, a significant difference. I am not sure how much more they thought it would shrink this last time, but there was no reason not to try a fifth round since round 4 showed so much shrinkage. We have read/been told/heard that eventually tumors do stop shrinking (otherwise they could just do chemo. for everyone until the tumors disappeared) eventually, and as Dr. Rahdi said it is time to get her tumor out. And, trying to focus on some positive things, we are very grateful we did not hear some other news we were unprepared for- that the tumor had grown or something like that.

We will be down in Iowa City late Tuesday morning for a visit with the surgeons and then will be admitted for pre-op. things (NG tube and bowel prep). I already have many questions for them running through my mind that I will have written down for our meeting.

Leah did manage to stop her crying long enough to make a trip to Coral Ridge Mall where she wanted to do some shopping. Since the GAP is closed here she found a few things there she liked and then Chris and I grabbed some food since we, too, had not eaten all day. Leah tried to hold out for a salad at home but ended up eating few bites of our food before we got home in addition to her salad.

We hope that you will keep Leah in your prayers - especially for a successful surgery with 100% removal of her tumor as well as the spots in her lungs.