The waiting game continues

We finally met with the surgeon at Primary Children's on Thursday, but I'm afraid we left a little MORE confused about what to expect than we were before. He basically said we really won't know about a plan of action until they can actually do imaging and a biopsy on our baby when he comes.

Since this kind of tumor can turn from malignant to benign spontaneously, they may postpone the removal until they are sure it is metastasizing. He said sometimes the surgery can be more harmful/dangerous than the neuroblastoma. He said Mike and I may have to make that decision once we have all the information (sounds fun huh?).

The good news: He may not have to undergo major surgery for the tumor removal immediately after his birth.

The bad news: We may not have a quick resolution. We may be in wait, watch, & decide mode for years to come.

The really bad news: When there is a decision to be made it is possible that the wrong one will be made. (If I didn't have a knowledge of the gospel and a testimony of personal revelation I'd lie down, curl up in a little ball. and never get back up at the thought of this.)

Now, I'll be honest, I don't know what to think about all of this. I'm comfortable with a surgeon deciding how he's going to get something OUT, but I'm not super comfortable with a surgeon deciding to leave something cancerous IN. Especially since I'm pretty sure, yet again, that the surgeon has not dealt with a neuroblastoma found in a fetus.

So now I'm on a mission to find a pediatric oncologist who can look at this whole picture and help us figure it out. I pray (literally) that such a person exists, and that we can find him/her.

Don't worry, we're still strong in our faith that everything will work out and that we are in the Lord's hands.... but good golly WHAT A MESS!

Official Diagnosis

I'll be honest, It feels surreal to even be writing this. They have given us an official diagnosis on our baby's tumor. They've decided that it is a neuroblastoma (ie cancer). It is attached to the adrenal gland, and wraps around the baby's aorta.

We've known about the tumor for over three weeks now, and it has not grown significantly. If it remains the same size and does not metastasize (and the baby stays healthy) we will likely be able to carry the baby full term, and solve the problem with surgery alone. We don't know yet what the chances of this best case scenario are.

Even if chemo is necessary we've read that baby's handle it ok (whatever that means) and that overall the survival rate of a prenatal neuroblastoma is around 90%. In short, there is definitely hope.

We'll be meeting with a surgeon at Primary Children's next Thursday, and we are really hoping they can give us some more information on what to expect. As of now, we have yet to meet with a doctor or specialist that has even seen something like this in the past decade.

I am currently 28 weeks along - so we have a long road ahead of us - but we also have a lot of faith, hope, and support from friends and family to sustain us. Please keep us in your prayers.

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE HELPED US SO MUCH! I don't know how we would have made it through these past weeks without the babysitting, meals, kind gestures, and the shoveling of our driveway and walks.

Thank you so much!

Mike and I want to thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and fasting. We have felt the support and the increase of faith and peace in our hearts. We feel blessed to have so many who love us.

The miracles have already started coming and we expect many many more. We are focusing on and praying for the tumor to stop growing (and even to start dissolving), and we believe that this can and will happen. Thank you for your continued faith and prayers for that specific result.

We won't have any more information until the end of February, so we'll let you know more when we know more...

Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You are making a difference to us.

Love, Us.