Some Progress

This morning we came into the OMO to have Harper's temporary pheresis catheter taken out of her neck. Turns out the harvest yesterday got 20 times what we needed. Yep - she's a literal stem cell factory!

While waiting for someone from pediatric surgery to become available to do the line removal, Dr Cheerva (our oncologist) came in to talk to us.

The oncology group has a "tumor board" which meets regularly and uses a group discussion format to discuss the status and best care approach for solid tumor patients. They spent a significant amount of time discussing Harper yesterday.

The readout from her most recent scan is that her pulmonary lesions (lungs) have shrunken dramatically. Before they were apparently so diffuse they were hard to count. Now they can be counted (though she didn't tell us the count) and they appear to be going away. Her main tumor on her kidney is also shrinking. They can apparently see a more "normal" kidney shape now.

The one thing that struck me, though, is that her liver tumors have actually gotten bigger. On the surface - That's scary, as it could mean the chemo has NOT been working there. But, she indicated that the tumors are less heterogenous - meaning that they don't look the same all the way through. They actually look more like cysts now, with fluid in the middle. The thought (that we're going with) is that the tutors are actually dying, and that the fluid in the middle is a sign of necrosis. So, they are not shrinking in sequence with the others, but they were bigger, and this could be normal tumor death.

So, with the liver tumors not shrunken, the surgeons think the surgery to remove her kidney could be difficult, and they want to wait. So, we're going to do 2 more rounds of chemo and then re-assess before we do the surgery.

So, some good news (the chemo is definitely working on the lung and kidneys) and some mixed news (the chemo is probably working on the liver).

Next week we'll be back in for another round of chemo. Then, the subsequent drop in counts, Neupogen shots and blood. But, looks like we won't have an inpatient stay for a month and a half (if we can continue to stave off any infection).

We're making some progress. Praying for more.